ridecamp@endurance.net: Re: quality of gut sounds / ouchy hooves

Re: quality of gut sounds / ouchy hooves

K S Swigart (katswig@deltanet.com)
Sun, 14 Dec 1997 20:23:16 -0800 (PST)

On Sun, 14 Dec 1997, KIMBERLY PRICE wrote:

> I'd like to hear some rumbling interpretations too! Like, sometimes
> when we are trotting and I hear what sounds like a partially inflated
> tire from his gut. Is that just an empty sack or what? Know which
> sound I mean? I never hear anyone else's horse do that, but my friends
> say they do.
>
> His stomach grumbles as soon as he starts eating. Am I in the clear
> then?

Here is my own experience/take on gut sounds....

I am not particularly interested in my horses gut sounds. My horse is a
piggish eater. If he is not willing to devour everything offered to
him...I am concerned. If he goes for food with gusto, tthen I am not
concerned. I don't really care much what his gut sounds like.

I can't say that I have never had any "trouble" with my horse having some
"discomfort" in his gut and seeming a "bit colicky" but I have never had
any trouble as long as he is willing and eager to eat, even if his gut is
dead silent.

So far, all the horses I have ridden in endurance have been voracious
eaters, snatching at every morsal of food that comes even marginally
within distance. However, I do have a friend who has a horse that is a
finicky eater (but he is at home too), so I would be less concerned if
Robbie were "off his feed" than I would if one of my horses were.

So for me, the short answer is...

I find "eating habits" to be far more indicative of the state of my
horse's gut than I do gut sounds, either quantity or quality.

kat
Orange County, Calif.

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