There are many factors that can cause horse ulcers and not all horse ulcers are the same. Antibiotic therapy, stress, and digestive problems are among the main causes of ulcers in horses. Stress that causes horse ulcers can be the result of many different life situations. Horses can be stressed by situations such as travel, horse shows, heavy training, a new environment, confinement or an abrupt change in weather. Horse ulcers also can occur as an inflammation anywhere in the digestive tract not just in the stomach. Ulcers in horses can manifest in the upper or non-glandular part of the stomach, lower or glandular part of the stomach, duodenum (upper part of the small intestine) or colon (large intestine). Since ulcers in different parts of the digestive tract occur for different reasons, different treatments work better according to where the ulcer is located. Of course the best treatment is prevention and not getting to the point where your horse is dealing with an ulcer.
Horse Symptoms: What to Watch For
How do you know if your horse may have developed an ulcer? The general symptoms of horse ulcers to watch for include:
- diminished appetite
- colic
- frequent pawing
- weight loss
- poor performance
- reluctance to eat grain but ready consumption of hay
- sore back
- in foals, colic, a pot-bellied appearance, teeth grinding, and excessive salivation
Horse Symptoms: How Horse Ulcers Develop
Where the ulcer is located gives us information on how the ulcer was formed. Ulcers in the upper part of the stomach, which are also called gastric ulcers, develop when acid from the lower part of the stomach comes in contact with the lining in the upper part of the stomach. Ulcers in horses found in the lower part of the stomach, the glandular part that secretes hydrochloric acid, are another form of gastric ulcer and are commonly caused by NSAIDs like Bute or Banamine. These drugs interfere with the stomach’s ability to generate the mucous barrier in the lower stomach that normally protects the stomach lining from the acid. Horse ulcers in the duodenum, or the upper part of the small intestine commonly occur from indigestion or when the digestive process is interrupted. One way this can happen is when a horse is under stress. Stress triggers a sympathetic nervous system response (also called the fight-or-flight reflex) causing the digestive process to stop.
Improper digestion can also prevent the small intestine from completely digesting starches. These partially-digested starches are then dumped into the colon, which is meant to digest fiber rather than starches. As a result, the bacterial population that normally lives in the colon and digests fiber dies off, and is replaced by starch-digesting bacteria from the small intestine. While this takes care of digesting starches, the colon can no longer digest fiber. The undigested fibers rot in the colon, producing toxins that irritate the colon wall, ultimately causing ulcers.
Since prevention is the best medicine, let’s look at some ways to prevent ulcers in horses according to some of the different causes.
Horse Symptoms: Preventing Horse Ulcers during Antibiotic Therapy
Sometimes antibiotic therapy is necessary, especially with acute conditions or serious injuries. You probably already know that antibiotics kill off the “friendly bacteria,” or probiotics, that live in your horse’s gut. These friendly bacteria are an important part of your horse’s digestion, and form a first line of defense against foreign invaders that cause illness. Acidophilus is the probiotic that lives in your horse’s small intestine while bifidus lives in the large intestine.
A healthy population of these bacteria keeps your horse’s food in his gut, preventing food from leaking into the bloodstream, which can ultimately cause allergies, food sensitivities, and a host of other chronic conditions. Antibiotic therapy can seriously affect a horse’s health and the functioning of his digestion. All of this can ultimately lead to horse ulcers.
It never hurts to feed prebiotics and probiotics during the course of antibiotics. Feeding probiotics after your horse completes the course of antibiotics is a must. To replenish your horse’s population of probiotics and prevent horse ulcers, I prefer products that include both prebiotics and probiotics.
Fastrack is one popular product that includes both prebiotics and probiotics, with the paste form being more powerful than the powdered form. If your horse has only been on a short course of antibiotics (one week or less), Fastrack may be strong enough to replenish your horse’s gut with probiotics. If your horse has been on antibiotics for longer or has had digestive issues in the past, a product with 2 kinds of blue green algae, acidophilus, enzymes and bifidus that you can see more about HERE is a better choice. This special kind of blue-green algae acts powerfully to heal any ulcers that may be forming.
