over feeding - colic

Question
hello ma'am, if i over feed a horse, how come it leads to colic?

Answer
Hi Rohit,

Thank you for your question.  Colic is a pretty general term meaning a gut ache in a horse.  There are different kinds of colic that can be caused by very different issues.  I don't believe there is such a thing as over feeding forage to a horse, unless it includes sudden changes in forage types and sources or the use of overly mature forages.  

Overfeeding grain, more specifically over feeding NSC-rich grain, can increase the risk of a horse developing gas colic.  Horses are meant to digest NSC in the stomach but the stomach has limited storage and digestive capacity.  So feeding too much NSC rich grain may cause the grain to leave the stomach undigested and end up in the horse's cecum.  Starch will be digested by bacteria in the cecum, which in turn increases acid level (lowers cecal pH) and produces gas.  Both the acid and the gas can cause colic along with other digestive issues.  You will not have the same negative effects when feeding fiber or fat based feeds as you do in feeding starch rich grain.


Thanks, Corlena