Gastric ulcers - your experiences please

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chancing

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Hello,

Will try and keep a long story short. 10yr old ISH gelding bought in january came to me 'hunting fit' very poor condition, sore back bad feet etc. Slowly fixed all issues went great guns until april he began napping rearing shooting off refusing to work, had saddle and back re done. Behaviour continued recently scoped and found 2/3 sites of grade 2/3 ulcers. Currently 5 days into treatment for them. he has 5 more days before i can continue working him.

Has anyone else experienced a horse turn from genuine and kind but cheeky to downright horrendous and terrifying to ride, spooky very unpredicatable etc that once ulcers have been treated has returned to nice person they were prior to ulcers and treatment.

How do you manage your horses with ulcers? I have managed to secure a field not too far away for winter so he can have access to turnout as normally they are in oct/april time. I will be feeding a small chaff feed prior to exercise and ensuring constant access to forage - which he has normally anyway.

Are there any other measures I can take to help them heal and stop them returning and get my lovely boy back. End of my tether now cost me £2000 plus in last few months to get him sorted out, which i dont mind at all if it gets my friend back to the way he was when i first bought him in january.

Thank you
 
chancing said:
Hello,

Will try and keep a long story short. 10yr old ISH gelding bought in january came to me 'hunting fit' very poor condition, sore back bad feet etc. Slowly fixed all issues went great guns until april he began napping rearing shooting off refusing to work, had saddle and back re done. Behaviour continued recently scoped and found 2/3 sites of grade 2/3 ulcers. Currently 5 days into treatment for them. he has 5 more days before i can continue working him.

Has anyone else experienced a horse turn from genuine and kind but cheeky to downright horrendous and terrifying to ride, spooky very unpredicatable etc that once ulcers have been treated has returned to nice person they were prior to ulcers and treatment.

How do you manage your horses with ulcers? I have managed to secure a field not too far away for winter so he can have access to turnout as normally they are in oct/april time. I will be feeding a small chaff feed prior to exercise and ensuring constant access to forage - which he has normally anyway.

Are there any other measures I can take to help them heal and stop them returning and get my lovely boy back. End of my tether now cost me £2000 plus in last few months to get him sorted out, which i dont mind at all if it gets my friend back to the way he was when i first bought him in january.

Thank you
Click to expand...

Hello, yes and yes he did. We had scope> rest and omeprazole> rescope > more rest and omeprazole then gentle reintroduction of work.
Changed saddle, management, now lives out and never leave him without hay when in for any reason. I am very careful with arranging regular saddlechecks and physio as preventative measure. Ulcers have not reoccurred and he is good doer now.
I still use preventative omeprazole during times of likely stress such as firework season, herd move etc.
 
Mine didn't change behaviour as such - when she's having problems she gets reactive to being girthed (and before I worked out the problem and became much more proactive would swing at you as tho to bite even when groomed in that area).
Because her insurance doesn't cover GI stuff I've not been able to scope her and couldn't afford omeprazole in a million years so I treat herbally - the ones that 'reduce acid levels' are about as much use as a chocolate teapot and can actually cause a rebound increase in acid levels so avoid big style. I use mucalages - basically things that increase the mucus production in the stomach which provides protection against the acid preventing the ulcers. I use Hilton Herb's Gastrix but there are quite a few out there or you can buy the herbs straight. The ones you're looking for are slippery elm, marshmallow root,and liqourice - there are some others as well.
I use this alongside 24/7 access to forage and ideally 24/7 turnout. Even with absolutly optimal management Roo still gets symptomatic sometimes so currently she gets it for a tub/month when she has symptoms and they go within a day or two but once I'm qualified she'll go on it permentanly to prevent any recurrance - at £30 a month it's not stupidly expensive either
 
I have one with recurring ulcers - no longer covered by insurance so it costs me a fortune.

She's a very good doer so I manage her with as much turnout as possible and soaked hay. I also use preventative omeprazole when she is stressed or starting to get aggressive. Her ulcers flare up if she's stressed, anxious about food or in pain - so I try and manage all of that.
 
Always worth checking for colonic ulcers as well if horse has been diagnosed with gastric ones. High percentage of horses that have one, have t'other as well.
 
Ive had a year long battle with ulcers with my mare. I first thought something was afoot when she kept running away with me (pretty wild) at dressage competitions, and I kept having to retire. She was an absolute horror ! I initially thought it was hormones, and tried every supplement known to man, and none worked. So had her ovaries scanned. They were fine, so vet prescribed regumate, which helped enormously with the hormonal behaviour. However I was dismayed to find she would still be spooky, and tank off with me when competing, napping quite badly (running back to the collecting ring) and actually being quite scary. I was seriously losing the will to live (and my confidence was being destroyed) so my vets had a half price gastroscope day so we booked her in. I never considered she would actually have them - she isnt a thoroughbred, leads a pretty natural life etc etc, so i didnt think her 'type' were prone to them. I was just having her scoped to discount ulcers. Anyway, to my shock, she had grade 3 bleeding ulcers !! This pony was in immense pain !! So we had a month's treatment with sulfacrate and gastrogard, and she scoped clear. Withing about 3 days of going on the gastrogard, when was far more relaxed, and was a different horse. Well TBH after that the details are a blur, as they came back, so we re-treated, cleared, and I think came back again. I cant remember how many times they came back. also her teeth were in a bad way and needed some intensive work, so that would have been hurting her too. (i had only had her 12 months - this wasnt something i had overlooked for years). So we currently have a claim open with the insurance co and its at about £3500 at the moment, and expires v soon. She was last scoped a month ago and scoped clear - YAY ! I have also heavily researched feed, and she is now on agrobs mach and green oats chaff, and that has been amazing. I am sure that has really helped her tummy. I also ALWAYS feed before i ride, and out competing , she wont eat hay so I have to keep on feeding her chaff regularly to keep her tummy topped up. I try very hard to keep her stress free (shes a stressy Welshie) and although it is recommended to feel alfalfa for ulcers, it just didnt work for us as it was rocket fuel, so her behaviour was appalling. Also she suffers with sweet itch, so alfalfa is not recommended for that. So i took her off the alfalfa pretty quick. Even chaff which was only partly alfalfa was too much for her. So the agrobs is just perfect for her. Snag is, if she gets a little spooky or something, i now automatically thing 'ulcers', however the last clear scoped proved me wrong. After our battle, i now just cant help thinking the worst. Oh yes, forgot to mention, when we go competing I have to give a 1/3 or a syringe of gastrogard the day before, 1/3 on the day, and the last 1/3 the day after (its getting expensive!). SO im now on the hunt for any gastrogard that people have lying around that they will sell to me !
 
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