Ulcers: To scope or not to scope?

[alishaarrr]

For the nine months I've had my horse, he has been a little bit of a cranky sort. He is somewhat of a drama queen: opinionated, dominant, and can be a bit fussy. I have attributed this to personality and a need for good leadership, and we have continued to work on groundwork to address it. However, I am wondering if it is not time to scope for ulcers just in case. Here are the possible signs I have observed:

- Increasing dislike of having me positioned near his belly (blocks me with his head or moves backward to keep me in front of him or at his shoulder)
- Lots of tail swishing and very occasional attempt to kick when having sides and underneath of belly groomed
- Fairly frequent biting at belly, which looks like itching but perhaps worth noting
- Very fussy at the mounting block
- Food aggressive toward other horses and a bully in pasture (so is turned out alone)
- Generally kind of grumpy and resistant (this can vary day to day)
- Very physically sensitive as a general rule

His appetite is fine, good doer in general, coat is healthy, poops are normal. He is generally fine to saddle and girth, sometimes a small protest but really nothing that seems significant. He is a "more whoa than go" type and can be dull to the aids, but never acts out at leg aids whatsoever.

He did have one unexplained bout of colic over the winter that was fairly severe and required a vet visit, but did not require surgery and resolved quickly.

His symptoms are fairly minimal so I'm wondering what others think -- does this sound like cause for a call to the vet to diagnose?

 

[D66]

Is he on an ulcer friendly diet? If not switch to low sugar, mostly forage, add whatever ulcer supplement you think is best and see if it makes a difference.
When I changed my horses feed from fast fibre to thunderbrooks basemix, Ulcergon and liquid gold there was a noticeable difference overnight. Subsequent scoping found grade 1 and 2 ulcers. I had been sceptical about forking out for the expensive food but it was worth it in the end.

 

[PSD]

From personal experience I would.

I had a mare that wasn’t overly symptomatic, good appetite, poo was fine she “looked” healthy. Little bit of touchiness to tack up, it was only when I rode her and she started to plant her feet and refuse to move I worried(she was an absolute pocket rocket jumping pony). I thought maybe hocks/back issue so went down that route. It was only when the physio suggested scoping I considered it, had her done and she had grade 4 ulcers and they were absolutely horrific.

What I’m getting at is, some horses are far more tolerant to pain than others. So I would scope to a) rule out and b) to know, if there are ulcers, what you’re dealing with.

ETA ditto on the diet. Remove all sugars and high starch feeds, fibre and forage are your friends! I also rate pink mash so highly as it has the other added extras suitable for ulcers and gut health.

 

[alishaarrr]

He's on a high-quality low-sugar / low-starch feed with balancer containing pre/probiotics (Pure Easy) so I think his diet is probably OK, though I'm of course open to suggestions!

 

[Green Bean]

I have a mare that almost mirrors the behavior you are describing. I started on a process of elimination under vet's advice with Regumate for hormones, no change, saddle check, no change, scoped for ulcers, no ulcers, then x-ray showed kissing spine. The problem with ulcers and kissing spine, they are symptomatically quite similar. Your vet would need to decide what the issue may be, but if you send your horse in for a scope, possibly agree with him that if they find no ulcers then to x-ray while your horse is sedated.
Good luck!