More ulcer questions ...

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RunRunReindeer

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OK, so I've owned my mare about 9 years. During that time she has always been 'girthy' and while generally very good to handle and ride, is prone to bucking in canter transitions ( although not every time), also not keen on being groomed around her girth area, underside and along her flanks.
While with me (kept at home) she has been in very light work, two-three hours hacking a week at most, and generally has the summer off due to my work commitments, lives out 24/7 with friends on varied terrain of about 5 acres, and diet is pretty much completely fibre based.
Before I owned her there is a chance she was fed more cereals, and for a time kept in a mud field with no grass and limited hay.
So, my questions are ...
How likely is it she might have ulcers?
If she had any when I bought her would thay have improved by now with management changes but no treatment?
What improvement/s have you seen after treating your horse/s for ulcers?
What sort of cost am I looking at to get her scoped, and if necessary any subsequent treatment?
Many thanks for any input.
 
I went to a talk on ulcers some time ago and in answer to question 2 they, if she had them when you bought her, will have improved with the management change but may not have gone completely if there is an underlying cause, pain from elsewhere or stress for some reason.
The cost of scoping is in the region of £300 the cost of treating if she has them can run into many thousands depending on the horse.

I would look at the rest of her first as she is an unlikely candidate, have you had a physio give her the once over to check there are no areas of muscle tension that could be the cause of her girthyness and bucking, that would be my first thought and may be all that is required, a saddle check and possibly a different girth would also be worth doing, it is surprising what a little discomfort in the fitting of both can cause. With a mare you also have to factor in hormonal issues, is she worse when in season?

I have managed two horses that have had symptoms that could have been due to ulcers, one scoped clear yet had all the signs, a few extra tweaks to managing him made all the difference and the symptoms reduced, I think he may well have had them in his previous home where he was on competition mix, lived in most of the time and worked very hard, coming here he went out more, work less intensively and had a fibre based diet, he had a lot of tension that required regular physio to keep on top of.
The other is a work in progress as he has a lot of issues that give mixed messages, he is managed carefully and may be scoped if the signs remain once the other issues are removed from the picture.
 
be positive said:
I went to a talk on ulcers some time ago and in answer to question 2 they, if she had them when you bought her, will have improved with the management change but may not have gone completely if there is an underlying cause, pain from elsewhere or stress for some reason.
The cost of scoping is in the region of £300 the cost of treating if she has them can run into many thousands depending on the horse.

I would look at the rest of her first as she is an unlikely candidate, have you had a physio give her the once over to check there are no areas of muscle tension that could be the cause of her girthyness and bucking, that would be my first thought and may be all that is required, a saddle check and possibly a different girth would also be worth doing, it is surprising what a little discomfort in the fitting of both can cause. With a mare you also have to factor in hormonal issues, is she worse when in season?
Click to expand...

Agree with this.

Though when I phoned my vet to ask if he come come and scope my horse (after months of researching and almost being in denial) I gave him a list of her symptoms and he said 'symptoms aside, if you think she has ulcers, she probably does'. What he meant by this was that you know your horse and you know if she's not right so go with your gut instinct- excuse the pun!

Mine is an ex racehorse so a prime candidate. Yours may not be a prime candidate especially now with the 24/7 turnout etc but I think the stats are surprising, something like 40% of leisure horses having ulcers compare to 60% of competition horse and 90% racehorses so the chances are still fairly high.

My advice would be to get her scoped and go from there. Surely it's better to know and try to sort it out (even by the cheapest possible way!) than to not know and just go on as you are if you think she's in pain?

Good luck :)
 
rising_promise said:
Agree with this.

Though when I phoned my vet to ask if he come come and scope my horse (after months of researching and almost being in denial) I gave him a list of her symptoms and he said 'symptoms aside, if you think she has ulcers, she probably does'. What he meant by this was that you know your horse and you know if she's not right so go with your gut instinct- excuse the pun!

Mine is an ex racehorse so a prime candidate. Yours may not be a prime candidate especially now with the 24/7 turnout etc but I think the stats are surprising, something like 40% of leisure horses having ulcers compare to 60% of competition horse and 90% racehorses so the chances are still fairly high.

My advice would be to get her scoped and go from there. Surely it's better to know and try to sort it out (even by the cheapest possible way!) than to not know and just go on as you are if you think she's in pain?

Good luck :)
Click to expand...

Agree with this... if you are near your vet, and your horse travels well, it would be worthwhile taking her in. It is worth noting though that the signs of ulcers can also be the symptoms of many other things, kissing spines is one of them.
 
Totally agree with the above-it really is worth getting scoped just to be sure-as said on another thread-too many people think there horses have them,scoped which shows nothing and then another problem found,treated and you have a happy horse and owner.Hopefully if you have Insurance they should cover it but if not it's worth paying for if you can as you could spend a lot more than that on Products/Supplements that won't work as treating for the wrong thing.If it is Ulcers,it's not difficult to manage once sorted-just some chaff about 30mins before exercise,hay out of a small holed net so lasts longer-just the chewing action helps to keep Ulcers at bay-as much time out with forage.Good luck.
 
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