Gastric Ulcers in Horses: Symptoms, Causes & Support
What Are the Signs of Gastric Ulcers in Horses?
Gastric ulcers are common in horses, but the signs aren’t always obvious.
Some horses may show changes in appetite or condition, while others become girthy, sensitive to grooming, irritable, reluctant to move forward, or simply don’t seem quite themselves.
Understanding what to look for can help you recognise when your horse may be experiencing digestive discomfort and when it’s time to speak with your veterinarian.
What Are Gastric Ulcers in Horses?
Gastric ulcers are areas of damage to the lining of the horse’s stomach. They form part of a condition known as Equine Gastric Ulcer Syndrome (EGUS).
Horses naturally produce stomach acid throughout the day. Management factors such as prolonged periods without forage, intensive exercise, travel, competition and other forms of stress can increase the risk of gastric ulceration in some horses.
Ulcers and other problems can also occur further along the digestive tract. The horse’s hindgut — which includes the cecum and colon — is very different from the stomach and plays an important role in fibre fermentation and digestive health.
Because gastric and hindgut problems are different conditions, identifying the underlying cause of your horse’s discomfort is important.
Could Your Horse Be Showing Signs of Gut Discomfort?
Gut discomfort doesn’t always look like colic.
Sometimes the first thing an owner notices is a subtle change in their horse’s behaviour, sensitivity or performance.
You might notice your horse becoming unusually girthy, reacting during grooming, pinning their ears when saddled, losing interest in feed, becoming reluctant to work forward, or simply feeling different to ride.
Acupressure Points, Sensitivity & Gut Discomfort
Does your horse react when light pressure is applied to certain areas, especially the acupuncture points marked in red?
Some horse owners and equine therapists use specific acupressure or bodywork points as part of their overall assessment of the horse.
A sensitive horse may:
- Twitch or flinch
- Pin their ears
- Swish their tail
- Move away from the pressure
- Change their facial expression
- Attempt to bite or kick
A reaction to these areas can indicate gastric, stomach, hindgut ulcers or digestive problems.
However, when sensitivity repeatedly returns despite appropriate bodywork, saddle assessment or management changes, it may be worth looking beyond the musculoskeletal system and discussing possible digestive discomfort with your veterinarian.
An Equine Therapist’s Perspective
During my years working as an equine massage therapist, I sometimes came across horses whose soreness kept returning despite treatment.
They might improve temporarily, only for the same sensitivity, stiffness or performance problem to return.
At first, it wasn’t always obvious why.
Over time, these cases taught me to look at the whole horse rather than assuming every reaction was purely muscular.
If soreness keeps returning, particularly alongside changes in appetite, behaviour, girth sensitivity or performance, digestive health may be one of the areas worth investigating.
The Hindgut is on the right-hand side
When there is pain due to gut pain and ulcers, the horse shows these symptoms and is very hard to straighten up with massage therapy.
In the past Rachel scratched her head and wondered what was wrong, she did not understand why the horse did not get better with Equine Therapy alone.
The horse’s hindgut, or large intestine, consisting of the cecum and colon is integral to the overall functioning of the horse’s digestive system. It also has a significant role in fostering bacterial content. Feed breakdown and fermentation by bacteria in the hindgut are vital processes.
Fermentation is the process of chemically breaking down substances by bacteria, yeast, or other microorganisms, providing the horse with energy, vitamins, minerals, and amino acids.
A deficiency in proper fermentation can lead to various adverse effects including poor feed utilisation, reduced appetite, dehydration, compromised coat, and hoof condition, decreased immune function, and altered behavior, ultimately leading to degraded performance and training.
Supporting Your Horse’s Digestive Health
To support your horse’s daily routine, incorporating a targeted horse digestive supplement for stomach and hindgut support like Ulzeraide Plus can help maintain gastrointestinal comfort alongside protective management strategies. It integrates into daily feeding and works alongside veterinary plans.
Possible Signs of Gastric Ulcers in Horses:
- Poor athletic performance.
- Wind sucking.
- Poor appetite.
- Sensitive around girth region and adverse to grooming.
- Soreness over last rib and flank region, especially the right side.
- Dropping through withers when pressure is applied on top of vertebrae, even though saddle fits.
- Reluctant eating hay.
- Reluctant to hold vertebrae adjustments and is muscle sore for no apparent reason.
- Pain in the wither region is often a saddle fitting issue, but when the professional saddle fitter comes out numerous times and can’t find a problem with the saddle
- Horse is sore on the right hind, may step short or have an odd gait.
- Recurrent colic episodes.
- Weight loss.
- Behavioral changes.
- Frequent pawing at the ground.
- Teeth grinding, or biting at their sides.
Acupuncture points for Horses with Ulcers and Gut Pain. When light pressure is applied to the acupuncture points marked in red, the horse will twitch, bite, kick, pull faces, or drop back. This can indicate gastric ulcers, grass-related problems, incorrect feeding, or a badly fitting saddle.
What Causes Gastric Ulcers in Equines?
- Long periods of time without food.
- High grain diet.
- High starch diets: Feeding horses with high-starch diets fuels the production of additional gastric acid, which may lead towards development of ulcers.
- Stress.
- The use of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) should be carefully managed, as prolonged use of these drugs can increase the risk of ulcer formation. If NSAIDs are necessary for the horse's health, they should be used under the guidance of a veterinarian, and the horse's gastrointestinal health should be closely monitored.
- Environmental pollution and pesticides.
- Bad fitting saddle and the stress this causes.
- Inadequate turnout time.
- Lack of social interaction.
- Intensive training: Overtraining can stress horses, leading to an increase in stomach acid production and decreased blood flow to the stomach lining.
- Confinement: Horses are creatures of free movement. Being confined for long periods can create a disruptive environment for their digestive system.
- High levels of pain.
- Loss of a companion.
- Stabling for long periods of time due to injury.
- Fence walking and running.
- A horse that does not get enough food or hay - they need food going through the stomach to soak up the gastric juices.
Prevention Of Gastric Ulcers:
- Manage stress.
- Avoid your horse travelling on an empty stomach.
- Avoid fence walking.
- If your horse is on a restricted pasture diet, make sure they have hay to eat at all times.
- Avoid or decrease the use of anti-inflammatory drugs.
- Feeding smaller meals more frequently throughout the day.
- One of the key measures is to ensure that the horse has regular access to forage. Horses are natural grazers and their digestive systems are designed to have a constant flow of food. Therefore, providing them with continuous access to high-quality hay or pasture can help buffer stomach acid and prevent the formation of ulcers.
- Feed Ulzeraide Plus daily for prevention.
