Hear from owners who said ‘yes’ to colic surgery. Learn what helped them make the decision, how it went, and whether they would do it all again.
Your horse is amazing, and you couldn’t be happier. Every ride is great, and every day you wonder, How did I get so lucky.
Then the doubts set in. It’s hard to beat them back. I mean, he is a horse, after all. What if he gets hurt? What if he goes lame? And the worst nightmare of all, what if he needs colic surgery?
You’ve heard so many stories. People say colic surgery is incredibly expensive. (It is!) They warn that the recovery process is a nightmare. (Some are, some aren’t—but no matter what, it’s a long, hard road.) And perhaps most frightening of all, they claim horses never come back the same. (Some may struggle, but others return even better than before!)
One thing is true. Every horse’s colic surgery experience is different, and every owner who has been through the ordeal has a story to tell. Because no colic is exactly like another, not only are the stories highly variable, there’s very little consistent scientific data on colic surgery outcomes to help make things clear if you find yourself facing a colic surgery decision.
So how do you decide? In this article, we’re going to start by looking at five undeniable facts. These are the things you’ll need to understand and accept in every situation should your horse need colic surgery. Next, we’ll talk to three owners with three very different horses who decided to proceed with surgery. We’ll learn what factors influenced their decision, what they experienced before and after surgery, and finally, whether they would do it all again.
Five Fast Facts About Colic Surgery
Fact #1: When you need it, you need it.
Estimates say that while 90% or more of colic episodes resolve with medical treatment, approximately 10% will require surgery to survive. If your horse has a loop of intestine that’s become displaced, twisted around itself, or somehow become trapped and strangulated, his problem won’t be solved with any kind of medical treatment.
When surgery is necessary, it’s important to realize that more pain-relieving medications or a little more time won’t help. That’s why it’s crucial to think about colic surgery ahead of time. When the time does come, you’ll face a decision between surgery and euthanasia, not surgery and wait and see.
Fact #2: It’s expensive.
There’s just no getting around the fact that colic surgery is expensive. Even without complications, you’re likely to find yourself facing a $10,000 bill, or even more. If you’re pretty sure that you’d say yes to a colic surgery decision, make sure you know where the funds are coming from and how you can access them quickly—whether it’s cash-on-hand or through an insurance policy or a savings plan.
Fact #3: Time matters.
While data collected about colic surgery outcomes is incredibly variable, most experts agree that prompt referral is one of the most important factors for success. The sooner you get your horse to surgery, the better your chances for a positive outcome. Every minute counts. While horse owners may have heard this said, few are prepared for just how fast it happens if your horse requires surgery. Once again, planning ahead is key.
Fact #4: Things go wrong.
Colic surgery isn’t for the faint of heart. Even if your horse is young and healthy, you refer right away, and the prognosis at the outset looks great, things can still go wrong. Prepare yourself for unanticipated complications, such as injury during a difficult recovery or problems with the surgical incision.
Fact #5: Recovery can be long …and hard.
After your horse pulls through the surgery and is discharged from the hospital, there’s still a long road ahead. It will take a minimum of three months to recover from surgery before going back to work, and even longer to regain fitness. The early days of recovery will require time in a stall with carefully controlled exercise. Not an easy assignment for some less cooperative types.
The Bright Side: What Owners Have to Say
Is colic surgery stressful, hard, and expensive? Yes, it is. But if your horse experiences a surgical colic, it’s also unavoidable if you want to save their life. So let’s take a minute to hear from some horse owners who have been through the experience. Would they do it all again?
CASE #1: Hard
The patient and the person: Edward is a 15-year-old warmblood gelding who was 12 at the time of surgery and performing in dressage at the Prix St. Georges level. He had never had a previous colic episode and he and his owner, Sherri, had been to a horse show the weekend before it happened. He was at the prime of his life.
What happened? Edward’s colic symptoms came on suddenly and violently. Sherri was out of town at the time, and a friend found him painful in his stall. Sherri recounts that the days leading up to the colic episode were kind of a perfect storm.
“I left to go out of town after the horse show, and my trainer was out of town for the couple of days before it happened. Edward doesn’t get turned out anyway because he’s unreliable in the field, so he had been locked inside. I had also made a diet change to a new type of hay several weeks before and had noticed him being more gassy than normal. My vet gave me a hard time for that. I remember him saying, ‘Why did you change his food? … you idiot,’” Sherri laughs.
How did you decide? Sherri’s decisions that night were made from an airplane. “Even though the vet who saw Edward initially thought he would be OK, my friend who found him wanted to take him to the surgical facility because he was so painful,” Sherri remembers. “Ultimately, I got on the phone with my long-time veterinarian, and he made the decision for me. He said I don’t want to get to the point where it’s too late. I never would have considered euthanasia at that point. I just wanted to do what was best for my horse.”
Edward went to surgery that same night. Fortunately, he didn’t have to have any sections of intestine removed, and his prognosis for recovery was good.
