May I ask what circumsatances can lead to bowel obstruction horses?Our local vet has just had to euthanase one of our horses who had an obstruction causing immense pain, vomiting,heart rate > 120, rolling, dehydration. She was dying when we found her and the kindest course was to put her down. She been out to pasture each day when she comes in to the yard for the night she receives a small amount of oaten hay. she has nor been chewing bones or bark and has had no concentrated feeds. Is it possible rolling could have lead to these complications?What a sad day it has been.I look forward to your reply.Yours sincerely XXXXX
Unfortunately it is a series of event that by bad luck align themselves.
The large colon in horses is a large long fermentation chamber, that ferments the cellulose to make it digestible
the many bacteria in the colon are the main player of the fermentation and this creates some gas.
the bacterial flora of the intestine can get unbalanced and produce more gas than usually, and it makes the intestine move within the belly. This happens often and is not a big deal unless it happens to move the intestine enough that it twists on itself
there is often no direct causative reason
the blamed causes are often parasite (alter motility of the intestine), lack of water (dehydrating the colon, making it heavier and affecting the bacteria), too much gain, or sudden change in food (affects the balance of the bacterial flora.
As long as the horse is regularly dewormed and that he have water available, he eats descent quality food without sudden changes, it will be only bad luck
Hope this helps,
Sorry for your loss