Colic — abdominal pain in horses — is the leading cause of premature death and emergency veterinary intervention in equids, often causing severe, acute suffering.
Colic is perhaps the most acute welfare emergency horses face. Severe colic pain causes frantic behavior: rolling, pawing, looking at the flank, and attempting to lie down repeatedly. Horses with large colon volvulus are in extreme agony — pain scores in equine colic exceed nearly all other conditions. The hours between symptom onset and veterinary assessment or surgical intervention represent a period of intense suffering. Financial barriers to surgery mean horses that could be saved are euthanized, while horses with poor prognoses sometimes undergo surgery for owner emotional reasons — creating welfare problems at both ends. Adequate pain management during the wait for surgical assessment is a critical and sometimes neglected welfare intervention.