Stomach ulcer advise please

[BigGinger]

Hi There,

Does anyone have any experience with the prevention of ulcers?? I have been trying to widen my knowledge over the last few months as it was a totally new thing to me since we thought my boy may have Ulcers



Kero is due to come off his gastrogaurd in a week or so after having a 4 week weaning process... I am obviously wanting to prevent him getting ulcers again and he has already had a diet change and is only getting a very simple diet now.. But he loves carrots and apples and he usually gets carrots daily in winter. I have been trying to research foods to aviod and foods that are good with no luck at all really apart from a hint that carrots are bad as they have a high suger content, also mints and sugery thingsarea general stay away from.. But are carrots really that bad??



Any advise welcome, He needs a strict diet and i need to know exactly whats good or bad for him... its such a minefield out there andmy vet hasnt given me that much advise about it all

 

[EquestrianFairy]

Hi, what's his current diet?

 

[BigGinger]

Hi EquestrianFairy,

His diet at the moment is :-

Adlib Haylage (although its always been alot drier than normal haylage so more like hay really, not dusty)

He has 2 meals:-

Alfa-a oil, (1 stubbs scoop)
Speedi-beet (half a stubbs scoop)
A&P Calm and conditon (half a stubb scoop when soaked) He recently fractured his skull so has been in hospital and dropped alot of weight so this is why at the moment he's being fed this
Brewers yeast (was previosuly on pink powder)
Magnesium oxide

 

[Rusty_GSY]

a horse at my yard had major ulcers, would colic constantly.

they show more in stressy type horses.

i THINK but dont quote me...

he couldnt have hage, the acid was too much for the stomach to cope with.

he had a simple diet, basically no cereals or things which would be hard oin the stomach, and had to pretty much be eating all the time i.e. grazing.

he also cribbed badly.

 

[BigGinger]

Bump Please

 

[Tammytoo]

Personally, I would change to hay, much kinder on the stomach and much less protein. The bucket feed sounds about right.

I'm surprised that your vet doesn't seem to be very forthcoming about a diet though. It might be worth contacting the Gastrogard people to see what they suggest.

 

[VioletStripe]

I've been told to put ulcer-prone horses on hay instead of haylage as haylage is higher in sugar, and have also heard that carrots are okay as long as it's no more than one a day.. molasses should also be ideally be avoided. Think low sugar, high fibre. There are many supplements available to put into feeds to help guard against ulcers, many people also swear by natural supplements to put in such as aloe vera juice.. never had experience with ulcers personally, but have read about them so am happy to be corrected about any of the above, just sharing what I've picked up from old posts on here xx

 

[BigGinger]

Anyone else with experience with gastroc ulcers in horses?

 

[Goldenstar]

I have had several horses with gastric ulcers treated on this yard all are feed haylage all have been rescoped later and ulcers has stayed away despite the haylage ( we had one horse where the ulcers got worse despite doing everything right we even swopped it to hay and it got worse but it had many health problems and the ulcers where prob secondary to them.)
I now buy a haylage ' lite ' which is cut when the sugars are at there lowest which I feed as a precaution but they where all ok on the normal the other things I was told feed Alfafa and oil the Alfafa being high in calcium and the helps to coat the stomach . We feed no grain apart from what is the balancer they get.
all the previous ulcer suffers look great and are doing their jobs I am careful to feed them before work if I have travelled them to a lesson or show even though they have haylage in the lorry I give them a big double handful of Alfafa mixed with oil and a little water immediately before I tack them up the Alfafa is high in calcium ( which reduces acid and the Oil helps coat the stomach )
It really depends on the horse and how much work it's doing what you will need to feed ours are working hard and their winds need haylage rather than hay for that so I feed haylage .
Some people feed charcoal ,some aloevera to horses with ulcers if I had an ongoing problem with a horse I would consider trying both of these but Ihave managed fine as I am so no reason to change.
You need to manage the whole horse as an owner or trainer so you will just have to feel the way with yours I rescope three to four months after I get them off the gastro guard I would recommend you do this then you know you are on top of the problem.
Good luck I am sure you will find the way to keep your horse right.
S

 

[Harleygirl]

You could also try adding antacids to his feed. We were giving ours 15 Tums with his hard feed twice a day.

