Horse with Ulcers

[Horseandcountrylife]

At my wits end I have a horse who suffers with gastric ulcers (confirmed by scoping) Not sure where to go or who to turn to! I bred this horse so know everything about her. she is coming up 8 years old and I believe from hindsite that she has had ulcers since she was 7 months old when she was taken into the vets and treated for colic. The vets were talking Botulism, grass sickness but she was just treated for colic. Over the years she lived out for most of her life. She was broken as a 4 year old ridden for 3 months then turned away again untill she was 5, she was re broken (she was a very stressy girl very tempermental and highly strung. I would ride her for maybe 8 weeks max then she would start, very scowly didnt like being touched she also paws all of her straw into the middle of the stable every night(she was like this from a foal) When saddle was put on she would scowl, cow kick, go to bite, she would kick out if I put my leg on. I always had the saddle professionally fitted as I wanted the best for her every saddle I had fitted to her gave her pressure bumps on the withers. 20 saddles and 3 saddle fitters and she was still no better. After only being able to ride her for 2 months at a time I obv knew something was not right so I got her thermal imaged to find a hot spot on her spine. i told the vet I wanted her back xrayed where they found she had kissing spine not really bad but bad enough for her behaviour, She had an operation last feb 2014 she was also slightly lame behind so vets steroid injected her hock. after 7 months rest I started riding her again but she was no better she now bucked when ridden so the vets scoped her for Ulcers she had grades 1,2 and 3 she was put on Gastro gard ( I was relieved in a way that maybe we had finally got to the bottom of thing! after 4 weeks on gastro gard she was scoped and clear of ulcers she went on to 1/2 dose for 2 weeks and 1/4 dose for 6 weeks. I started riding her again but had a niggly feeling the ulcers were back and true enough another scope showed the ulcers were back this was a horse out at grass on rest! Never been to a show or travelled ! I feed her Healthy tummy, give her corn oil and i give her 1/2 cup rowan barbury ready mash (I give her this as its the only thing she will eat shes a very fussy eater. Ive tried Ronfields supplement for gut but no change. Ive tried her on Equine science products but this horse only seems to manage on a high dose of this or gastro gard as soon as I drop the dose down the ulcers come back, She is now back on a full dose of gastro gard but all my insurance used up now and I cannot sustain the cost of the Gastro gard. I have no Idea where to go from here i am just trying to keep her going untill spring turnout and have spoken to my vet about having her put to sleep. I have had her injected for hormones as recommended by my vet incase it is hormonal causing her to have the ulcers. (she is very hormonal) I have now also got her on a calmer from the vets to see if that helps. I am going tp get a mirror for her stable to see if that settles. Ive even moved farms as a last bid to get her somewhere quieter (Was previously on a large livery Yard) she is out during the day and in at night in the winter. A Month ago I started feeding her the cool stance coconut feed but at the min she wont eat it. This horse looks fantastic has such a shiny coat and is a good doer with feed. What else can I do to I cannot let my horse live in pain if there is anyone out there who has a horse that gets ulcers again and again and again please share your experience of anything that may work for your horse.

 

[EquestrianE01]

Sorry to hear about your mare, ulcers are a nightmare (pun not intended). I know this isn't what you to hear but my lads the same, we've never been able to get rid of his ulcers, just manage them. We have found Top Spec Ulca Kind to be the best thing to manage his. Will be following this thread though as want to see if anyone has any better ideas. Again so sorry about your mare.

 

[Ali27]

My mare had stomach and hind gut ulcers and 90 days of succeed digestive supplement sorted her completely. Gastroguard only treats stomach ulcers. I also feed hemp oil and also mycasorb from progressive earth as she is very sensitive to clover.

 

[JillA]

There are lots of alternative ideas on here http://equinenutritionnerd.com/2014...tions-for-stomach-ulcer-treatment-prevention/ or it might be worth speaking to Sarah at Forageplus in case there is a mineral deficiency which predisposes to them (since she has been affected from such an early age).

 

[the shadster]

Thinking outside the box, how about trying a herbal vet?