“The biggest thing in my decision was that I had a vet I worked with for 25 years who I trusted implicitly,” she concludes. “He really helped me.”
Recovery and beyond: Edward stayed at the hospital for eight or nine days after surgery.
“It was during COVID,” Sherri remembers. “So it was kind of weird. The hospital wouldn’t let me in to see him, but the surgeon was great. He would bring Edward outside so I could visit.”
When he finally came home, he had to be locked in the stall and hand-walked. “It was terrible,” Sherri says. “We had to sedate him because he was unsafe to handle.”
Ultimately, Sherri was able to put Edward on a walker and then rehabilitate him under saddle. “That first 90 days was the worst part. But once he went back to work, he never had a problem again.”
Would you do it all again? Even though it was difficult at the time, Sherri has no doubts. “I would 100% do it again. He came back better than ever, and I never worry about it.” Edward is 15 years old now and is still performing at a high level of competition.
CASE #2: Harder
The patient and the person: Tiianae was a 33-year-old Arabian gelding and had been the picture of health for his entire life. His owner, Patti, is a lifelong horse lover and had previously owned a number of horses that lived into their 30s. Tiianae’s father had lived into his 40s. To Patti, her horse was 33-years-young.
What happened? Patti found Tiianae down in his field with his blanket on. She immediately recognized that he was colicking and called her vet—who came out right away.
“My vet gave him a dose of Banamine,” she recalls. “He was comfortable immediately. Then she performed a rectal exam. I will never forget standing there when she said that I need to leave now if I want to take him to surgery. My husband wanted to go take a shower, and my vet said no, you need to leave now.”
At surgery there was a fatty tumor wrapped around a section of small intestine, a common cause of colic in older horses. Fortunately, because of Patti’s quick action in getting her horse to the surgery table, the intestine itself was not terribly compromised so it did not have to be removed, giving Tiianae a good chance to make a full recovery.
How did you decide? Patti remembers that Tiianae was comfortable after the Banamine, and the surgical center was close. This was a big factor in her decision. “The biggest thing for me was that his pain was controlled. He wasn’t in distress. It all happened so fast that I never really considered any other choice. You really need to decide in the moment.”
Many might question Patti’s choice, given her horse’s advanced age. “Even with his age, my vet instilled confidence that it was the right thing to do. He was in great shape. Why wouldn’t I give him the chance?”
She stresses that the relationship with your vet is incredibly important. “In my case, my vet knew me really well and knew what kind of person I am. I trusted her completely.”
Recovery and beyond: Tiianae’s recovery was difficult. “He spent three weeks at the hospital and then we basically brought him home to die,” Patti recalls. “I called several times to have him euthanized in the first couple of days, but then he rallied.”
And once he recovered fully, he spent the rest of his days running in the pasture with a large herd of horses. “He had a lot of moments of joy,” says Patti. “I knew he was happy—which made it all worth it.”
Would you do it all again? “It was grueling and expensive. But if their pain can be controlled, I would absolutely do it again.”
Patti acknowledges that some people make the decision based on finances, especially for their older horses and would never judge them for doing so. But said that she would not feel OK if she didn’t try and give her horse the chance to live.
In Tiianae’s case, those last months of running in the pasture with his herd made it all worthwhile.
CASE #3: Hardest
The patient and the person: Keira is a Quarter Horse mare who was 3 years old and in training to become a reining horse at the time of her surgery. She had never seen a vet for anything other than routine care. Her owner, Nichole, has been around horses for her entire life and has had plenty of experience with colic—including having surgery done on another young horse several years before Keira’s colic episode.
What happened? “I wasn’t at the barn when Keira first started showing signs,” Nichole shares. “Fortunately, one of the students at the barn is also a vet tech for the large animal hospital nearby and recognized the signs of colic very quickly.”
As soon as Nichole arrived, she knew something was wrong. Even with a dose of Banamine on board, her horse was still extremely painful.
“My vet started her on fluids, but within 15 minutes, I made the decision to put her on the trailer and get her to the surgical facility.”
When they arrived, Keira was down in the trailer, and it was clear she needed surgery to survive.
She had a twisted colon that was at risk of rupturing, and things didn’t look good. Soon after starting surgery, the surgeon checked in with Nichole multiple times to see if she wanted to continue because of the seriousness of Keira’s condition.
How did you decide? Nichole knew at the outset that if her horse ever needed surgery, she would opt to do it, in part because she had had such a positive experience with her previous horse. She had planned to make sure she had the finances in place to support her decision with both a colic insurance policy and Platinum Performance’s colic coverage program.
A close relationship with her regular vet helped her make the harder decisions she faced throughout the ordeal.
“I am really lucky that my vet is a good friend of mine,” says Nichole. “When I was making the decision to continue with surgery, he told me that my mare was such a fighter she deserved the chance to win