Managing ulcers but Alfa not allowed-what to feed before riding?

[Booga22]

As per title really, I have a 15.1hh nf mare who has suffered with gastric ulcers previously & we have been able to manage it following a short course of treatment (through the vets) and now through diet,exercise, supplement, stable management etc

My question - what do you offer yours before you ride? I used to give her a couple handfuls of Alfa-A however we have to exclude this from her diet so I am interested to hear from those of you who also don't / can't feed Alfa, what you offer your guys before tacking up to prevent or limit the evil acid splash?

Looking forward to your suggestions

 

[stormox]

I dont feed before I ride, but my horse has ad-lib hay.

 

[Annagain]

I'd just give her some grass chaff. Readigrass, Graze-on and D&H Just grass are a few brand names out there.

 

[Sealine]

Mine has Alfa-A but you could give a little hay/haylage or if you want a bucket feed try Readigrass.

 

[supsup]

I'd just go with a haynet (or haylage, if that's your usual forage). The saliva released during chewing helps to buffer the stomach acid, so the more the horse chews the better. By that count, long-stem hay or haylage would be even better than chaff. They also say that the fibre can form a sort of floating mat in the stomach to keep the acid from splashing too much, but I'm guessing it doesn't really matter what kind of fibre it is for that effect. So, haynet is easy and cheap.

 

[Damnation]

I dont feed before I ride, but my horse has ad-lib hay.

This.

Let her have a bit of hay before you ride.

 

[Booga22]

Thanks for all your replies - I should have said that she has ad-lib hay when she's in, but if she isn't given a handful or so of chaff before being ridden she is extremely difficult & can become pretty, er, colourful, shall we say with her mid air acrobatics.

She is currently on Readigrass as her choice of chaff, so may try this & see if we do get the same results

She's extremely sensitive anyway & the actual eating from a bucket distracts her from getting silly over her girth being done up (please note though she isn't in pain, it is habitual. She has had *everything* checked, checked & then checked again - very long story lol)

Thanks again for your suggestions

 

[ihatework]

Just feed her the grass chaff. Maybe add her antacid to it?

 

[Maesfen]

There are plenty of other good chaffs on the market. Alfa is just better marketed than some which makes many now think it's the only thing that should be fed which is ridiculous as it's only been on the market a few years and horses did well for centuries without it. Just shows what a brainwash campaign it's had when it doesn't suit a lot of horses anyway but owners disregard that when they're told it's all their horse should need.

Look at Graze On; which is just plain grass chaff, nothing added, very clean.http://www.northerncropdriers.co.uk/products/graze-on

I'm also another one that wouldn't feed before riding but mine allways have ad lib hay/haylage in front of them/

 

[Booga22]

Just feed her the grass chaff. Maybe add her antacid to it?

She seems to be doing really well on Equine America's Uls-Gard but in total honesty, I hadn't considered adding it to that feed, would make more sense! Currently it's added to her brekkie

 

[PorkChop]

What about soaked grass nuts? You can ride straight after feeding them, mine don't have ulcers but I feed them as if they do iykwim.

 

[ihatework]

What about soaked grass nuts? You can ride straight after feeding them, mine don't have ulcers but I feed them as if they do iykwim.

Not quite as useful. You need the horse chewing for better saliva production.

 

[PorkChop]

Not quite as useful. You need the horse chewing for better saliva production.

Ahhh, fair enough, I thought it was more to do with them having something in their stomach to avoid acid slosh!

 

[Charlie007]

Mine doesn't suffer with ulcers but he always has half a scoop or so of just grass chaff before riding or travelling.

 

[nikkimariet]

Readigrass.

 

[jillykins]

Agrobs do a chaff which does not have alfafa in it. I used that and their other feeds on a previous horse with ulcers who was not allowed Alfa. It can be difficult to get hold of but I found it well worth the effort

 

[wingedhorse]

Readigrass.

Emerald green grass chaff is not made from Ryegrass (unlike readigrass) and is lower sugar and softer in format.