 

[Jojo_27]

My 18 year old ex-p2p horse has ulcers from his earlier days of racing! He's very grumpy to tack up, rug up etc and riding he can be naughty! He also windsucks which doesn't help his ulcers! I have his teeth done regularly and he his on ad-lib hay and haylage throughout the winter (literally as much as he can eat) and I have just put him on Dengie happy tummy which is made from pure alfalfa and has Protexin In-Feed Formula which is really beneficial to their digestion. It has been specifically designed with ulcers in mind so might be worth you having a look into that? I feed my other horse on the Protexin gut balancer which is brilliant but I know they do an Acid-ease which might be worth a go? Good luck!!

 

[Ceriann]

I really feel for you - my currently unridden 6 year old showed grade 2 ulcers on scoping. Ive had her almost 2 and a half years and she's pretty much lived out all that time, access to forage (hay if limited grazing), never been worked hard and has company. For the last 4 months she's been out at grass (as i came off her in November and broke my hip). I had her scoped as had a constant niggle that she wasnt happy - grumpy, sometimes touchy, disliked grooming etc and very occassionally she would have a serious strop (usually as a reaction to something but reaction would be quite extreme and its this that is my main worry as she is dangerous at this point). She's currently on GG and responding well but im worried about long term management - if she developed ulcers with her lifestyle how do i stop them recurring. I'm not sure whether to re-scope once GG finished or just manage her and re-scope if symptomatic again. I will be speaking to vet to get some advice and will definitely be looking to keep her diet very simple from now on and will be keeping a very close eye on her. Im also looking into supplements such as rite trac - have you tried any of these? Could she live out 24/7? Sorry its no help at all really and will be reading responses with interest.

 

[Darkwater]

Sorry to hear about your mare, ulcers are a nightmare (pun not intended). I know this isn't what you to hear but my lads the same, we've never been able to get rid of his ulcers, just manage them. We have found Top Spec Ulca Kind to be the best thing to manage his.

We've had really good results with Topspec Ulca Kind too, definitely worth a try.

 

[Wagtail]

OP, I wanted to send you a PM about a possible solution. But as you have only made one post on here you cannot benefit from private messaging. I would advise you make a few more posts on this forum and then you can use the PM system.

 

[Horseandcountrylife]

Thanks for that information it was very interesting and also the bit about Mineral deficiency. There is a reason horses get ulcers whether it be stress or other things but its finding what the cause is and this is obv the difficult thing.

There are lots of alternative ideas on here http://equinenutritionnerd.com/2014...tions-for-stomach-ulcer-treatment-prevention/ or it might be worth speaking to Sarah at Forageplus in case there is a mineral deficiency which predisposes to them (since she has been affected from such an early age).

 

[Horseandcountrylife]

Hi I was going to say its nice to know i'm not alone in this but i feel for anyone that has this issue

We've had really good results with Topspec Ulca Kind too, definitely worth a try.

 

[Horseandcountrylife]

Hi thank you for your reply she is on the healty tiummy to. I have her teeth done, her saddle checked her back done by a physio she is wormed she has as much hay as she can eat.

My 18 year old ex-p2p horse has ulcers from his earlier days of racing! He's very grumpy to tack up, rug up etc and riding he can be naughty! He also windsucks which doesn't help his ulcers! I have his teeth done regularly and he his on ad-lib hay and haylage throughout the winter (literally as much as he can eat) and I have just put him on Dengie happy tummy which is made from pure alfalfa and has Protexin In-Feed Formula which is really beneficial to their digestion. It has been specifically designed with ulcers in mind so might be worth you having a look into that? I feed my other horse on the Protexin gut balancer which is brilliant but I know they do an Acid-ease which might be worth a go? Good luck!!

 

[Horseandcountrylife]

Hi a friend of mine mentioned the rite track last night. I am going to give the company a ring and see what they say

I really feel for you - my currently unridden 6 year old showed grade 2 ulcers on scoping. Ive had her almost 2 and a half years and she's pretty much lived out all that time, access to forage (hay if limited grazing), never been worked hard and has company. For the last 4 months she's been out at grass (as i came off her in November and broke my hip). I had her scoped as had a constant niggle that she wasnt happy - grumpy, sometimes touchy, disliked grooming etc and very occassionally she would have a serious strop (usually as a reaction to something but reaction would be quite extreme and its this that is my main worry as she is dangerous at this point). She's currently on GG and responding well but im worried about long term management - if she developed ulcers with her lifestyle how do i stop them recurring. I'm not sure whether to re-scope once GG finished or just manage her and re-scope if symptomatic again. I will be speaking to vet to get some advice and will definitely be looking to keep her diet very simple from now on and will be keeping a very close eye on her. Im also looking into supplements such as rite trac - have you tried any of these? Could she live out 24/7? Sorry its no help at all really and will be reading responses with interest.

