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 Extreme Veteran
Posts: 385
 
Location: TN | Y’all..... I’m going to lose my mind with this mare. I’ve only had her since October. She hasn’t been a decent eater since I’ve had her. I had her checked for ulcers at the beginning of December and she was positive. I treated her and she was eating well. Not eating all of her grain, but eating 90% of it. And if she’s kept in a stall, she always had a buddy in the stall next to her, she won’t eat hardly any grain at all. But she’ll eat all of her hay. I’m so worried she’s going to develop ulcers all over again. I cringe every time I go to feed. I’m at my wits end here. Help!! |
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Go Get Em!
Posts: 13503
   
Location: OH. IO | What are you feeding and did you talk to previous owner about her eating habits?maybe grain is her issue?if she eats hay fine,then just go with forage,it may be better for her anyways if she stays healthy on just hay. |
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 Shelter Dog Lover
Posts: 10277
| Take her off grain, horses do not need a processed grain to get the nutrition and calories they need. I took mine off of grain because of ulcers. I know the grain does not cause the ulcers but I thought why continue to feed something that is the first thing they refuse if their stomach is bothering them, grain aggrevates the situation. I feed alfalfa, renew gold, a vit/ mineral supplement and I add alfalfa pellets to my hard keeper who looks great now. |
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 A Somebody to Everybody
Posts: 41354
Location: Under The Big Sky Of Texas | jake16 - 2018-01-08 8:26 PM What are you feeding and did you talk to previous owner about her eating habits?maybe grain is her issue?if she eats hay fine,then just go with forage,it may be better for her anyways if she stays healthy on just hay. Agreed with Jake16, talk to the owner that had her befor you and see if she had the same problem, or it could be she dont like what your feeding her, change to a good pelleted feed or just good hay and what Rodeomom does.. What type of feed are you feeding her now?
Edited by Southtxponygirl 2018-01-09 9:44 AM
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 Expert
Posts: 1302
Location: California | I was told not to feed an ulcery horse grain from the vet I worked for when my horse was diagnosed with extreme ones. From what I remember the acid in the stomach that is used to break down the grain is what would worsen the ulcers and make the stomach hurt so they would stop mid-meal. If she stops mid-meal then I would be worried she has them again or they haven't healed 100%. |
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 Expert
Posts: 2097
Location: Deep South | What did you treat with and for how long?
I read an ulcer study that showed they can develop in as little as 12 hours under the right conditions. So even if treated and fully healed, it's possible they came back if she wasn't put on a good maintenance program.
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 Balance Beam and more...
Posts: 11511
Location: 31 lengths farms | I agree with all above, talk to previous owner on feed, ulcers can develop quickly also and I know with my little mare her appetite was always very clearly linked to how much work she was getting too. The other thing I would highly recommend for her for maintenance is Zesterra. |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 385
Location: TN | She’s on a 12% low starch pelleted feed. I treated her for 30 days with omeprazole paste. She finally went back to cleaning up her feed, I finished the treatment on Dec 26 and as of 3 days ago she has quit eating again |
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 Expert
Posts: 2335
Location: IL | I would take her off all grain and feed her a good hay/alfalfa mix. I feed alfafla pellets and I keep mine on a stomach supplement to help the ulcers from coming back. I had a very picky mare and now she eats great. I also feed in slow feed hay nets. As long as you have a good vitamin supplement, you don't need to feed grain. I only feed 2 cups of alfalfa pellets mixed with vitamin/mineral supplement, Excel (stomach supplement), and whole fax seed. I provide good alfafla hay mix. My horses look great and no more ulcers! It's been well over a year.
edited to say, when I haul for shows they get a mainetence dose of omeprazole.
Edited by merdth6 2018-01-09 1:44 PM
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 Miss Laundry Misshap
Posts: 5271
| Does she have a large turn-out and getting plenty of exercise? Does she have a turn out buddy? Does she have a full all you can eat hay (preferably alfalfa with ulcers) buffett for something in her stomach all day long??
Ulcergard pellets are a good daily feed through for maintenance that's fairly cheap. Zesterra, as mentioned, is very good, but I wouldn't want to pay for an every day regimen of the stuff. |
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 Namesless in BHW
Posts: 10368
Location: At the race track with Ah Dee Ohs | You will probably have to maintain her. Go whole foods with her. Whole oats, flax and good quality forage, ie. alfalfa and grass hay. Soaked alfalfa cubes will work just as well. Or just go to straight Omnis complete.
Edited by total performance 2018-01-09 2:43 PM
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A Somebody to Everybody
Posts: 41354
Location: Under The Big Sky Of Texas | Dellas Speedy Devil - 2018-01-09 1:38 PM She’s on a 12% low starch pelleted feed. I treated her for 30 days with omeprazole paste. She finally went back to cleaning up her feed, I finished the treatment on Dec 26 and as of 3 days ago she has quit eating again
What brand of feed are you feeding this mare? |
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 My Heart Be Happy
Posts: 9159
Location: Arkansas | Bump |
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 Scooters Savior
Location: "Si Fi" Ville | Just throwing out some things to consider:
Hindgut ulcer: entirely different regimen to treat.
Ulcers a lot of times seem to run together with EPM
For the ones of mine that had ulcers, I treated with omeprazole then put them on Purina Outlast. I can truly say my horses gained weight and the pickiness ended. I generally feed free choice hay with a big portion of alfalfa.
I have 8 horses. Some are in training and several when I acquired them were hard keepers. Some just didn’t gain.
Some were extremely picky.
