[Caterina]

When a horse is colicing should you let them roll? as long as they arnt at a risk of injuring themselves on a wall or other object?

My vet is against letting them roll, and I know alot of people that go to great lengths to make a horse not...like whiping, throwing water, kicking...hucking buckets...etc...

I am under the impression that rolling will NOT make a horse twist an intestine...
and that you should let them lie down calmly and roll, AS LONG as they dont get too carried away... Am i wrong? or will this kinda be like feeding dry beet pulp...you know it wont, but you cant help but not let them?

[LuvmyNSH]

NO! I have always been told NOT to let your horse roll because it will cause intestine twisting!!! If there is a horse at our barn colicing we always just make them keep walking....or take them in a horse trailer...for some reason that ALWAYS makes them go to the bathroom...but Dont let them roll....

[Caterina]

theres research which is proving that rolling wont make the intestien twist....something about air in the gut that makes the intestines twist...

[Caterina]

ive known a horse that twisted its intestine WITHOUT rolling...so you can see why im confused.....but i dont have enough FACTS to go one way or anther

[MissBandit]

That is right Caterina, displacement colic will happen regardless of the animal rolling or not. There are many different types of colic, only displacement colic sees the intestines twisting up. Rolling will not 'cause' that. Allowing the horse to lay down and rest is perfectly fine. Whipping them, throwing water on them will only cause to stress the horse even more, potentially making a bad situation much much worse. As long as the horse is not thrashing about and hurting themselves, then IMO you should let them do what feels most comfortable.

[Super Step]

I remember BW talking about research where horses were confined and unable to roll and still twisted a gut. Rolling is not the cause of all intestinal twist, if any. Would be hard to prove either way.

I is still hard for me to let one roll, just out of habit I suppose.
I have no problem with one down and resting, not thrashing around. I have seen them in so much pain that they just folded and went down. If they are basically still, I will let them lie down.
I am fortunate that I have not to deal with colic with any of my horses in years.
I have a friend who's house I am called to several times a year because I keep banamine.

[harli36]

Recent research has shown that a horse won't twist an intestine by rolling, some vets are up on current research. Or are stubborn in their ways. One of the most important factors in a colic case is to keep the animal as stress free as possible, since stress by itself can cause colic. When a horse has colic they feel the need to roll and by not letting them roll you are stressing them out, thus compounding the problem.

It is perfectly fine to let a horse roll as long as they aren't thrashing around, and the worry with that is that they will hurt themselves, not twist an intestine.

[ZZ Murphy]

NO. Hand walk. Tie if possible. Put on the hot walker. Anything but letting them roll. Your horse may have twisted without rolling. That can happen, of course.

Usually a gas colic will be easily treated with pain medication and preventive action. Letting a horse roll may add a torsion to the mix. There should be no question on this. If there is new research that rolling doesn't cause twists I would sure appreciate the reference so I can see how it was done. I do not believe it. I have dealt with many colics; gas, twists; innececeptions (sp?); sand; impactions; herniations, etc..

Until there is a great deal of evidence to the contrary (I won't hold my breath) there is no way I would allow a horse to roll. If the horse lies down, especially sternally, and is quiet I would let it rest. But I would be watchful... and medicate.

[harli36]

ZZ Murphy I'm sorry to say I don't have the specifics on the research but there is enough research showing rolling does not cause twisting for 3 different professors (also vet's) who teach at Penn State University to teach all of their students that rolling in colic is not the evil it was once thought to be.

[KonKata]

I wouldn't let a horse roll, either.

Walking the horse will stimulate movement in the intestine that, in most cases, will be good for it. Letting them roll is never a good idea because, if a horse goes down, how on earth can you ever force it back up? The animal weighs so much more than you. You cannot possibly lift the animal into standing if it really doesn't want to and the same goes for rolling. If you allow your horse to go down, they can do whatever they want down there. The solution is not to let it down in the first place. Splashing water, whipping, doing whatever you can to keep the horse up may be stressful in a situation like this, but I would much rather prefer that than chancing a horse lay down to roll and twist something or injure itself further.

I'm not sure about the new tests that are run...unless they are stimulating colic in the horse, it's almost impossible to find out what sort of colic it actually is without diving into the mess and palpating the animal or opening it up. How could a horse's intestines twist without some kind of movement to first bundle it up in the first place?