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[RC] ulcers - Marlene MossI have a horse that I suspect has ulcers. Here?s the history. She?s an 8 yr old BLM mustang, captured at 3, adopted by me late in her 5th year. She was a nervous sort of horse, but would deal with almost anything by not moving and just trembling. She got over all that over about 6 months and I?ve moved along with her very slowly. I got her bred when she was 6. She had light colicky episodes almost monthly during her pregnancy. Nothing that we treated, she didn?t stop pooping or gut sounds, just was uncomfortable and would stick her lip up in the air. She had a big colic that required treatment after foaling but that isn?t terribly unusual I?ve heard. There were times during the pregnancy that we thought we could associate the timing with some kind of feed changes ? nothing big, but she seemed sensitive to little things like that. This spring I started riding her and she?s now done 3 LD?s and 1 Open CTR. After the 2nd LD which was 1 week after the CTR, she had another little colic. It really did not seem like ride stress ? she was within 1 mile of completing the ride when she stuck her lip up. Back at the trailer she rolled. She still had gut sounds (B) and A and A- on hydration indicators. But definitely not comfortable and not eating or drinking. After about 20 minutes she got some banamine and was eating up a storm 30 seconds later. Passed a large amount of gas. Several things could have precipitated this ? 1) the ride, although we really didn?t think so, it was not difficult, easier than many of her training rides, but it was also only one week after the 2 day CTR, but that didn?t seem to stress her either from a visual inspection. 2) I had really increased the amount of beet pulp I was feeding during the ride because at the CTR she had gotten a C on gut sounds the first day (idiot vet judge hadn?t bothered to tell us, so we didn?t know until we got the card after the ride and since all looked good we?d never monitored closely) but she was ok the 2nd day. 3) she ate a huge amount of rich grass at the vet check area. We?d gotten in line early, but they decided to let the 50?s check in early since the vet arrived somewhat late so we stood around and chatted for at least 45 minutes while she chowed. She?s on pasture, but not quite that rich. Then a couple weeks later I had bought a new feed called Genesis for this mare?s son (now a yearling and a little ribby) and thought I?d add a little to her feed as well. I was starting slow of course, but on the 2nd day, she had another colic episode, but she came right out of it. This just 3 days before the ride we did yesterday. So I?m very concerned of course and figure I will do my best to make sure she eats very little out of the ordinary and know that at the first sign of anything I?ll pull. We had a perfect ride, even though I?d been concerned that I?d stressed her by helping mark trail on the hot day before the ride. She was strong and happy the entire ride and no signs of anything wrong. I discussed this at length with the head vet and she agreed with me that we should investigate the possibility that this mare has ulcers. So I can probably get her scoped at CSU, but I?ll talk to my vet about how we proceed to do that. I read recently that there is a urine or blood test for ulcers now, but that it probably isn?t highly accurate. Does anyone have any experience with that test? Is there anything like Maalox, Neighlox, Gastrogard that I could consider to help wouldn?t be stupid in an unknown situation? I do plan on doing whatever it takes to find out what is going on, but expect that to take a little time. Is there anything else that comes to mind that I should have checked? While this horse may never be a 50 miler, she really loves getting out on the trail, her whole demeanor just perks up and she just seems to enjoy moving very consistently. So I?m hoping we can figure something out for her. Doing rides doesn?t specifically seem to the cause of the colics, but I?m sure there is some level of contribution because I can?t always control feed changes. Can?t control it over the year on her 40 acre pasture either though! Thanks for any advice. Marlene Marlene Moss www.KineticEquineAnalysis.com www.mphr.org?(Mustang Performance Horse Registry) 719-351-5037 (cell) 719-748-9073 (home) =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net. Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/Ridecamp Subscribe/Unsubscribe http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/logon.asp Ride Long and Ride Safe!! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
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