 

[Horseback Rider]

a horse at my yard had major ulcers, would colic constantly.

they show more in stressy type horses.

i THINK but dont quote me...

he couldnt have hage, the acid was too much for the stomach to cope with.

he had a simple diet, basically no cereals or things which would be hard oin the stomach, and had to pretty much be eating all the time i.e. grazing.

he also cribbed badly.

Sorry not trying to hijack the OP's post !

But this is ringing bells with me & my TB (who can be stressy at times) he bit me this morning when I was changing his rug which is totally out of character for him he can be a bit narky when his rugs are changed or being saddled but it has been getting a bit worse lately so I have the vet coming out tomrorow to check him over. He has had saddle/physio/dentist recently and all fine. But he did get a bit like this last winter when he had to come in at night, I try to keep him out for as long as possible. But am wondering if it's being in and the not being able to graze constantly which is making him like this. I also stopped feeding him any mix etc not long after I got him and noticed a difference in him. He has also had two spasmodic colic episodes the one last year was quite bad and he had to be tubed. The 2nd a few weeks ago wasn't so bad but I think i spotted it a lot earlier.

 

[EquestrianFairy]

I have had several horses with gastric ulcers treated on this yard all are feed haylage all have been rescoped later and ulcers has stayed away despite the haylage ( we had one horse where the ulcers got worse despite doing everything right we even swopped it to hay and it got worse but it had many health problems and the ulcers where prob secondary to them.)
I now buy a haylage ' lite ' which is cut when the sugars are at there lowest which I feed as a precaution but they where all ok on the normal the other things I was told feed Alfafa and oil the Alfafa being high in calcium and the helps to coat the stomach . We feed no grain apart from what is the balancer they get.
all the previous ulcer suffers look great and are doing their jobs I am careful to feed them before work if I have travelled them to a lesson or show even though they have haylage in the lorry I give them a big double handful of Alfafa mixed with oil and a little water immediately before I tack them up the Alfafa is high in calcium ( which reduces acid and the Oil helps coat the stomach )
It really depends on the horse and how much work it's doing what you will need to feed ours are working hard and their winds need haylage rather than hay for that so I feed haylage .
Some people feed charcoal ,some aloevera to horses with ulcers if I had an ongoing problem with a horse I would consider trying both of these but Ihave managed fine as I am so no reason to change.
You need to manage the whole horse as an owner or trainer so you will just have to feel the way with yours I rescope three to four months after I get them off the gastro guard I would recommend you do this then you know you are on top of the problem.
Good luck I am sure you will find the way to keep your horse right.
S

Sorry to hijack- what do you feed your horses?
Im having to change the diet of mine due to possible ulcers and im at a loss what to feed. I need to feed for condition and then the usual vit/mins.

 

[Goldenstar]

Don't know how much I can Help because even when a skinny arrives on the yard it's a fatty before long my groom who is wonderful with them says it's because once they are relaxed and in her routine they use less energy !!! Seems impossible but I have seen it over and over again.
They get add Lib haylage small bale very high quality the lite version I am trying on some now is new and I have not used it long enough to form a real view but one terrible fatty has lost wieght and it means I can give him a bit more he's the only one I restrict because he has a serious problem following an illnesses.
They get two small feeds a day consisting of Alfafa A with a balancer or HI FI Lite with balancer for serious fattys .
To that I add electrolytes and a joint supplement.
if I feel the need to add extra energy I feed Dobson and horrel stay power muesli ( usually to a horse doing horse driving trials who has not had ulcers and never more than a kilo a day ))
having written all this I will admit that we are having a revamp in January as we are dipping our hooves into the barefoot thing .
If I was feeding for condition I would give haylage as much as it would eat and 2kilos a day Alfafa a balancer and add a little oil ours always end up good doers so others may be able to help you more.

 

[BigGinger]

thanks goldenstar some really good info there. i feel quite happy with his general diet and hes not in work at the moment but have previously had some issues which will hopefully be less of a issue now hes not in pain from ulcers. i do like to give him a treat when tacking ip to settle him if hes tense like a carrot or mint but after research seem to be something to stay away from, is there anything 'safe' titbit wise you feed?

 

[Goldenstar]

thanks goldenstar some really good info there. i feel quite happy with his general diet and hes not in work at the moment but have previously had some issues which will hopefully be less of a issue now hes not in pain from ulcers. i do like to give him a treat when tacking ip to settle him if hes tense like a carrot or mint but after research seem to be something to stay away from, is there anything 'safe' titbit wise you feed?

Yes I would see if he likes Dengie Alfafa cubes .