Possible Ulcers

[Magenta26]

I have a 6.5 year old Connemara gelding who has recently shown signs which I’m thinking could indicate ulcers and wondering if anyone else has had similar experiences.
The pony lives outside 24/7 with unlimited access to a stable, he has hay at night snd if the ground is frozen, so has a constant supply of food. He has 2 very small feeds of top spec lite and healthy hooves molasses free
This summer he has been out to several clinics, he is always well behaved but does show signs of internalised stress. He grinds his teeth in new environments and when he hacks alone and is quite backward when he is nervous.
He started jumping very big over quite small jumps and putting in some huge bucks when he’s landed which I put down to excitement
In the last month he wasn’t jumping properly at a clinic then became reluctant to canter and when he does he bananas to the right hand side.
He hasn’t lost weight, eats his feed and is fine to tack up but has become slightly grumpy with the other ponies in the yard. He’s had teeth and back checked and saddle check booked.
Back showed some tightness but nothing major. He looks fine when trotted up and the chiropractor can’t see any obvious lameness.
I would just be interested to hear if anyone else has had a similar experience, I think it would be good to rule this out before I start on the lameness workout route

 

[Lamehorses]

My horse 3 years ago was almost exactly as you describe. Lives out 24/7 & never lost weight.
Vet suggested ulcers, scoped & he had grade 2/3 ulcers. They were treated & he scoped clear. Started working him again & slowly symptoms returned. Vet came back, ulcers had returned. They then xrayed his back & found kissing spines (8 processes). Steroid jabs & months of in hand. Re started ridden & guess what, ulcers came back.
New vet took one look at his feet, xrayed a he had npa.
Barefoot rehab & more back jabs with lots of in hand work & he is now happy & sound, no more ulcers.
If your horse has good management & potentially suffering ulcers then pain is likely the source. Resolve the pain & the ulcers will resolve. If you don't address the pain first then ulcers will keep returning.
My first Vet wasted lots of money treating the symptoms (ulcers) not the cause (mainly a rubbish farrier ?)

 

[Magenta26]

Thankyou for your reply that’s really interesting, will definitely keep that in mind

 

[w1bbler]

As above, could be ulcers, but look for the cause, which is most likely pain somewhere before going down the ulcer rabbit hole.
It sounds unlikely your pony has ulcers from his management, so pain is the most likely cause. Take away the pain then ulcers can heal.

 

[clairebearfur1]

I had a connie with grade 4 ulcers, he was just a bit off and lazy. our grass was very rich and i think this caused them! He was treated with Ponease Ulc fix in the end and scoped clear after 7 weeks

 

[Magenta26]

Thankyou everyone, what I forgot to say was I have only owned him for 2 years, prior to this he was bought by a lady as a yearling and backed then ridden by her until she sold him as a 4 year old.
When I bought him it took him a long time for us to develop a bond and for him to trust me. He still gets stressed when he hacks alone and is very backward and grinds his teeth so I think the move may have triggered this and it’s possibly got worse recently.
It’s also a good point about the grass which changed considerably and became quite rich thus Autumn