March 2005

Ulcers Demand Your Attention

And they get it. In advertising. In barn chatter. Even in veterinary offices. No matter how you look at it, though, symptomatic relief may help.

A horse who has an unusual change in attitude or becomes touchy around their abdomen may have an ulcer.

You’ve read the ads, seen the endoscope studies results and heard the talk: Gastric ulcers are incredibly common in domesticated horses. The incidence is higher in heavily stressed horses, like racehorses and endurance horses, but ulcers are being found in quiet horses that seem to have a plain, ordinary, easy life, too.

If your horse doesn’t quite seem like himself at times, not colicky, but definitely somehow uncomfortable, he may be battling an ulcer. Or maybe he doesn’t eat with the enthusiasm he used to have, or just lacks the “spirit” he used to have. You’ve ruled out other possibilities and are left to face the fact that you may…