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Re: [RC] [RC] [AERC-Members] Ulcers - terry banister

"it would be quite a stretch to say that endurance "causes" ulcers."

But endurance could cause ulcers, because the "routine" contains all the elements necessary, and it is repetitive, especially for horses that do more than one race per month, or on newby horses that haven't got the EDPP routine down.
Things that contribute to acid buildup in the horse's stomach can be mental/physical combinations that put the horse off feed long/often enough to become pre-ulcerous:
i.e. long stressful trailer rides, dehydration, new camping quarters, seperation from buddies, competitive mentality (race brain), infrequent feeding opportunities, electrolytes, extreme exercise, weather conditions, etc.

When more than one of these elements happen to combine frequently or in a short period of time, the horse's stomach can end up with excess acid, and that can put them off eating, which can lead to more acid, etc. Sometimes, things just happen, and we cannot keep all these elements under control.
Some horses may come into the sport with preexisting ulcerous conditions, like I believe my horse did, and being new to an exciteable competitve sport can exacerbate their condition.

I am thankful for Barney Fleming's $50 ulcer-scoping clinics that he held around our area last year. My horse was a hard keeper, but showed no other symptoms, so I would have never paid $300 to have him scoped at a hospital. I might have had a problem and quit endurance without ever knowing the cause.
Since my horse was just stage-1, the treatment was only 10 days of Gastroguard.
Now, I just combine Neighlox (or your antiacid of choice) with some food (I just mix with couple of handfuls of Advantage or Senior, which I know he likes) at times of mental/emotional stress or long without regular meals, or when giving electrolytes, etc. I don't think Neighlox, or antacids are considered "drugs," as much as preventive care. I carry a pouch of the mixture in my in my cantle bag and feed him a handfull or two whenever I get chance.

By monitoring my horse's activity routine, eating habits and appearance, and giving the antacid whenever in doubt, I feel like we have gotten a handle on the causes of his ulcerous tendancies (he is an outwardly calm horse) and he is no longer a picky eater, his flanks have filled out and I no longer have that nagging doubt. He also has the endurance routine down pat now, so he has quit pouting over changes and now takes care of himself.
But if Barney (or any other vet ) were to offer an inexpensive scoping opportunity at a ride, I would be the first in line. Hint, hint.

It would be great if we could have an optional fee included in our ride applications that would pay a vet to do scoping for those that wanted it. I personally would pay to do it twice a year.

Terry
"May the horse be with you"


From: <heidi@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <howard9732@xxxxxxx>
CC: <AERCMembersForum@xxxxxxxxxxxx>, <ridecamp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: Re: [RC]   [AERC-Members] Ulcers
Date: Tue, 16 Mar 2004 07:41:33 -0700 (MST)

Since Howard asked these questions on both forums, I'll answer on both.

> Anyway, back to the ulcer thing, here's a few questions.  Does
> endurance,  because of the fact a horse's insides, stomach in
> particular, were not meant  to perform one hundred miles in a 24 hour
> period, cause ulcers?

No,
But undue stress CAN contribute to ulcers.  The determining factor here is
whether the horse is suited to the task or not.  One of the biggest
"causes" of ulcers is confining horses to stalls.  This is really
stressful to some horses.  There are horses that are not mentally suited
to the sport of endurance, and those individuals should go find another
job.
There are also horses that really struggle to do endurance.  Likewise,
those should go find another job.

Additionally, too many people don't realize that going back to work too
soon after some other metabolic event can be stressful--or that ulcers
could well have been caused by something else and then exacerbated by
endurance, whereas the horse might not have gotten them just doing
endurance.  A few scenarios:  Horse gets a leg injury, is confined and
given bute, ulcer is established, leg heals, ulcer is not detected, but
horse goes back to work at endurance and ulcer gets worse.  Horse is
purchased and formerly had feeding/confinement issues, ergo horse came
with undetected ulcer, and ulcer gets worse.  And the biggie, imo--people
pump electrolytes willy nilly down horse--the sport does not cause the
ulcer, but the e-lytes do.

>Are these ulcers a result from the sport itself?

See above. IMO, no.

>  Is there any correlation between  some of our equine deaths in the
> sport and "ulcers?"

Probably.  But again, if the sport "caused" the ulcer and there were not
other contributing causes, then somebody has not been "listening" to this
horse and has been trying to stuff a square peg into a round hole.

>Can the products used  to heal them also be used to
> prevent them?  If so, why on earth would we not  allow them to be used
> during endurance competition?

Sometimes, yes.  But should we allow them in the sport?  Hell, no.  One
could make the same case for saying that nerving prevents lameness.  But
robbing a horse of the feeling in his feet is not an acceptable substitute
for good management.  We could run them all on bute, too, so they wouldn't
get sore.  Gee, let's put in some bute for soreness, add anti-ulcer meds
so the horse doesn't get an ulcer from the bute, let's just stick an IV
line in so we can drip some magic energy goo in there continuously, and
fluids, and whatever else.  No, medicating isn't the way to go.  What we
DO need is better awareness of ulcers, more willingness to add scoping to
the diagnostic list when warranted, better understanding of what we do
that contributes to them, adequate time off for them when they ARE
diagnosed, and a willingness to face the fact that Ol' Dobbin may not be
cut out for endurance, if the problems with ulcers persist.

We all seem to accept that a horse that cannot stay biomechanically sound
in this sport needs to stay home and find another job.  For the most part,
riders have a good awareness that we can't just add magic pills and
potions to cure or to ward off suspensory injuries, bowed tendons, etc.
We accept that we have to do a certain amount of work to get these tissues
fit, and that if something happens, we have to lay the horse off and do
adequate rehab if we intend to bring him back.

What too many people do NOT seem to realize is that "metabolic soundness"
requires the same approach.  We need to make sure there are not metabolic
issues or lesions there to begin with.  We need to condition, train, and
manage the horse in such a way that we reduce the likelihood of metabolic
injury.  We need to understand that we cannot "cover up" metabolic
problems with preventative drugs any more than we can biomechanical
problems.  And when metabolic issues or lesions occur, we need to keep the
horse home until he is well again before asking him to compete.

And, like with biomechanical inadequacies--if the horse isn't up to the
task metabolically, he needs to find another job.

Heidi


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