A niggling worry re ulcers

Emilieu

Emilieu

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I have a niggle in the back of my head regarding my new boy. He's an ex racer and I was told by a trainer previously that 90% of ex racers suffer from ulcers. He is very girthy - better if you do it up slowly and fine if you are tighening the girth while on board. I don't think he shows any other symptoms from what I can see from googling them but would you still be concerned given his history? And if you were what would you do? I've heard that feeding charcoal as a suppliment can help but wonder if it would be better to go straight through the vets. If i do go via the vet would you phone them out now or wait until his next lot of vaccs and check up is due in around 5 months?
Am I over reacting horribly or would you be worried too? :o
 
Yes, this sounds like ulcers to me. My horse only showed the girthing symptons but he still had Grade 4 ulcers & he's not a stressy ex-racer. Think how painful they must be if you're girthing up. There's a good video on here if you do a search which clearly shows the symptons.

My first scoping was free, so to me it was worth the hassle - it became very expensive thereafter though!
 
Well I have a couple who have had ulcers, and yes as an ex racer it is likely he has them/has had them, to some extent. You will often find the coat isn't that shiny, and that they eat on and off. I would be avoiding all cereals, turning out as much as possible, and providing a wide range of forage options. Charcoal I have heard good things of, but neighlox is very good too. The vet will give you the definitve answer on scoping, but I would be inclined to look at management options, if his weight etc all look good.
 
zaminda said:
Well I have a couple who have had ulcers, and yes as an ex racer it is likely he has them/has had them, to some extent. You will often find the coat isn't that shiny, and that they eat on and off. I would be avoiding all cereals, turning out as much as possible, and providing a wide range of forage options. Charcoal I have heard good things of, but neighlox is very good too. The vet will give you the definitve answer on scoping, but I would be inclined to look at management options, if his weight etc all look good.
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This isn't always the case though. My horse is a very healthy horse, shiney coat (lovely dappley bay in the summer), always eats well and on a high fibre diet - I've owned him all his life and this has always been the case. Not saying that the management options should not be reviewd but its not always the reason why they've got ulcers.
 
Thanks very much guys. Sounds like i'm not paranoid then. His weight is good (verging on too good) and he eats well. He is currently out 24/7 and gets two handfuls of chaff to carry his pink powder and linseed oil. His cost was pretty dull when he arrived but the linseed seems to have sorted that out.
I think I will try adding a supplement then and seeing if it makes any difference. Or does anyone think that's a terrible plan and I should phone vet asap?x
 
LittleBlackMule said:
At Moorcroft racehorse rehab centre they feed all theirs aloe vera for ulcers.
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I have a Draft horse (about as far from an ex-racer as you can get) who had been fed far too much cereal before I got her. She was very girthy and really didn't like tack at all. After reading a tip on here, I started giving her aloe vera juice and she is much improved.
 
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