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 Expert
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| I was at my vets yesterday and we got to talking ulcers and she said she had just read some research that now shows hauling a horse is extremely stressful, even if they show no outward signs. They did a study where they scoped some horses just before loading on a trailer. They re scoped at 2 hours , 4, and 6. Some horses went from scoping clean to having irritation by 2 hour mark and full blown ulcers by 6 hours. I assume these horses were not allowed to eat so they could be re scoped. I do leave hay in front of mine while hauling but talk about interesting! She said it was an easy fix! Dose of omeprazole day before , day of hauling and if gone multiple days one dose each day. My colt is very laid back and never seemed to care about hauling or new places. I feed a daily preventative , hay in front of them 24/7 anyway but decided to give a dose of omeprazole for a few days before my jackpot last night. Man oh man my horse ran hard and fired!!! |
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I just read the headlines
Posts: 4483
| Thanks for the info. Very interesting. |
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Member
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| I agree completely, we always prep for a haul if its over an hour away. wonder where we can find this study, and who performed it. |
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 I Prefer to Live in Fantasy Land
Posts: 64864
Location: In the Hills of Texas | FLITASTIC - 2016-05-04 11:55 AM I was at my vets yesterday and we got to talking ulcers and she said she had just read some research that now shows hauling a horse is extremely stressful, even if they show no outward signs. They did a study where they scoped some horses just before loading on a trailer. They re scoped at 2 hours , 4, and 6. Some horses went from scoping clean to having irritation by 2 hour mark and full blown ulcers by 6 hours. I assume these horses were not allowed to eat so they could be re scoped. I do leave hay in front of mine while hauling but talk about interesting! She said it was an easy fix! Dose of omeprazole day before , day of hauling and if gone multiple days one dose each day. My colt is very laid back and never seemed to care about hauling or new places. I feed a daily preventative , hay in front of them 24/7 anyway but decided to give a dose of omeprazole for a few days before my jackpot last night. Man oh man my horse ran hard and fired!!!
I've posted multiple times how I would dose my ulcer horse with THE GastroPlus before I loaded him in the trailer and every day I was at a barrel race and before I put him back in the trailer to come home. Worked great for 10 years.
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 Elite Veteran
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Location: West Texas | How do they know hauling was what was stressful or was it being hauled with no food, then being scoped every 2 hours?... My money is on the later. How do they know that constant dosing with omeprazole isn't harmful, especially hauling a lot for a long time? Not to mention cost! Seemed to me like a way for drug companies to sell more drugs and play on peoples fears. Good nutrition and care goes a long way in hauling and competing. Personally, I will stick with not medicating before a problem is found to treat.
Edited by Tdove 2016-05-04 3:46 PM
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Expert
Posts: 5293
| We know already that long term use of omeprazole does harm for digestion by not allowing acid to break down food well enough before its passed to the hind gut. However I don't see a problem with it if your hauling on weekends. Not sure how it would work with a person hauling a horse full time down the road from one rodeo to the next. In all honesty I think a horse has some level of stress every time we even put a halter on them. Unless you have a pasture ornament on 300 acres of green pasture and never touched you are taking your horse out of its natural environment. |
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  Whack and Roll
Posts: 6342
Location: NE Texas | It is my understanding from Dr. Williams at Lonestar Equine that it takes 4 days of the full dosage of Gastrogard for it to reach the full level of efficacy and for the horse to get the relief it's needing. I'm almost positive he said that the drug pamphlet inside the box with all of the fine print mentioned this, or that the drug rep for Merial did....sorry, can't remember exactly, but I know he said the informaiton came from the company in some form or fashion.
He recommended that if it is immediate relief that you're looking for and want something to use as you're describing here....day before and during an event and just as needed, that Ranitidine would be a better choice. Don't know if this is true or not, but it is what he told me a couple of years ago and thought i'd share. |
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Expert
Posts: 1207
| I have also wondered about this...my SO takes the prescription drug Omeprazole and on the pamphlet it says possible sides effect of osteoporosis and memory loss. Just wondering if that would pertain to horses also. Not to be funny or critical just curious. |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 851
Location: West Texas | I am just cautioning using drugs to keep problems away. If you have one that always gets ulcers when hauled no matter what, then I would think about the medication. Otherwise, I am always hesitant of over medication or when not really needed. All drugs have side effects. The study as described just seemed to not really show much. Of course hauling horses is stressful. But causing ulcers on all horses, I just don't see it. Part of training is learning to deal with stress physically and mentally. My experience is with proper feeding, training, and hauling practices, ulcers can be minimized for the most part. |
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 Expert
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Location: Gainesville, TX | I agree with Herbie's vet. Our vet says the same. So does my sister and she is a pharmacist. Ranitidine is cheaper with fewer long term side effects for prevention. Omeprazole is better for treatment of known ulcers. |
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