Since the dawn of time, we have all heard of how the lunar phases can affect both humans and animals. I decided to look into how horses can be affected by the moon phases and I stumbled upon an interesting correlation. Is there a particular phase of the moon that horses are more prone to colic during?
Colic can be one of the most stressful medical uprises to experience with horses because it can be unpredictable and unpreventable. But what if, we were able to look at the lunar phase and be aware of when a horse could be prone to colic?
Colic is defined by any abdominal pain, but horse owners typically refer to colic as any problem in the gastrointestinal tract. One of the many effects the moon has on humans is our hormone fluctuations and in turn, our emotional soundness. Colic, however, can have a number of causes including an abrupt change in feed, tainted feed, lack of water, sand ingestion, stress, and so on. Does this mean it is possible that during the waxing gibbous lunar phase and full lunar phase a horse’s hormones tend to increase which can lead to stress and ultimately colic?
Lucile Vigouroux, a student at Centenary University, in Hackettstown, New Jersey, and co-authors Danielle Ferriola; Jesslyn Bryk-Lucy, DVM; and Linda Ritchie, MBE, conducted and presented a study in 2019 to investigate if the moon phase has an effect on horses and colic. Over the course of their research, they found that horses coliced because of dehydration, weather, and nutrition.
Vigouroux did note a weak, but significant association between colic and moon phase. During the waxing gibbous and full moon phase, the colic cases were 60% higher during those times. One thing the research did not mention nor disprove was the fact that if a horse’s hormone levels surges during the waxing gibbous and full moon phase does that also increase its risk for colic due to stress as it did for dehydration, weather, and nutrition?
However, more research needs to be done to give a stronger correlation between the lunar phase and horse’s colicing. Until then, I think that between Vigouroux’s research and horse’s hormone fluctuations, it’s not a bad idea to be more aware of colic symptoms during the waxing gibbous and full moon phase.
I love hearing from all of you so if you have additional information on this subject please don’t hesitate to reach out on my personal Instagram @unbridledmama or drop a comment below!
You can find the original article here:
https://thehorse.com/178132/does-the-moon-phase-affect-horses-colic-risk/
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