Ulcers are a common concern amongst horse owners due to their severe impacts on the horse's comfort, health, and performance. As is the case in many areas of health, the risk of ulcer development is multifactorial, so addressing several risk factors can help reduce the risk of development!
Here are some evidence-based strategies for reducing the risk of ulcer development in your horse:
Maximize time spent with forage access, and try to avoid your horse going without feed for over 4 hours.
Increased time between meals increases the likelihood of ulcer development (Sykes et al, 2015), with regular provision of hay being a key factor in reducing ulcer occurrence (Luthersson et al, 2022).
Honos How To: Use slow feeding devices when free-choice access to forage is not an option.
Ensure your horse has access to water at ALL times.
Intermittent water access increases ulcer likelihood by 2.5x (Luthersson et al, 2009; Sykes et al, 2015).
Honos How To Tip: Ensure your horse has water sources in their stall AND during turnout. In group turnout situations, optimize water location and number of water stations to ensure that group dynamics are not limiting your horse's intake.
Reduce environmental stress.
Chronic stress can have cascading impacts on normal processes required to protect digestive health. Big management changes such as diet changes, turnout changes, entering an exercise program, etc can lead to ulcer development in as little as 14 days (Sykes et al, 2015).
Transport stress is also another common risk factor for gastric ulcers (Padalino et al, 2020).
Honos How To Tip: While we may not be able to completely eliminate stressors from our horse's life, we can try to minimize them. Strategies such as reducing auditory stress from radios during stabled time, and matching horses with suitable turnout companions can help remove some stressors from the horse's life.
Monitor NSC intake via hay testing + feed tag checks.
Exceeding 2g/kg of starch per day is associated with a 2-fold increased likelihood (Sykes et al, 2015).
Honos How To Tip: Meet your horse’s energy needs with an low NSC-tested hay, and calorie-dense sources of fiber & fat instead! Learn more about fueling the performance horse here.
Assess exercise schedule & intensity to reduce acid splash severity.
Increased workload (training 6-7 days per week) increases your horse’s likelihood of developing ulcers, and additional training can worsen existing ulcers (Pederson et al, 2018; Sykes et al, 2019).
Honos How To Tip: Space out intense workouts to allow your horse's body to recover. For horses with increased ulcer risk, consider working with your trainer and other bodywork support professionals to develop an exercise program that hits your training goals with 4-5 rides per week.
Ensure your horse has forage access prior to exercise to help protect the stomach.
Equine gastric ulcer syndrome (EGUS) occurs when the stomach lining suffers damage from its own acid. Acid is secreted from the glandular section of the stomach. This section also produces mucus, which protects itself from acid damage. Meanwhile, the upper section of the stomach does not have the same protection.
Honos How To Tip: Allowing your horse to eat a couple pounds of hay prior to exercise can help form a fiber mat in your horse's stomach, which protects sensitive areas from stomach acid. Alfalfa hay may have more buffering effect due to it's Calcium content.
Assess presence of medications that may be increasing ulcer risk.
For instance, bute can increase ulcer prevalence from 33% to 94% (Kenny et al, 2014).
Honos How To Tip: If your horse is on medications, talk to your vet about whether these will increase your horse's risk of ulcers, and what their suggestions are for dosage, duration of use, and what can and cannot be used with these medications.
Some well-formulated gastric supplements can be useful, only IF the rest of the diet is optimized & balanced.
Working with a nutritionist can help you match a feeding plan to your horse’s unique needs and lifestyle!
Need a hand implementing these tips? We’re here for you. Connect for a free discovery discussion or book a consult for a custom nutrition plan!
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REFERENCES:
Kenny, J., Nielsen, B., Robison, C., Larson, C., Schott, H. 2014. Does Phenylbutazone Administration Contribute to Gastric Permeability and Ulceration in Horses. Equine Veterinary Journal 46(s46): 4-4
Luthersson, N., Nielsen, KH., Harris, P., Parkin, TDH. 2009. Risk factors associated with equine gastric ulceration syndrome (EGUS) in 201 horses in Denmark. Equine Vet J 41(7): 625-630.
Luthersson, N., Þorgrímsdóttir, UY., Harris, PA., Parkins, T., Bennet, ED. 2022. Effect of moving from being extensively managed out in pasture into training on the incidence of equine gastric ulcer syndrome in Icelandic horses. AVMA 260(s3)
Padalino, B., Davis, GL., Sharanne, RL. 2020. Effects of transportation on gastric pH and gastric ulceration in mares. Journal of Veterinary Internal Medicine 34(2): 922-932.
Pedersen, S.K., A.E. Cribb, M.C. Windeyer, et al. 2018. Risk factors for equine glandular and squamous gastric disease in show jumping Warmbloods. Equine Veterinary Journal 50(6):747-751.
Sykes, BW., Hewetson, M., Hepburn, RJ., Luthersson, N., Tamzali, Y. 2015. European College of Equine Internal Medicine Consensus Statement - Equine Gastric Ulcer Syndrome in Adult Horses. J Vet Intern Med 29(5): 1288-1299.
Sykes, BW., Bowen, M., Habershon-Butcher, JL., Green, M., Hallowell, GD. 2019. Management factors and clinical implications of glandular and squamous gastric disease in horses. J Vet Intern Med 33(1): 233-240.
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