Understanding your horse’s gut noises

Word of the week: Borborygmic

Definition: Intestinal or gut sounds, caused by the propulsive action of the equine intestines that contain gas, water, and fee (horsesidevetguide.com).

Most horse owners are familiar with the idea of gut noise in horses. Or, we are familiar with the idea that the lack of gut noises is a sign of colic. How many times have you put your ear up to your horse’s side to see if you hear anything? I’d guess the answer is more than once. So what do those sounds actually mean? In this post, we will discuss where to listen, what you are listening to. And, what you can learn from those sounds.

Recommendation: I recommend you purchase a stethoscope for your equine emergency kit. This makes listening to your horse’s gut noise easier and safer.

Understanding the 4 quadrants

When listening to gut sounds we can divide the horse’s abdomen into 4 quadrants. In the diagram above you can see approximate locations to place your stethascope.

Upper Left Quadrant: Listen behind the last rib about mid-way up the abdomen. At this location you are near the pelvic flexure of the large intestine and the small intestine. Sounds in this quadrant should be quieter than other quadrants.

Lower Left Quadrant: Move down about 8 inches below your upper left quadrant location to find the lower quadrant. Here you are listening to the lower colon.

Upper Right Quadrant: This will be the same location as the upper left quadrant, just on the right side of your horse. This is the base of the cecum and gas is usually detected here.

Lower Left Quadrant: Again, moving down 8 inches from the upper-right location will put you at the lower right quadrant. In this location, you are listening to the body of the cecum. This should be where you hear the most sound.

Lowest Point of the abdomen: Move your stethoscope down even lower to the very bottom of the abdomen. This is the most common location to hear sand if present. Sand in the gut will sound like the sand on the beach as a wave recedes back into the water. It will have a hissing sound.

What’s normal gut noise?

What’s normal? That’s a good question! Just like with pulse, respiration, and temperature, it’s good to listen to your horse’s gut noise when there is no concern about possible illness. Listen as your horse is eating. Listen mid-day and in the evening (Some say this is the most common time of day for colic to present itself.). The bottom line, be familiar with the healthy gut noises of your horse.

Rating gut noises

Some veterinary publications refer to a scale where gut noises are rated from 0 – 3. Here is how they define the scale.

Listen to each location for 30 – 60 seconds. You should expect to hear 1 to 3 borborygmic events (gut noises) per minute. Less than one per minute would be rated as a zero or one (1) and could indicate colic. Lack of food and some medications may also reduce gut noises. More than 3 per minute would be rated as a three (3) and may mean diarrhea or colitis.

Sand in the gut? Moving down from the lower abdomen to the bottom of the abdomen, listen for any indication of sand. This can be described as the hissing sound sand makes as it is washed by a wave.

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