Keeping an eye on colic

Azoturia sounds a bit like a pretty girls’ name, but it’s actually a painful condition affecting horses’ muscle tissue. Horses suffering from it develop a profound cramp-like stiffness, are very reluctant even to walk and are often in severe distress.

It is also known as “tying up”, “equine rhabdomyolysis syndrome”, “set-fast” or “Monday morning disease” – on account of the fact that it frequently occurs the day after a day off. According to research carried out on 1,000 horses in training, the overall incidence of the condition was 7%, and 75% of affected horses had repeated episodes.*

A typical incident: amateur event rider Lizzie Neville was walking home from a hack when her mare’s stride began to shorten. By the time she had dismounted at the yard, the horse had an elevated pulse, was sweating and could barely walk into its stable – classic azoturia symptoms. After administering pain relief and taking blood tests, the vet prescribed four weeks on the easy list.

What to do if your horse shows these symptoms:

1. Consult your vet.
2. Don’t force the horse to move if it has seized up. If you are out, it is advisable to organise transport home.
3. Put rugs or coats over the quarters to prevent already painful muscles from getting cold.
4. Encourage the horse to drink to flush out the kidneys. If the horse has blood-stained urine, seek urgent veterinary attention.
5. If the horse is at home, put it in the stable with a deep bed so that it can lie down.
6. Offer hay to encourage the stressed horse to relax.

Why does it happen?

While there appears to be a genetic link and a susceptibility in mares, vets believe that azoturia is often due to overfeeding.

“It is partly due to the sudden breakdown of large quantities of carbohydrate, which has been allowed to build up in the muscle tissue through excessive feeding,” says vet Gil Riley. “An episode is usually resolved by injectable pain relief and gentle walking out. However, prevention is always better than cure, and there are a few simple steps you can follow that will minimise the likelihood of azoturia occurring.”

Top tips for avoiding azoturia:

1. Keep carbohydrates to a minimum. “If possible, feed only hay – not haylage, which is sugar-rich. If hard feed is required, it should be high-fibre/low-starch mix with high oil content (13%),” suggests Gil.
2. Monitor weight closely, with regular, consistent exercise. If you are unable to work the horse, reduce the feed accordingly. Only increase the diet after the work has been increased, not before. Reduce feed for rest days.
3. Warm up and cool down effectively and try to avoid over-exertion.
4. Keep stress levels low, with regular routine and minimal excitement.
5. Use electrolytes when the travel and workload are high.
6. Consider adding a supplement with antioxidants selenium and vitamin E, for optimal muscle function.
7. Be aware that some mares are prone to azoturia. Gil advises discussing this with your vet. “They can prescribe a drug that will stop her seasons and will help prevent tying up in these cases,” says Gil.

Learning to manage the condition:

Azoturia is an alarming condition the first time you experience it. The horse goes rapidly and dramatically lame, and can be very distressed. However, while a bad episode may require a few weeks off to allow the muscles to repair, sometimes the horse will need only a few days walking out, and it rarely causes long-term damage.

Lizzie Neville’s mare, which has suffered three episodes, is evidently prone to the condition, but Lizzie has worked out how to manage it and her horse has not had an attack since 2009.

“I am very careful not to feed her anything at all heating, like sugar beet, and she always has a selenium/vitamin E supplement,” says Lizzie. “She’s a competition horse, so she has to be able to cope with some stress and excitement, but I do take great care with her warm-up and routine, and it seems to be paying off.”

* Research was carrief out for the Veterinary Record, a journal/research archive for vets.