What are gastric (stomach) ulcers?
A stomach ulcer is an area where the gastric membrane (comprised of mucus producing cells) has been eroded away and the acid has attacked the muscular wall beneath.
This results in pain and inflammation, and can cause bleeding into the stomach. Ulcers are debilitating and can be potentially life threatening.
What are the causes of ulceration in horses?
Acid released in the stomach in the absence of feed is thought to be the main factor in the disease. Horses evolved as grazing animals, constantly eating high roughage diets. However, a majority of the time this just isn’t possible as our horses are often stabled or confined and fed 2 hard feeds a day with low levels of roughage. Thier stomach is often empty for many hours of the day and stomach acid is continuously secreted, which can irritate and ulcerate the stomach lining. A horse's stomach secretes acid continually so that in it's natural habitat it can digest the food it is constantly grazing on - to do this it needs to be constantly chewing and producing saliva. With no eating there is no chewing, so there is less saliva to neutralise stomach acids. As the acid splashes across the upper side of the stomach it eats away the lining to form, sometimes within days, deep bleeding ulcers.
The horse's stomach is similar to ours except there are two regions. One region is coated with a thicker type of lining than the other, which is largely lined with glandular cells.
This glandular portion is most similar to our own stomach. The stomach lining produces both acid and mucus. The mucus protects the lining cells from being damaged by the acid which is
necessary to help digest food. Horses produce small amounts of acid all of the time compared to other species which produce acid primarily when they eat. This makes sense when we
consider that horses are "designed" to eat most of time since they are grazing animals. Similarly, foals nurse small amounts throughout the day. High grain / low roughage diets promote
acid secretion
Stress increases the amount of acid being produced in the stomach. In addition, certain commonly used anti-inflammatory medications (NSAIDs) such as phenylbutazone ("bute"), Flunixin,
Banamine or Ketofen Dipyrone & aspirin may decrease the amount of mucus produced in the stomach. Stress and NSAIDs, alone or in combination, set up a situation where stomach ulcers may
develop. In adult horses, diets rich in grain compared to hay have also been implicated.
Severe Ulcers can develop in as little as 5 days. Nervy horses seem to have a higher risk of stomach ulcers, due to the stress of training together with high energy feeds.
In a modern racing stable conditions allow equine stomach ulcers to flourish, these may include stress caused by isolation, unpredictable situations and
exposure to chemical substances such as Bute, which weaken the stomach lining and can cause bleeding. These conditions are almost entirely due to our interference with the natural
rhythms and routines of the animals and to our overuse of chemical substances.
UlcerAid: The Complete Natural Product
UlcerAid will assist in the normal healthy recovery of the damaged stomach lining. It assists in relaxing the stomach and improving the normal rhythmic action necessary both for digestion and optimal fluid secretion.
Tips on Managing Ulcers
- Horses with ulcers often do better when trained from a paddock or have access to grazing for the majority of the day.
- Cut back work until appetite improves, then re-introduce harder work gradually.
- Do not work horses on an empty stomach – ensure that hay is available overnight.
- Avoid depriving horses of feed for more than a few hours as ulcers can develop very quickly when feed is withheld.
- Long truck or float trips are often associated with food deprivation so keep this in mind when transporting long distances.
- Horses with bleeding stomach ulcers should be provided with additional iron and blood-building minerals
e.g. Ironcyclen Liquid, FBC-Bloodfood granules