Horse Symptoms: Preventing Ulcers Due to Stress from Confinement
There are three general guidelines you can follow to prevent horse ulcers for any horse who has to be confined for an extended length of time:
1. Cut back on grain-type feeds – Cutting back on your horse’s grain-type feeds will ensure that he isn’t bursting with excess energy that he has no way to release.
2. Increase the amount of hay you feed – The extra hay will provide hours of entertainment since horses were meant to eat all day long. In addition, the hay also forms a fibrous mat in the upper part of your horse’s stomach, which acts as a buffer against the acid produced in the lower stomach. If this buffer is not present because your horse isn’t getting enough hay, he could develop stomach ulcers if the acid from the lower stomach contacts the upper stomach.
3. Feed herbal supplements like Relax Blend from Equilite or a form of blue green algae that is the heart of the algae with the cell wall removed that you can see more about HERE. These products can help keep your horse in a relaxed and calm state. When your horse is relaxed he is operating from his parasympathetic nervous system, which is the nervous system associated with relaxation, rejuvenation, and healing.
Horse Symptoms: Preventing Horse Ulcers for the Horse Going into Training
Many horses going into a training program for the first time will develop stomach ulcers because they are under stress. In this instance the best way to prevent horse ulcers is to keep your horse relaxed and provide plenty of probiotic support.
For calm horses, daily doses of Fastrack should provide enough probiotic support to prevent ulcers. For horses with a more intense or nervous personality, these packets of blue green algae, enzymes, and probiotics are more suitable. The algae product is more nutrient-dense, and provides more probiotics per serving than Fastrack. It’s important to provide probiotic support because probiotics are the bacteria that produce B-vitamins in your horse’s body. B-vitamins are known to have a calming effect, which both reduces your horse’s stress level and helps prevent horse ulcers.
Finally, if you think your horse is going to be really stressed by his training program, consider adding two capsules of Eleviv to his daily regimen. Eleviv is an herbal product that helps keep horses functioning from the parasympathetic, or calm, nervous system. Eleviv can have a dramatic effect on certain horses for whom probiotic support is not enough.
Horse Symptoms: Preventing Recurring Ulcers
It is fairly common, once a horse has an ulcer and has gone through treatment, for him to develop ulcers again. Once a horse has fully recovered from an ulcer, the best way to prevent the formation of new ulcers is to put him on a nutritional maintenance program that will keep him healthy.
The simplest and most effective nutritional supplement I have found to keep ulcer-prone horses healthy is the blue green algae, probiotic and enzymes packets I’ve already mentioned. When fed on a daily basis, this balanced mix of supplements keeps a horse’s gut healthy. The probiotics, acidophilus and bifidus, keep the population of “good bacteria,” or gut flora, in the horse’s small and large intestines flourishing. This is important because healthy gut flora prevents foreign invaders from taking over and causing ulcers. Probiotics also play a big role in healthy digestion.
The enzymes also play a crucial role in digestion, especially for horses who have trouble assimilating nutrients or have inherently poor digestion. The two forms of blue-green algae provide a nutrient-dense supply of vitamins, minerals, and trace minerals. These nutrients help to heal horse ulcers as soon as they start to form. 1-2 packets daily, depending on the horse’s temperament, will do the job.
If a horse with a history of ulcers is going to be in a situation that you know will cause him stress, it is a good idea to feed additional supplements to prevent the formation of new ulcers. As a horse owner, you know best which factors stress your horse. If you know that you horse is going to be stressed, you can prevent him from developing new ulcers by supplementing his feed with ulcer-preventive substances beforehand.
For instance, if you know that your horse is stressed by long trips, in addition to feeding the above mentioned blue green algae packets, you might add green clay, Stomach Soother, SUCCEED, or KAM KLPP and KAM UF to his diet a day or two before you leave. The key is to feed him whatever nutritional supplement helped him heal from his original ulcer.
Horses treated with holistic care, which focuses on a solid nutritional program and preventative care, are not only happier and healthier over all, but cost their owners less money in the long run. A solid nutritional program that is designed specifically for your horse’s nutritional and temperamental needs is definitely a form of prevention against horse ulcers and all kinds of other acute and chronic health conditions. While the ongoing monthly costs of this kind of program may seem a bit higher than a plain simple grass hay diet, ultimately a nutritional program like this will save you money and heartache.
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