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 385
Location: TN | Thank you all sooo much for the suggestions thus far! I bought some alfalfa cubes to try, soaked them a little bit, and she loved them! She's been doing fine on the Bermuda mix hay that I feed so I don't want to change that up on her. What I've been feeding is a Pinnacle brand feed from our coop. Its been very comparable to Safechoice. I bought a bag of the senior feed (14%) that they make and she seems to like it so far. But I called my vet yesterday and he thinks she probably hasn't completely healed yet from the ulcers and thinks I probably need to do another round of omeprazole. So I'm going to try that as well. It makes sense, her previous owners said she's a finicky eater. I think she's more than likely had ulcers for a while now bc while she was on the omeprazole she ate normal like the rest of the barn. |
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  Whack and Roll
Posts: 6342
Location: NE Texas | I second what everyone else said. No more grain of any kind. Replace that with alfalfa cubes or soaked pellets. Trust me, you will not look back and you'll be shocked at how well she will do once she's no longer eating processed crap! |
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 The One
Posts: 7998
Location: South Georgia | What vitamin/mineral supplement do those of you who have moved to grain-free diets use? |
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Whack and Roll
Posts: 6342
Location: NE Texas | horsegirl - 2018-01-10 1:37 PM What vitamin/mineral supplement do those of you who have moved to grain-free diets use?
I feed Omnis cubes and Cur-OST and that's it. I don't give any loose hay or anything else. I love these products because the vitamins and minerals come from whole food sources such as the super food, spirulina and other powerful herbs. That combined with the curcumin, boswelia. marshmallow and aloe root, it packs a powerful punch managing inflammation daily as well as soothes the stomach without any buffers. There are no synthetic vitamins added or generic vitamin mineral sprays or packs added. It makes no sense to me to go grain free to avoid processed grains and then feed a supplement full of synthetically produced vits, which is what you're getting if a product lists the vitamins as ingredients. |
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Namesless in BHW
Posts: 10368
Location: At the race track with Ah Dee Ohs | Herbie - 2018-01-10 2:26 PM horsegirl - 2018-01-10 1:37 PM What vitamin/mineral supplement do those of you who have moved to grain-free diets use? I feed Omnis cubes and Cur-OST and that's it. I don't give any loose hay or anything else. I love these products because the vitamins and minerals come from whole food sources such as the super food, spirulina and other powerful herbs. That combined with the curcumin, boswelia. marshmallow and aloe root, it packs a powerful punch managing inflammation daily as well as soothes the stomach without any buffers. There are no synthetic vitamins added or generic vitamin mineral sprays or packs added. It makes no sense to me to go grain free to avoid processed grains and then feed a supplement full of synthetically produced vits, which is what you're getting if a product lists the vitamins as ingredients.
^^^THIS..... |
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The One
Posts: 7998
Location: South Georgia | Well darn. The closest dealer is Arkansas, and I am in South Georgia. |
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Whack and Roll
Posts: 6342
Location: NE Texas | horsegirl - 2018-01-10 2:46 PM Well darn. The closest dealer is Arkansas, and I am in South Georgia.
Omnis dealer? You might contact them. There is a need for dealers in the southeast. |
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The One
Posts: 7998
Location: South Georgia | There is a need, based on that map, but I am a school teacher who boards her horse. No setup for something like that. |
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Expert
Posts: 2335
Location: IL | horsegirl - 2018-01-10 2:46 PM Well darn. The closest dealer is Arkansas, and I am in South Georgia.
I feed Equishine per my vet. My horses have never looked better. I give alfalfa pellets, whole flax seed, equishine, and Excel ( which is stomach and hindgut supplement, love it) |
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Whack and Roll
Posts: 6342
Location: NE Texas | horsegirl - 2018-01-10 2:50 PM There is a need, based on that map, but I am a school teacher who boards her horse. No setup for something like that.
Understand. I just fed baled alfalfa and a small amount of whole oats with either a cup of flax seed or BOSS before that. I fed about a pound of whole oats once a day. The Omnis were an easy transition for me because they are exactly what I was already feeding, just cubed. Do you have access to a different kind of cube or baled alfalfa? If I had to narrow my horse's diet down to one thing they wouldn't go without, it would undoubtedly be quality alfalfa. |
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The One
Posts: 7998
Location: South Georgia | Herbie - 2018-01-10 3:53 PM horsegirl - 2018-01-10 2:50 PM There is a need, based on that map, but I am a school teacher who boards her horse. No setup for something like that. Understand. I just fed baled alfalfa and a small amount of whole oats with either a cup of flax seed or BOSS before that. I fed about a pound of whole oats once a day. The Omnis were an easy transition for me because they are exactly what I was already feeding, just cubed. Do you have access to a different kind of cube or baled alfalfa? If I had to narrow my horse's diet down to one thing they wouldn't go without, it would undoubtedly be quality alfalfa.
I pasture board normally, and there is always a roundbale of coastal hay in the pasture. She gets a 12/10 pelleted feed 2x daily also. However, she came down with ulcers, so I switched her to stall board (turnout during the day, stall at night), so I could monitor her eating better and give her time to eat 2 flakes of alfalfa each night, along with more coastal hay. She's looking better already, but we are only on day 15 of Abgard (omeprazole) treatment. I can't really change things TOO much being in a boarding situation. I could switch her to just alfalfa but she could only have access to it at night while stalled. I couldn't throw it out into the pasture because the others would eat it. |
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Whack and Roll
Posts: 6342
Location: NE Texas | I understand. Very challenging for sure. |
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I’m at my wits end.....