I watched the same show and it said when the muscles excrete alot of sweat and are sore that can cause tying up. Sometimes colic can happen at the same time which would be the belly ache.

 But I always thought when they tied up it's almost like cramping and they can't continue on and lay down. 

On the RFD TV special they were noticing it with horses that were in good condition, taht were worked regularly and if they gave them a day off and then they had the problem when they went back to work. Also more common in mares.

Research is now showing it can be related to too much starch and carbohydrate in a horse's diet. For a long time we thought that horses in hard work need > 20% starch and carbohydrate in their diet- most performance feeds are > 30%- thinking that horses used those in hard work. Current research is now showing that < 20% is fine for most horses. The easy keeping horses (I have foundation and cow bred QHs that fit this to a T) are much better off at less than 20%. You also have to take forage and pasture into consideration when thinking about those numbers.

I had a horse tie up about 7 years about and it was a symtom of the onset of Cushing's diease. It was very sudden and he was in fairly good condition but he was about 13 years old- typically when you start to see Cushings in the stock-type breds. I have a friend with a young (7 year old) Haflinger mare who tied up recently and the vet thought it was possibly the first sign that she was coming down with Potomac Horse Fever. The common denominator in both cases was that there was extreme humidity at both times. Neither horse was being worked extremely hard- just out for a trail ride around the farm- but were sweating profusely due to the humidity. I tend to use electrolytes more readily now, but we've also had more humidity the last few summers.   

  The term, "Monday morning sickness", arose from the fact that 'back in the day', when most WORK was done using horses, the hard-working horses usually got Sunday off, but still received the same 'full' feed they got all the rest of the time, esp. the grain portion, which most likely consisted of oats or corn. Come Monday morning-time to go back to work, horses were likely to develop 'tying up' (azoturia) once they were started back into work.

  When a horse is  QUITE REGULARLY doing serious work, esp. when being FED a generous amount of concentrated feed(grain, or nowadays, extruded pellet formulations of various sorts, along w/ supplements,etc.)and/or very 'rich' hay(such as high quality alfalfa), because of a belief that the horse NEEDS all that due to the amount of work it is doing, it is a VERY GOOD idea, whenever the horse has even ONE 'day off' from the work, to drastically REDUCE the amount of such concentrates and/or 'rich' alfalfa/legume hay, at LEAST for THAT day.

  Azoturia can be very dangerous to a horse. If a horse shows symptoms(coffee-colored urine, a reluctance to move, and what appears to be 'rigidity' of musculature), it should immediately be allowed to STOP moving, kept comfortable and warm until veterinary help is found.Do NOT 'make' the horse continue to work, or even to 'keep moving' thinking that they will 'work it out'...it doesn't work that way!

 I don't go quite all the way back to the time that horses did most of the work, but I HAVE spent the last 60+ years learning all I could(and still am)about horses of all kinds, in all aspects.

Margo AKA olehossgal

I've used a massage therapist too after one of ours had tied up and it seemed to help ease him back into work.

I've used a few of the Triple Crown products with horses with various issues. I don't think there is a better product than Triple Crown Senior!

Banamine usually helps and vets will sometimes prescribe this with ace and bute. I carry banamine and ace in my trailer first aid kit. I don't give drugs without talking to my vet first, and I've been really blessed to have vets who respond immediately to phone calls. It is difficult to watch a horse go through because it is painful. Every once in a while I pinch a nerve in my back and get muscle spasims, which is hellish painful, and I always imagine tying up is worse in a horse because more muscles are involved.

High fat diets are also recommended to help. There are more and more feeds on the market that are higher than 6% fat and seem to help horses prone to tying up.

The great thing about this forum is there is always something to learn!!!

 I've seen a couple of very fit endurance horses tie up after long trailer rides.