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 Veteran
Posts: 178
 
Location: IL | Did a search and was unable to find much. My mare seems to develop loose stools when at events, she is on a digestive aid and it does not seem to be helping. I have also started treating her for ulcers recently hoping this might help. But she still had loose stools over the weekend. What do you use to help prevent this? Last year I tried JailBreak GI from OxyGen at a show with the impression that it would help, but it did not. |
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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 964
Location: Alberta, Canada | I started using Comfort Gut on my mare and she never gets loose anymore. She's much quieter to be around in general. I'm not sure if the product is available in the US but there are several Canadian distributors including myself who could ship to you I'm sure. |
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 Expert
Posts: 5290
| My colt used to do same thing, even on Curost Stomach. When I switched to Depaolo Excel it all stopped. He has firm manure in trailer, home, and at races. |
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Expert
Posts: 1694
Location: Willows, CA | This can happen when your overall diet is on the edge of upset, then gets tipped over that edge when some stress is added. You might look at adjusting the diet in general to address the issue. You do not mention what you feed, but here are some suggestions. Limit grain in general, but try to get soy or corn out of the program completely. Feed the best hay you can find,(this makes additional concentrates less necessary), and make sure the teeth are up to date so the roughage your horse is eating has a better chance of being completely chewed. This type of diet will give you all the energy and condition you need and solve your problem in most cases. |
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Veteran
Posts: 178
Location: IL | I will have to look into the Comfort Gut and Excel, thank you for sharing!
And as far at diet, she is on quality alfalfa/grass mix 24/7 and on pasture. She also gets 1 1/2 lbs. of Strategy GX morning and night.
Teeth have been done as well, so maybe I should be trying a different grain/pellet? |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 413
| Equi sure. HUGE improvement |
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Expert
Posts: 1694
Location: Willows, CA | Kizzy_177 - 2016-05-17 2:30 PM
I will have to look into the Comfort Gut and Excel, thank you for sharing!
And as far at diet, she is on quality alfalfa/grass mix 24/7 and on pasture. She also gets 1 1/2 lbs. of Strategy GX morning and night.
Teeth have been done as well, so maybe I should be trying a different grain/pellet?
While I am really not a big Strategy fan, (full disclosure, I make horse feed), you are not greatly overfeeding it at that rate. How long ago were the teeth done? I am not worried about her needing a float. It only takes about four months to get a hook started on the inside of the lowers that will have them chewing less because it causes pain to the tongue. This, in turn, allows grass hay to pass through the hind gut too fast for digestion. As a result, you get loose stool. Pull her tongue out the side of her mouth to look at the side of it. If she has hooks started you will see sores there. I am not a probiotic fan for daily use. If you choose to continue with Strategy, you might a benefit from adding Forco to get her hind gut working better. I would go this direction before going too deep in to more complicated digestive supplements. |
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 Expert
Posts: 1273
Location: South Dakota | I've got the same issue with two horses. I tried Formula 707 calming paste on one of the horses last weekend and it really helped him. I tried UlcerGard on the other horse and it helped a little but not near enough. |
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  Whack and Roll
Posts: 6342
Location: NE Texas | The loose stool you're seeing is stress induced and likely due to a change in the microbial balance in the GI tract as a result of the stress. No different than we as people have changes in our bowels when we experience stress, our horses do as well, some more than others. The effects of these changes is what is concerning to me, as stress itself creates an inflammatory response within the body, which could then exacerbate or even create other health issues. Think of a person with a high stress job....they likely have more health issues from high blood pressure, to IBD/IBS issues, even arthritis, fibromyalgia, etc, as all of conditions are the result of persistent inflammation that was unmanaged and resulted in disease, illness, or negative change within the body.
As others have said, I choose to feed the best quality forage I can find, mostly alfalfa, and my horse's diet consists of just a half scoop of oats once daily. No feed concentrates beyond that for my crew, as I want to keep their diet as natural as possible with as little grain as I can get by with. With some horses, we will never be able to eliminate this response to the stress, and only hope that with time, they will begin to adapt to the stressor and it will become tolerated. That being said, what we CAN do, and the route I choose to take, is to try to reduce the impact of stress on the body through managing the inflammation and providing the body with nutrients to encourage a proper mircobial balance in the GI tract. I choose the Cur-OST products, as they provide high levels of anti-inflammatory herbs to help manage inflammation and provide the body with the nutrients needed through the use of herbs and whole food sources.
I have a horse that has the reaction you're describing and it begins as soon as you back the truck under the trailer. I have to catch him and tie him up before I even hook my truck up, otherwise he works himself into such a frenzy by running around, bucking and kicking, that he's sweaty and worked up. Even tied to the fence he jumps around and kicks and his stool gets loose. This horse is what led me to the Cur-OST products originally due to his horrible respiratory issues, which I now understand are worsened when he is stressed/excited. We have to remember that even excitement and anticipation creates a stress response in the body, and the body can't tell the difference between the response between a negative stressor or that of excitement, and it impacts some more than others. Through reducing the impact of stress, and learning about the management of inflammation along with maintaining a proper balance in the hind gut, I have been pleased in how my horse has responded. His stool does get loose sometimes, but by managing the effects of that on him internally, the other issues created by that response are lessened. http://www.nouvelleresearch.com/index.php/articles/306-reducing-the-effects-of-stress-and-anxiety-on-health-with-ashwaghanda
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 Coyote Country Queen
Posts: 5666
| I used to haul one that would get loose stools when hauling. He was a nervous horse and would get stressed out easily. I started him on daily omeprazole. It was a very small dose (2 of the OTC human pills), but it was enough to help with the loose stools. This horse did have recurrent uveitis which caused him pain, so I had to manage that as well. |
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Veteran
Posts: 205
| Jenbabe - 2016-05-18 12:46 PM
I used to haul one that would get loose stools when hauling. He was a nervous horse and would get stressed out easily. I started him on daily omeprazole. It was a very small dose (2 of the OTC human pills), but it was enough to help with the loose stools. This horse did have recurrent uveitis which caused him pain, so I had to manage that as well.
What brand of OTC has omeprazole in it? I have this same problem with my horse.
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Coyote Country Queen
Posts: 5666
| CHUTE HELP - 2016-05-18 12:58 PM
Jenbabe - 2016-05-18 12:46 PM
I used to haul one that would get loose stools when hauling. He was a nervous horse and would get stressed out easily. I started him on daily omeprazole. It was a very small dose (2 of the OTC human pills), but it was enough to help with the loose stools. This horse did have recurrent uveitis which caused him pain, so I had to manage that as well.
What brand of OTC has omeprazole in it? I have this same problem with my horse.
I just get the generic brand of Omeprazole from the grocery store. I know that this dose is way too low to treat ulcers, but giving this small amount sure made a difference. |
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 Veteran
Posts: 119
Location: TX | Farnam Digest Aid Paste. Pre AND Probiotic, works fast and is very effective |
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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 1100
Location: Southeastern Idaho | Thecowgirlinme - 2016-05-17 5:37 PM
Equi sure. HUGE improvement
How do you use this? I have done some reading but am not really understanding how it is used. Daily or just 2 times a week? Do you feed other supplements for joints, ulcers, electrolytes with it? |
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