Best smartpak ulcer supplement?

[gracelyn4]

I’ve got a mare with ulcers. She’ll be treated with omeprazole but my trainer suggested an additional supplement going forward. She’s not on any grain, just Timothy/Alfalfa pellets and a handful of ration balancer since she’s an easy keeper pony.

Looking into it, there’s clearly a plethora of options but they tend to vary greatly in price so I’m hoping for a bit of insight into whos used what and how effective you felt it was.

Tldr- Any suggestions for which ulcer supplement (offered by smartpak) you found works best for general ulcer maintenance/prevention in ulcer-prone horses?

Edit: this is just for prevention, not treatment!

[HoovesLikeFlapjacks]

I’ve seen people suggest U-Gard, SmartGut, and GUT (pink label). I’ve had my OTTB on U-Gard pellets for the past 2 months or so and can’t speak to its efficacy solo because I’ve overlapped it slightly with Nexium treatment. But, in the time that my guy has been on it, he has stopped belly kicking.

[FromTheGalaxy]

Studies were done on the ingredients in SmartGut Ultra that showed it helps prevent recurrence of ulcers AFTER omeprazole treatment. So it does not treat active ulcers, but can help reduce the level of recurrence once they are gone. Really no supplement is going to treat active ulcers other than omeprazole (Gastrogard/Ulcergard).

FWIW, I have a very ulcery mare who is currently doing well on GutX (it is not available through Smartpak though). I don’t think the GutX is treating any ulcers, but it makes her comfortable enough to eat, which was my biggest struggle with her. Although she does have to be on double the performance dose to see any improvement.

[Critter]

I would talk to your vet about just going to sucralfate for ones that are prone to ulcers. I have one who went through bad ulcers…and we’ve maintained him on sucralfate since. Vet said there were no concerns about him being on it long term. And by the time I pay for any of the ulcer supplements (and I’ve done Ugard, SmartGut Ultra, and GUT over different horses)…I would rather put my money into something I know for sure will work. I get it through FarmVet where it is already in powder form, so it makes dosing it easy. You just have to watch if you have to dose any other meds.

[JB]

@gracelyn4

a handful of ration balancer.

I would feed the right amount of the ration balancer and then potentially drop the hay pellets. Another option is Purina Omega Match balancer (double the feed rate as regular balancers), but a full serving has a full serving of Outlast in it

[gracelyn4]

The ration balancer is supposed to supplement the forage. She gets the recommended amount for her weight, exercise, and forage intake split between 3 meals a day.

Can I ask why you recommend taking her off the pellets? Switching to a forage-based diet and taking her off grain seemed to do wonders the first time around.

[joiedevie99]

I would scope and see if she actually has ulcers, then treat. Even the best supplements are not meant to heal active ulcers.

[JB]

@gracelyn4

The ration balancer is supposed to supplement the forage. She gets the recommended amount for her weight, exercise, and forage intake split between 3 meals a day.

ok, that’s helpful, as “a handful” seemed to indicate just that

@gracelyn4

Can I ask why you recommend taking her off the pellets? Switching to a forage-based diet and taking her off grain seemed to do wonders the first time around.

it was around calorie-conservation, as it seemed you needed to increase the ration balancer

[gracelyn4]

This isn’t to treat them. Just a preventative so they don’t come back again! She’ll be put on omeprazole for treatment as needed/instructed. Sorry. Probably should’ve clarified that.

[gracelyn4]

Ah, sorry. I didn’t even think of it, I’m so used to tiny easy keepers. The mare in question is a medium pony in light work. The amount of balancer she needs per day split 3 ways ends up being very little per meal! lol

[scislandsprite]

When comparing supplement ingredients, SmartGI Ultra is a pretty solid bet, even at half dose. GUT by Uckele is also a good one

Edited to add: The reply below mentions why my suggestions aren’t great, my bad!

[greysfordays]

I would hesitate on the SmartPak GI supplements, specifically for their use of fructo-oligosaccharides, especially if the ulcers you’re fighting are glandular. In that case, you want to protect the mucosa as opposed to preventing splashing.

This is maybe the best review of research on ulcers I’ve found so far, and it mentions that certain pre-biotics actually might be doing more harm than good.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1090023322000454

" However, prebiotics, such as fructo-oligosaccharides, are degraded to short chain fatty acids, such as butyric acid, by microbes and may be harmful to both squamous and glandular mucosa ([Cehak et al., 2019] "

Dr Ben Sykes is maybe the most well-regarded vet on equine ulcers. He has a terrific FB group on ulcers, he answers questions.

https://www.facebook.com/equineulcerresearch/

He recently presented at a vet meeting my vet attended. In addition to Relyne (or GutX probably), he recommended ProTek GI. He did consult on this product, so some skepticism is valid.

My vet used it on a horse with terrible pyloric ulcers that never fully resolve, they just get better and stop being clinically problematic. They put the horse on this and he scoped clean 2 months later. This was the type of hose regularly being turned out for pasture rest for a few months and GG treatment of several months to resolve the ulcers.

It’s expensive. But it also seems to combine all the good ingredients, including Pectin, Lecithin, Beta Glucans, Calcium Carbonite. If you’re feeding Relyne and Assure Guard Gold or Smart GI ultra, it’s less, but not by much.

I’m going to try it on my mare who I’ve turned out on pasture and worry I’ll have to retire her pyloric ulcers are so bad. I’m hopeful.

Oh Dr Sykes also ran some titers on Gastrogard and said you only needed to wait 30 minutes before giving hay after GG, not one hour. He was the researcher who originally came up with the one hour. It’s a small help, but I’ll take it! And that that first feed is the best time for the alfalfa hay.

He also mentioned that you do not need to taper GG, but you should give your horse two full days of rest after treatment which I thought was interesting.

[scislandsprite]

Ah good to know about the SmartPak SmartGI supplements! Thank god since my horse hates them anyways and I was very stressed about her not eating the SmartCombo Ultimate which has SmartGI Ultra in it