A gut feeling

“HE was hurling himself to the ground,” recalls dressage rider Elli Darling of the day in March 2019 when Forever London developed colic. “It’s scary with an 18.2hh horse in a normal-sized stable.”

Elli was joined by London’s owner, Pat Pomp, and Harriet Easton MRCVS from local Suffolk practice Ryder-Davies & Partners. When an initial examination suggested more than mild medical colic, the gelding was transferred to Newmarket Equine Hospital (NEH). Suspicions proved correct when surgeons discovered the reason for London’s discomfort – a rare condition called idiopathic focal eosinophilic enteritis (IFEE).

“This disease causes blockage of the small intestine, when bands of inflammatory tissue form