 

[Horseandcountrylife]

Thank you for all of your responses to my original message. Its nice to know Im not the only one banging my head against a wall!! I do believe with horses or any animals or humans different things work better on some than others but its just trying to find the right thing and that is probably going to be the hard part. I am thinking of going down the natural route as the vet route has not worked for my horse.. I do believe that my horse winds her self up. I do feed ad lib hay i do have her teeth checked, her wormed, her back checked and her saddle checked. I havent really left any stone unturned. I dont have the facility for her to be turned out 24/7 although she will be out all summer. Just for today I know she is feeling a bit better as she ate most of her tea tonight oh and she nearly gave me a love instead of that scowly face!!

 

[Horseandcountrylife]

Thank you for your message. My horse is coming up 8 in May and has never been worked hard, only ever had 2 flat work lessons and one pole work lesson but has been really bad after so i havent bothered again shes never been to a show. I dont hack her out alone as I dont want to stress her out, shes been really difficult to manage. I have to say though through all this she has never done anything to try and get me off although in my head I think she is a walking time bomb. Its difficult to know what to do whether to let go or struggle on. I have loooked into the forever Aloe Vera and am thinking of starting her on this. I know this alone wont do it but anything is worth a try. so nice to talk to you and I hope for both of us that someone can put a miracle cure on but I dont think thats about to happen. If I do find anything that works for mine I will let you know
Regards
Michelle

Hi a friend of mine mentioned the rite track last night. I am going to give the company a ring and see what they say

 

[tallyho!]

It could even be that the changes in all the differences in feed is upsetting the ph balance in the gut.

There are very many reasons but she does sound like she has it bad.

Has the vet given you gastro guard?

I would suggest stopping everything and give only hay to rebalance the ph in the tummy and let nature heal.

 

[Horseandcountrylife]

Yes she is back on gastro gard at the minute

 

[tallyho!]

Yes she is back on gastro gard at the minute

When a mare at my yard had ulcers, it was advised she just stayed on a high fibre, low starch diet and on grass so that the ph could settle without lots of different foodstuffs being added. Basically just hay. She did get a bucket of damped down grass chaff and some grated carrot but that was it!

This fibre only diet is supposed to help the microbes settle down. She was like this for three months then re scoped and the lesions had mostly cleared up. She carried on with gastro guard for a further three months and re scoped and there were no lesions in the stomach. Can't say for hind gut as hard to scope but certainly a changed pony! She was quite old.

 

[Fruitcake]

I have a horse with recurring ulcers. They would go with Gastroguard and then, after stopping it, would reappear. Vet decided we probably would never completely get rid of them and they would need managing rather than curing.

I tried a number of different supplements with varying degrees of success. He's on a supplement from the vet now. (Exegus). Apparently, some horses are genetically predisposed to ulcers as something in their DNA means they don't produce enough gut mucosa to protect the stomach lining from acid. If this is the case, supplements that coat the stomach (like aloe vera or slippery elm) can help.

I hope you find something that works for your horse.

PM me if you want any more info on all the supplements I tried and researched.

 

[Pearlsasinger]

I have my mare, who has never been scoped but was very symptomatic, on daily Aloe Vera. I get mine from Holland & Barrett, as I know that the Forever Living version has other things added to it. If I should be foolish enough to ever run out of AV, the symptoms return in less than 36 hrs. Now I make sure that we never run out!
Mine cant tolerate anything acidic in her feed, so no haylage, or cider vinegar.

 

[DirectorFury]

Another who has had good results with TopSpec Ulsa Kind.

 

[Horseandcountrylife]

Hi I am looking into Alloe Vera at the minute. How much do you feed your horse and is it once or twice a day?

I have my mare, who has never been scoped but was very symptomatic, on daily Aloe Vera. I get mine from Holland & Barrett, as I know that the Forever Living version has other things added to it. If I should be foolish enough to ever run out of AV, the symptoms return in less than 36 hrs. Now I make sure that we never run out!
Mine cant tolerate anything acidic in her feed, so no haylage, or cider vinegar.