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 I Want a "MAN"
Posts: 3610
   
Location: MD | I suspected my horse had ulcers. I swiched her feed to 6 pounds of alfalfa cubes, 1 cup flax, and a mineral supplement called equi-min. She gets the alfalfa and flax 2x a day and the mineral only once. Will that heal them or just keep them contained if she does have them? |
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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 678
Location: Canada | The high calcium in Alfalfa will help settle her stomach and may help prevent further irritation but if you suspect ulcers its best to treat them as well. |
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 Expert
Posts: 5293
| I have learned from Dr. Schell ( Makers of curost) that ulcers only have ONE reason to be there. Stress. If you eliminate the stress, then you eliminate the ulcer. Of course, Ideally pasture, other horses in a herd situation, etc are the " Ideal" but not always possible. I do not have pasture. So my ulcer type horse gets CUROST stomach and ADAPT and CALM formula. THe Adapt lowers the stress of unavoidable things like hauling, not having pasture etc. Both formulas work awesome. My horses are on free access to alfalfa and grass hay. Medications for ulcers only bandaid the situation and unless you address the cause it won't ever improve. |
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 Expert
Posts: 2258
| I have a mare on the stomach along with calm and adapt. I have not been able to ride since she has been on it almost 60 days now but she has been so much better just here at home. I am impressed so far I guess I will see how it goes when we go back to riding. I am hopeful though. |
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 Expert
Posts: 2457
| NO - What you are feeding and Alfalfa alone will not cure a dang thing. Ulcers are due to a change in pH of stomach acid, feed intake, stress, over active acid pumps and other biological factors.
Please treat your horse for ulcers with a proven treatment, and then feed accordingly to prevent them in the future.
There are MANY really great, free articles that are peer reviewed for accuracy and truthfulness of the science behind them. The article I have attached is a "review" that sums up the last 20 years or so of peer reviewed journal articles pertaining to equine gastric ulcers in an easy to understand format.
For reference - http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0749073908000679 (you might have to copy and paste the link)
Andrews et al., "Nutrition and Dietary Management of Equine Gastric Ulcer Syndrome",Veterinary Clinics of North America: Equine Practice , April 2009, Vol 25, iss 1, pgs 79-92. |
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Expert
Posts: 2457
| FLITASTIC - 2016-01-21 4:08 PM
I have learned from Dr. Schell ( Makers of curost) that ulcers only have ONE reason to be there. Stress. If you eliminate the stress, then you eliminate the ulcer. Of course, Ideally pasture, other horses in a herd situation, etc are the " Ideal" but not always possible. I do not have pasture. So my ulcer type horse gets CUROST stomach and ADAPT and CALM formula. THe Adapt lowers the stress of unavoidable things like hauling, not having pasture etc. Both formulas work awesome. My horses are on free access to alfalfa and grass hay. Medications for ulcers only bandaid the situation and unless you address the cause it won't ever improve.
This is not the whole truth .... Yes, gastric ulcers are exacerbated by stress as are many biological systems. Stress is not the end all be all cause of gastric ulcers ..... Other factors include forage type, concentrate feed type, genetic predisposition, thickness of the stomach lining, activity of the acid pumps in the stomach, and there is evidence of liver function playing a part in hind gut ulcers as well (since the liver is in charge of adding bile/slime to keep feed moving through the fermenting hind gut). |
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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 999
Location: Sunny So Cal | Not that I have ever heard. Ulcers can form for nurmerous reasons. Horse's stomach lining isn't thick enough to contain and control the acid, horse produces too much acid, genetics, stress, etc I use GastroPLUS because its affordable and I liked how it is a natural approach that works super well. |
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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 617
Location: London Ontario | I don't think it does, but I am sure it helps. My 4 yr old was just started on THE's Gastro Plus and even though she has another week of vacation I have really noticed a difference. She is happy to see me when I get into the barn, is licking her grain bucket clean(oats, alfalfa pellets and flax appeal), as well she is eating her watered down alfalfa/timothy cubes before touching her hay. I am very happy with it and am excited to get back on her! |
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