Symptoms of Gastric Ulcers...

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dressage__diva

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I was wondering whether those who have had horses with gastric ulcers could tell me what made them have their horses tested?

On the internet and vet sites there are very strict symptoms, but I know of quite a few horses who have also had ulcers with not even one of these.

The reason I am asking is because I went to a talk on them a while ago and the vet there said that most of our horses (we were a group of competition riders) would have ulcers of some sort due to travelling stress / competition stress / stabling. It was rather scary!
 
I wouldn't spend too much time thinking about it Becki!
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No... it is not really an issue at the moment, more out of interest.

It was when I went to this talk that made me wonder how many horses have them without any symptoms at all... Was a really interesting talk too, learned a lot!
 
agree with the above!

If you think about it logically however any horse that travels and competes/shows goes for quite a long time without eating, especially if you have one like mine that won't eat on the move! but if they're low grade then probably won't be exhibiting symptoms or causing trouble
 
I am not looking into this for any of mine... This is purely out of curiosity at the moment. I quite enjoy reading up on things like this, so have been doing after the talk, but there are not many 'real life' stories if that makes sense which say what caused people to get their horses scoped.

Most in vet journals etc are about very progressive stages of ulceration as opposed to people who had their horses scoped because they were just 'not quite right'.
 
My boy was always behind the leg, not much swing or suppleness, however looked the picture of health & keeps his weight to well.
He was always suffering scouring & then finally spasmodic colic bouts. This is despite being fed fibre only feeds & good quality hay for the last 4 years.

Gastric Ulcers where confirmed, we suspect he was already suffering when i bought him 4 years ago. He's maintaned now on 1/4 syringe of Gastrogard a day & neighlox, we up gastrogard to 1 syringe during competitions.

I didnt realise at the time how little suppleness & swing he had, you just get used to what they give you & i used to have to nag at him.
Now he's mega forward & mega supple huge differance.

The trouble with Ulcers is the symptoms are very variable from horse to horse & sometimes very subtle. I would never of tested if mine hadnt of come down with repeated colic as he looked so well. Vets couldnt believe it was Ulcers.
 
I am going to have S scoped before he comes home from the vets. Given everything that has been wrong with him, the drugs he has had and the stress that has been involved, I want to check all is how it should be.

On second thoughts maybe we should scope me too
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One of our friends thought that their pony was cold backed and just plain sensitive. She went for a lesson with a new instructor and she straight away said that she should have him checked for ulcers. The tests came back that he had terrible ulcers, but is now recovering very nicely. He has to be on Gastro Guard though.
 
My ex event mare had ulccers and we didnt know. She was always a hard horse to ride, some days she was fine and the next she was a complete cow and wouldnt do anything, we just put this down to her being a stroppy mare. It wasnt until we sent her to stud and she got torn, so had to go on bute and antibiotics that when she came home she just kept moping in the field and not her self, the next day i went down to get her in and she wouldnt walk up the field, i had to drag her, and then once i got her in the stable she collapsed, rolled her eyes and i thought i was losing her, it was horific! Willsely came out within 10 mins and got her up and put a stomach tap in, we then got her scoped and her ulcers were grade 3/4 glandular and grade2/3 splash ulcers. I felt horrid to think i had been riding her with them, but she has always been the same to ride. The problem with Ulcers are that they are actually more common in horses that at rest, so it is sometimes a catch 22!
 
a horse with ulcers will ususally show some sign they are not quite right, 'amybenton's' horse is a classic example. we have a crib biter being treated for ulcers, he showed awkward behaviour as soon as the grass started to lose its quality, but with the right diet he is now a different horse.
 
My vet said that nearly all horses have ulcers of some sort maybe just one or two and many give no symptoms at all unless the horse is put under extreme stress, at the time we were discussing my mare that is a stressy type and gets wound up easily and I was asking hime if he thought she could have them. He said that he would scope her if I insisted but he didn't feel she had symptoms to worry about eg: she has a brilliant appetite, always finishes every little bit and licks the bowl for ages, never has loose poos and doesn't kick at her belly, so he said leave well alone and put it down to hormones!!
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i also forgot to say that we treated the mare with gastrogaurd and then with gastrogaurd and antibiotics, as some ulcers can alctually be caused by a bacteria in the gut. and they didnt heal, so we just stopped taking her places and eventing her, she is now enjoying a happy life at Talland as a school horse, and being very well behaved!!
 
A mare that i bought was sightly under weight, nothing drastic, she just looked like she needed a summer on decent grass.

After some time on good grass and good food, she still didnt put on any weight. She was a fussy eater but that was it. Her performance levels were fine. I was frustrated more than anything. I was talking to yet another nutrition expert and explained where i was with it all and she suggested getting the vet out. I did and she was then scoped and had grade 4/5 ulcers some of which were bleeding! I was horrified.

However, after treatment using gastroguard she was fine. The weight then went on and we never had any further problems.

I think hers stemmed from being imported from Ireland, to a dealers yard, then onto another yard. Then i bought her and after only a couple of months had to move yards. I think it was the stress. She was and "inward" stresser. To look at her she looked happy and calm.
 
My horse's symptoms were- became very grumpy (had never been before), failure to put on weight, wouldn't eat hard feed, lethargic, got tired easily & never seemed to fire on all cylinders, didn't like being brushed round girth area or have saddle on, temperament & personality changed, cribbed on water bowl.
 
Thanks everyone... it seems every horse is completely different in its symptoms. Many of them, I have to admit, I see daily in the horses I have which is interesting because if they do have them it must be low grade and not affect their performance.

For example, two of my horses absolutely hate being brushed in the girth area and swish at me, paw etc etc. However, the 9 year old has done this done this for years and her performance is currently better than ever.

So, with such a varying degree of symptoms, let me ask you this. Do you think scoping should be a routine procedure for people who have horses regularly travelling, competing and or just been ridden daily?
 
My horse is becoming increasingly grumpy when being girthed up, sometimes jumping a little when I tighten his girth. He is fine when I am on though, so don't think its a saddle problem. He also likes to bite anything he can get in his mouth, and eat our fencing. He also is quite lazy from the leg. Do those sound like the symptons of ulcers? I just thought he was a lazy horse who like chewing things.....
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