Ulcers?

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janietee_5

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My daughters ex race horse is showing some signs of ulcers I think.....

He grinds his teeth a lot. He has always done this but it seems to be getting worse. He is very sensitive around his girth area on both sides. He struggles with jumping and looks like he is uncomfortable. He always likes something in his mouth - rope, headcollar etc. He seems to slightly lack sparkle, but not excessively.

On the other hand he has never looked in better condition, his coat shines and he is well covered.

He seemed to be a bit better when he was out 24/7 during the nice weather we had earlier in the year.

I have never experienced anything like this before and as he is not unwell I would hesitate to get the vet out. I realise these are very vague symptoms but he is such a nice horse I would hate to think he is uncomfortable.

Any ideas?

His saddle fits and he has regular back checks.
 
My boy has just been diagnosed.. He's a tb, his signs are kicking the wall while eating his feed in the stable.. He is extremely girthy and sensitive. He is also shiny, well covered and well muscled up..
 
Thanks for the quick reply.

What made you get the vet and think it was ulcers? I have been doing a lot of reading on here and that was what made me think.

Has yours been scoped?

Makes me feel less of a panicker knowing yours looks well and fit.
 
According to the new Eventing mag 90% of race horses have ulcers, so you'd be in the minority if he didnt have them based on those stats. And if i understand correctly the only way to get rid of ulcers is with gastroguard (and its active ingredient).

Watching C4 racing today, all of those horses looked well covered and shiny!
 
janietee_5 said:
Thanks for the quick reply.

What made you get the vet and think it was ulcers? I have been doing a lot of reading on here and that was what made me think.

Has yours been scoped?

Makes me feel less of a panicker knowing yours looks well and fit.
Click to expand...

I took him to a vet in Newmarket that I know who is also a osteopath for his back check, while she was there i just asked her to do like a check up on him and she found that he was extmely sensitive in the area where ulcers are commonly found. And He hasn't been scoped but we are treating them first and seeing how it goes. He had an operation on his leg in2010 and was on a lot of bute, lost wait through being stresses and they reckon this is how he got the ulcer.
 
Ginger Bear said:
I took him to a vet in Newmarket that I know who is also a osteopath for his back check, while she was there i just asked her to do like a check up on him and she found that he was extmely sensitive in the area where ulcers are commonly found. And He hasn't been scoped but we are treating them first and seeing how it goes. He had an operation on his leg in2010 and was on a lot of bute, lost wait through being stresses and they reckon this is how he got the ulcer.
Click to expand...

Out of interest what/how are you treating him?
 
It's worth reading Dr Kerry Ridgeways research on ulcers, a very high percentage of those with gastric ulcers (and without) also have colonic ulcers.
The symptoms can be linked to one more than the other eg girthiness is more likely a sign of colonic than gastric.
The treatment is also slightly different, gastrogard isn't necessarily the best thing to treat colonic ulcers.
 
I've read some of Dr Ridgway's articles on ulcers. He says there are two types of horses - those that have ulcers and those that will have ulcers
sad.gif
. Quite grim reading really.

If you have suspicions, even if you think you are being silly - call the vet.

Owners pick up on things and it's worth getting them checked out.

First line of treatment is GastroGuard.

But there are alternatives (with varying levels of success).

I've heard good things about Egusin for both stomach and hind gut ulcers.
http://shop.forageplus.com/epages/es137718.sf/en_GB/?ObjectPath=/Shops/es137718/Products/SLH15

Either way - I'd call the vet first, at least for your own piece of mind :)
http://www.equinegastriculcers.co.uk/what_are.html
http://www.healthyhoof.com/articles/Ulcers.html
 
I wouldn't worry about seeming panicky to vet. From what I've heard, the symptoms are often vague and can be different in different horses. As someone above said, you know your horse best.

My horse is a Welsh Sec D- very good doer with lots of cover and lovely shiny coat. Lives out. Usually very laid back. Really not a classic case for ulcers but was diagnosed with them in November after a scope. (He'd had recurring mild colic). He's had two courses of Gastroguard (pricey) and we're trying him on Equitop Pronutrin now as a preventative. He's going back for another scope next week so will hopefully know if that's working.

I'd say it'd be worth having a scope to check if you're suspicious.
 
Sorry if this has already been covered. Take him off any grain. If you need to feed for competition/stamina try one of the specialist cubes like Spillers HDF. Up his hay content. Feed fast fibre (Allen & Page) but be warned they don't all like this. Feed Alfa A/Readigrass and not mollassed/straw chaff. If you need to feed haylage feed NAF haylage balancer, there is a lot of acid content in haylage. Feed a little alfa a chaff or hay before you ride to soak up any splashing acid. I give my horse slippery elm powder http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=270948711795#ht_500wt_1037 and I was also giving him meadowsweet herbal mix, both of which are good at lining the stomach and preventing acid build up. I've totally cut down on haylage and implemented the above and think that he has improved 100 fold. However I never got him scoped as the price was astronomic as was the price of treatment and he clearly isn't very bad, the one vet thinks he could have ulcers, the other vets doubts it very much. I was going to take advantage of a free scoping as part of a supplement trial via my vets but sadly they never got back to me in time (despite me placing numerous calls) to tell me if I had to take him off the haylage balancer before the trial scoping so I wasn't able to take advantage of this offer.
 
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I lost my dutch warmblood to ulcers in February - he was a top comeptition horse jumping young riders went in the field everyday, fed hay looked well glossy coat and was fat - not stressy at all !!

He was mildly colic on a saturday and dropped dead on a sunday so be careful people x
 
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