As the horse’s digestive system was designed for roaming the Great Plains and eating almost constantly, the key to managing our domesticated companions is to mimic nature as closely as possible.
Prevent ulcers from developing or recurring
In the perfect world, allowing 24/7 ad lib foraging on grass or hay is the ideal way to ensure a continuous flow of feed, inducing saliva to neutralise the constant flow of acid into the stomach. However, for performance horses or those where gaining weight is an issue, even small management changes can make a big difference.
If the horse needs to be stabled, try splitting forage into several nets or piles, with varying contents such as hay, haylage, alfalfa and chaff, to help re-create a more natural foraging environment. Split concentrates into as many as feeds possible – four feeds a day spread over as many hours as possible (e.g. 6am to 9pm) is ideal.
Try not to exercise your horse on an empty stomach. They are not like us! Feeding forage prior to exercise will actually help, by forming a ‘mat like’ barrier on top of the acid, protecting the upper part of the stomach from being splashed.
If you are travelling your horse solo, or stabling in new surroundings, try to take a companion. If this is not possible, special equine mirrors have been proven to help reduce stress in these situations.
For those horses where the risk factors remain high – due to the training regime or travel for example, trials have shown that an on-going preventative dose of omeprazole can help to prevent the ulcers from returning.
Treatment
If you think your horse may have stomach ulcers, contact your vet as soon as possible. They may advise to carry out a gastroscopy, a painless procedure where a video endoscope is fed through to the stomach - the only way to definitively diagnose gastric ulcers. If ulcers are found, your vet will likely prescribe a course of medication, the type and duration of which will depend on the location of the ulceration.
Next week we will share some owner experiences of gastric ulcers