Advice On Ulcers

[SixteenBells]

Advanced apologies for a long thread!

I currently suspect my horse has ulcers, he is a rising 7 y/o more of a traditional type Warmblood.

He isn’t a quite good doer but holds his weight well, and is currently fed chopped grass, baileys lo cal balancer and speedi beet which he looks good on. He also has salt in his feed as recommended by physio, access to a salt lick, and ad lib hay so his ‘basic’ diet I don’t think is too much of an issue.
Last year he lived out 24/7 and I had no problems. He was stabled the end of last year and fine, as weather turned bad turnout was restricted, and he had saddle and back problems so I’m assuming this is where the issues stem from as he was very stressed without turnout and very limited work.
His teeth/ back/ saddle/ etc. Are now definitely not causing a problem.
He’s Irish and has quite a ‘get on with it’ attitude so it’s very difficult to work out when he’s suffering. I tried to ride him yesterday (he has been ridden 1-2 times a week since his saddle being fixed as I’ve been reluctant with his not being himself) and he loves his work and seemed bright eyed and happy until I got on, then he proceeded to bite behind his girth, swish his tail and refuse to go into trot. Then took him for a walk down the road in hand and he was happy as Larry.
Sorry for the excess information, I thought I’d set the scene as much as possible! While I would like to have him scoped, with EHV-1 and covid it doesn’t look likely to be doable in the too near future as he would need to be left at vets overnight.
So, if anybody has any advice re. Any preventions, treatments or advice it would be greatly appreciated! as

 

[ycbm]

Aloe vera juice had been tested against omeprazole in clinical trials and whilst its not as effective as the prescription drug, it works, and it costs a tiny fraction of the price. If I ever get the sort of symptoms you are seeing, I stick the horse on 25ml a day of aloe juice which I buy from ebay in 5lt bottles at about £40, so it's pennies a day. So far, not one horse I have given it to has failed to stop the ulcer signs, so I've never gone on to scope them.
.

 

[rabatsa]

Rainbow equine veterinary hospital at Malton have a webinar on gastric ulcers later this week, you could find them on facebook and apply to attend.

 

[Tash88]

Aloe vera juice had been tested against omeprazole in clinical trials and whilst its not as effective as the prescription drug, it works, and it costs a tiny fraction of the price. If I ever get the sort of symptoms you are seeing, I stick the horse on 25ml a day of aloe juice which I buy from ebay in 5lt bottles at about £40, so it's pennies a day. So far, not one horse I have given it to has failed to stop the ulcer signs, so I've never gone on to scope them.
.

I never knew that - very interesting and definitely worth remembering if my horses' ulcers ever flare up again.

 

[Ouch05]

Aloe vera juice had been tested against omeprazole in clinical trials and whilst its not as effective as the prescription drug, it works, and it costs a tiny fraction of the price. If I ever get the sort of symptoms you are seeing, I stick the horse on 25ml a day of aloe juice which I buy from ebay in 5lt bottles at about £40, so it's pennies a day. So far, not one horse I have given it to has failed to stop the ulcer signs, so I've never gone on to scope them.
.

Do you feed it continually or just when you see signs they are uncomfortable?

 

[HobleytheTB]

Some vets can scope at your yard - it could be worth asking around other vet practises if your current one doesn't offer it. I did it with my mare as I didn't see the point in stressing her out more with travel, unfamiliar environment etc.

 

[ycbm]

Do you feed it continually or just when you see signs they are uncomfortable?

In horses where there's no obvious reason, continuous. My mare who is on it now got girthy after having her whole life turned upside down at 7. I had a bottle on hand, and she is still getting it but when the bottle ends I will tail it off and see what happens without it.
.

 

[Fieldlife]

Aloe vera juice had been tested against omeprazole in clinical trials and whilst its not as effective as the prescription drug, it works, and it costs a tiny fraction of the price. If I ever get the sort of symptoms you are seeing, I stick the horse on 25ml a day of aloe juice which I buy from ebay in 5lt bottles at about £40, so it's pennies a day. So far, not one horse I have given it to has failed to stop the ulcer signs, so I've never gone on to scope them.
.

Does Aloe Vera juice need to be kept refrigerated between use in summer? Or would keeping it in a non working freezer in feedroom be okay? thanks

 

[Birker2020]

I suspected my horse has ulcers (amongst the other thousand issues) and I started him on Protexin Acid Ease and never really saw any improvements. However, I continued and I'm on my fourth or fifth tub now and have noticed he is less girthy although this can be because he's had a bit of treatment in the form of medication of his spinous processes and doing up the girth might be putting pressure from the saddle on his spine!

I ought to try the aloe vera juice.