Diarrhoea in horses can be dangerous and difficult to treat. Most horse diarrhoea is short lived and causes little concern but when the lining of the gut is damaged and serious infection sets in horses can loose a lot of weight quickly and become permanently damaged. The most dangerous cause of diarrhoea is salmonella infections.

Call your vet if: your horse is off colour and has a temperature, if the diarrhoea persists for more than a day or two, if a foal is affected at all.

Common causes: Stress/nerves. Sudden change of feed, serious infections eg salmonella, worms, prolonged antibiotic use.

Treatment: A vet will first try and determine the cause and attempt to remove it. It is very important that lost fluids are replaced by giving fluids and drugs may be used which slow down the passage of food through the gut. Probiotics are often useful to try and regain normal bacterial populations in the gut. Horses affected should be fed good quality hay and normally not allowed fresh grazing or succulent feeds.