Travel, Competition and Colic: Reducing Digestive Disruption on the Road

Why travel can challenge the digestive system

Horses are built for steady movement, regular access to forage, and familiar routines. A trip can interrupt all three. Even a well-planned journey may involve:

• Standing in a float for long periods
• Eating and drinking less
• Warmer conditions
• Unfamiliar water
• Less paddock time after arrival

Some of the biggest travel risks are easy to miss because they are not dramatic:

• A horse refusing unfamiliar water
• Long gap without forage
• Sudden switch in hay
• Poor airflow on a hot day
• A busy show schedule that makes normal monitoring easy to miss

Start the plan before departure

The best time to protect your horse’s routine is before the float is loaded. Begin preparing several days ahead when you can, especially for a long trip, a multi-day show, or a new destination.

Keep feed familiar

Avoid introducing a new concentrate, hay, or changing the feeding schedule immediately before travel.

• Pack enough of your horse’s usual forage for the journey and the first part of the stay whenever practical. A change in hay can still be significant, even when it is the same type of hay.
• If a change is unavoidable, make it gradually (over 14 days) well before departure.

Confirm the baseline

The day before you leave, take a minute to note what is normal for your horse.

• Is the horse eating, drinking, and passing droppings as usual?
• Are they bright and comfortable?

For horses that travel often or have a history of digestive problems, it can be helpful to record a normal resting temperature, pulse, and respiratory rate when the horse is well. These notes give you something useful to compare after the trip.

Plan for water

Some horses drink less from unfamiliar buckets or water sources.

• Bring clean buckets from home and, where feasible, enough familiar water to bridge the first part of the journey or arrival.
• Offer water regularly according to the trip length, weather, and advice from your veterinarian or professional transporter.
• Make sure you have a way to refill safely on the road.

Check the practical details

• Confirm the float is safe, well ventilated, and appropriate for the weather.
• Plan the route, safe rest stops, and places to check your horse. Check any local biosecurity, transport, and event requirements before you leave.
• Know where to find vet services near the destination.
• Carry your veterinarian’s number, the horse’s health records, and a basic travel first-aid kit.
• Discuss the plan with your veterinarian if your horse has had colic, abdominal surgery, repeated digestive upset, or a current health concern.

During the journey: protect the basics

On the road, the goal is not to create a perfect routine. It is to make the journey as steady, safe, and comfortable as possible.

Maintain suitable forage access

Forage helps support normal feeding behaviour and saliva production.

• Avoid unnecessary, prolonged gaps without forage, while following the individual plan recommended by your veterinarian or transporter.
• Use a safe hay net or feeder that fits the float setup and your horse’s needs.
• Do not make a last-minute change to a new hay or other feed because it seems convenient for travel.

Studies have not identified one ideal feeding plan for every horse before travel. Long journeys can affect the stomach, and the timing of a horse’s last meal may matter.

Keep your horse’s usual feeding routine as familiar as possible, avoid last-minute changes, and follow the plan recommended by your veterinarian or transporter.

Manage heat and airflow

Heat can increase fluid loss and make transport harder on the horse.

• Use good ventilation, plan travel around the coolest practical part of the day when conditions call for it, and avoid leaving a horse standing in a hot float.
• Check the horse safely during scheduled stops. Look for excessive sweating, dullness, rapid breathing, or behaviour that is out of character.

Watch without over-handling

Monitor the horse when it is safe to do so.

• A float camera can help you monitor your horse during travel.
• Look for changes such as refusing hay or water, unusual quietness, repeated pawing, flank watching, sweating, or signs of discomfort.
• Do not climb into a float with a distressed horse or put yourself at risk.
• If something seems wrong, stop safely and call for professional advice.

For longer trips, rest arrangements should be planned around the individual horse, journey conditions, and local regulations. Discuss overnight stops, unloading, watering, feeding, and monitoring with the transporter in advance.

Competition adds extra pressure points

A competition weekend is more than a float ride. The horse may be:

• In unfamiliar stabling or a new yard
• Working harder than usual
• Exposed to noise and activity
• Following a different feeding routine or having less paddock time

These factors can add up, especially in horses that are sensitive to routine changes. Build quiet checkpoints into the day:

• Offer familiar forage and water
• Check the stall and buckets
• Monitor droppings output, appetite, and attitude

A horse that is normally eager to eat but leaves a meal should not be dismissed as simply “showing nerves.” It may be nothing serious, but it is useful information.

The first 24 hours after arrival matter

Many horses look settled once they are unloaded, but the period after travel is still important. Offer water and the horse’s familiar forage as planned, then give them time to rest in a safe environment. Re-establish normal feeding, paddock time, and exercise as soon as practical rather than making several more changes at once.

Pay close attention through the first evening and following morning. Check that the horse is eating, drinking, passing droppings, and acting normally. Where it is safe and appropriate, monitor temperature as well.

Travel can also be associated with respiratory illness, so fever, nasal discharge, cough, or unusual dullness deserve attention along with digestive signs.

Call your veterinarian promptly if the horse is dull, will not eat or drink normally, produces less droppings, has diarrhoea, seems painful, or has a fever or respiratory signs.

Where does Stress Paste fit?

Good travel management comes first. Familiar forage, water access, ventilation, safe transport, and close observation are the foundation of a travel plan.

A short-term nutritional support product such as Stress Paste may be considered before and during travel or other predictable periods of short-term stress.

Stress Paste may provide short-term digestive support before travel, when changes in routine, feeding, and water intake can challenge the gut. Its buffering and gut-support ingredients may help support normal stomach comfort and a stable hindgut environment. Use it alongside familiar forage, access to water, good airflow, and close monitoring.

A simple travel colic-reduction checklist

• Keep forage, feed, and feeding times as familiar as possible.
• Do not introduce a new feed or hay immediately before the trip.
• Pack familiar forage, clean buckets, and familiar water when practical.
• Plan ventilation, weather management, safe rest stops, and monitoring.
• Know the horse’s normal appetite, drinking, droppings, and behaviour before leaving.
• Check appetite, water intake, droppings, temperature, and comfort after arrival.
• Have local vet contact details ready before you need them.
• Call your veterinarian early if anything is not right.

No one can prevent every colic episode. But a clear travel plan helps reduce avoidable digestive disruption and makes it easier to spot a problem early. If you are worried about your horse at any point, call your vet — early advice is always better than waiting to see whether a concern becomes serious.

Frequently asked questions