# Laying down quite a bit? No colic symptoms



## close2prfct (Mar 9, 2009)

I wouldn't be too concerned unless he starts showing signs of something else like colic or lameness.


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## weefoal (Apr 4, 2009)

Also watch for ulcers. Some of the first symptoms are laying down a lot and just being a bit off. Other signs are playing in the water bucket, doing a half roll, teeth grinding

Kay


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## walkinthewalk (Jul 23, 2008)

*Be concerned.* Besides the possible ulcer issue, he is also at the right age for becoming metabolic, and that means he could be very prone to founder ---- especially on spring grass.

If the horse isn't fat, he doesn't need to be to become metabolic. There are articles at www.TheHorse.com that discuss that.

What you are describing is EXACTLY how my insulin resistant horse started out. Then all of a sudden I noticed he was dropping weight almost before my eyes. Not all metabolic horses will lose weight though.

Early signs of Equine Metabolic Syndrome are hard to detect even by a vet unless that vet is VERY savvy about the disease. My two were not -- there merely said my horse was "probably cushionoid" even after two sets of blood work.

Purina WellSolve has some excellent information regarding Insulin Resistance/Equine Metabolic Syndrome and Cushings.

Purina Mills WellSolve® Horse Feed

Follow the links in the blue bar on the left side of the page.

Once I got my horse back on track with a strict diet, he quit all that laying down and went back to being just as full of sass as he was when he was 10. He is now 21-1/2 and is nearly two years into EMS without having to be on drugs.

It may be that your horse is not metabolic, but if all this laying down is not the norm for him, something is wrong and I would have a vet out


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## FGRanch (Feb 9, 2008)

I had a yearling colt, that should have been full of energy, that would lay down about 60% of the day, there was no issues with him. I would watch for any sort of change in your guy, but he could just be a less active horse.


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## walkinthewalk (Jul 23, 2008)

FehrGroundRanch said:


> I had a yearling colt, that should have been full of energy, that would lay down about 60% of the day, there was no issues with him. I would watch for any sort of change in your guy, but he could just be a less active horse.


Part of a very young horse's job description is to lay down a lot

The subject horse is in its late teens - early 20's and should not be suddenly laying down as much as has been described

This horse is also a rescue case and if it's history isn't known, all the more reason to be concerned


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## NorthernMama (Mar 12, 2008)

If you've had this horse long enough to see that this is a change in behavior for him, I would investigate. 

I had a horse that started to lay down on me a lot. Like you, there were no signs of colic, lameness, upset, etc. etc. However, several weeks after I noticed the frequent, longish, laying down, my gelding developed swelling on his hind fetlocks. There was no heat, he wasn't lame, I could poke as much as I wanted to. I hosed, poulticed, wrapped, to no avail. Finally I succumbed called the vet and we ended up doing ultrasound and xrays because we couldn't find any answers. Ends up he had osteoarthritis and sesasmoiditis. I treated him with glucosamine and chondroiton and saw improvements within a weeks and he stopped laying down so much. He started to trot around and all in all became a whole new horse!

It also was the case that I treated this guy for ulcers as he was underweight. Aleo Vera juice and Slippery Elm bark... the next time the vet came out, she commented on his weight improvement!

Good luck.


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## twogeldings (Aug 11, 2008)

Thank you for all your replies  I do fear that the poor old guy may in fact have ulcers and maybe even arthritis issues. I'm going to try and get a vet out as early as possible.


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