Welcome to the Horse Portal!

Recommended Books: 

King, Christine. 1999. Preventing Colic in Horses, edited by Anthony Blikslager. 1st ed. North Carolina, USA:Paper Horse.

Frape, David. 2010. Equine Nutrition and Feeding. 4th ed. Wiley-Blackwell.

References: Colic Risk Rater

Colic Risk Rater References (list of research papers used to develop the colic risk rater questionnaire and calculator)

Colic Epidemiology (thehorse.com)

Equine Anatomy

Learning Activities:

• Explore the anatomy and function of the equine digestive tract
• The Digestive Tract

Readings:

• Equine Anatomy & Digestion
• Digestive Capacity and Function
• Tour the Digestive Tract of the Horse
• The Equine Digestive Tract and How it Relates (the horse.com)
• Food Factory – The Equine Digestive Tract (the horse.com)

Videos:

Equine Colic

Readings:

• Types of Colic
• Intestinal Sites of Colic
• Colic Glossary

Housing/Turnout

Readings:

• Are stabled horses more prone to Colic? (horse.com)
• Sand Colic: Risk Factors, Detection and Prevention (Article kindly provided by Utah State University)

Video:

• How to tell if your horse ingested too much sand (horse.com)

Activity Level

Readings:

• Gastric Ulcers
• Impact of Stress (thehorse.com)

Forage

 Readings:

• Dust and Mould in Equine Forage
• Hay Selection for Horses (Article kindly provided by Kentucky Equine Research)
• Visual Hay Assessment
• Weighing Forage
• Estimating your Horse’s Weight
• Horse Weight Calculator (horse.com)
• Forage Substitute for Horses
• Feeding to Prevent Colic (the horse.com)

Video:

• Measure Your Horse’s Weight (horse.com)

Water

Readings:

• What’s with all the Water
• Sweating and Horses
• Water and Fibre

Concentrates

Readings:

• Effect of large carbohydrate meals on the large intestine
• Calculation of Forage %
• Does your horse need a low carb diet?

Dental Health

Readings:

• Aging Horse by Teeth

Video:

• Dentistry in Horses (thehorse.com)
• The Tale of the Teeth:

Parasite Prevention

Readings:

• Parasite Prevention Tips
• Strongyle Life Cycle
• Roundworm Life Cycle

Horse-Related Risk Factors

Readings:

• Horse Breeds at Higher Risk of Colic (thehorse.com)
• Colic in Broodmares – Special Considerations (thehorse.com)
• Why the Miniature horse is prone to colic (thehorse.com)
• The Aging Horse (thehorse.com)

Colic Signs

Readings:

• Signs that your horse may be suffering from Colic

Colic Animations

• Horse Pawing
• Biting/Looking at his Flank
• Rolling
• Stretching (as if wanting to urinate)

Horse Health Check

• Horse Health Instructions
• Horse Health Check Interactive Activity
• Horse Health Check Poster

What do you do if your horse has colic?

Readings

• Colic and Insurance

Video:

• Preparing for Colic  (thehorse.com)