You should be able to hear your pony’s gut sounds as he digests his food by putting your ear to his belly. You need to do this on both sides of your pony. In a pony these noises should be there nearly all of the time, as ponies are trickle feeders and therefore should be eating roughage like hay and grass throughout the whole day.
If you can’t hear the sounds or the sounds are much quieter, reduced, or different from normal it could be a sign of colic. Alongside this, you are likely to see some of the other signs of colic, like pawing, rolling, kicking the abdomen, looking at the flank, etc, but this is not always the case. Either way, colic is an emergency, and you need to put a call through to your vet right away.
