Just drop the three capsules into feed. They’re so small that horses just eat them without noticing.
Just hit “place order” on Amazon. Thanks for the tip, and looking forward to seeing if this helps resolve some issues my fiery redhead (3 weeks off the track) is having adjusting to his new life. I’ll try to remember to follow up.
14/day? I thought dosage was something like 3/day…
There are a few people posting on this thread using a dose other than the one supported in the paper linked in the initial post…
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My horse is now weaning off of this medication. I did the 3 capsules a day. Now he is on two. Incredible difference. I’m glad now I know how to spot ulcers in my horse.
If ever you use the adjective “sour” to describe your horse, you may want to treat for ulcers.
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Just put my mare back on 3 a day for she wasn’t finishing her grain. After a week she is back to eating it all. I purchase the walmart brand for $13 which will last me a few weeks you just can’t beat that. Also she was on Uckele GUT when she went off her grain so now thinking I’m wasting my money feeding that to her?
I went back a few pages looking for any further info and didn’t find posts about your mare. Did you taper? How long did you treat? What initially led to her ulcers, and have you remedied that?
I like GUT a lot, but if there’s something in the environment that’s stressful and causing ulcers, GUT isn’t usually enough to prevent. You need to fix the environment instead.
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Where is everyone purchasing this these days - whats the best price? I see it for .45/tablet on Amazon with a subscribe & save. And does anyone have a favourite hind gut supplement they are using in combo w/it? Want to combat it all on a new baby TB.
The generic at Costco is probably the best price or close to it. I still use the name brand and buy it when it’s on sale at Costco.
While people have had success with the tablets, most of this thread is discussing the capsules. They’re probably less likely to get damaged on the way down.
Equishure is a good bet for the hind gut.
@Simkie: Would you consider editing your OP to include “best practices” for dosage, length of treatment, tapering, etc? I read this thread when it started and have been back a few times but now that it’s at 400+ posts, it would be fantastic to have all of that in one place! Thank you so much for passing this wonderful information along!
If you want to write that up, I’ll edit the first post. I think it’s pretty clear in the first five (or fewer) pages, so don’t really see the need to spend the time to put that together.
Yes I did taper down to 2 a day for a month than 1 a day for a month that was in the fall. She was doing great, lives out, 24/7 hay no grain currently schooling 3rd level dressage and doing great but when it got cold she would not finish her grain. She is very nervous when in her stall and only comes in to eat, I’m thinking about leaving her out to feed her? But than the others are in and not sure she will like that either. I love the ingredients in GUT and bought the year supply so she will be on it for a long time but I also noticed when I started adding it to her food she was not a fan.
A couple things stand out to me:
Sometimes horses with borderline arthritis get worse in the winter and get sore. Pain can cause ulcers. It might be worth really considering her soundness and comfort level to rule out pain driven by arthritic changes flaring due to weather.
If she’s nervous in her stall and that’s a consistent thing despite routinely being in the stall, something isn’t working with that routine. Don’t just continue with something that’s making her very nervous and upset every day; stress like that can certainly contribute to ulcers. Feed her outside or figure out why she’s so upset about being in and change that so she can be settled in the stall.
I’m on board with a nexium trial. First day was Wednesday 2/27.
Fewer leaping-Lena explosive moments when leg is applied, less sensitivity to brushing the girth line particularly on the right side. No night-or-day changes yet. She’s fussy about it in her grain, so yesterday’s dose was late. I’ll keep her on 3 a day for a month then taper down.
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Simkie,
Thank you for starting this thread…it has been a life saver. It works and my horse thanks you. I found this thread, and boy was it a timely one too. What we thought was Lyme…was not, based on the Multiplex test results that came back 100% neg for all antibodies. His increased reactivity under saddle was suspicious of Lyme…or ulcers. This horse is a 16 y/o WB that has a very interesting past…he has never scoffed at his food…he is the WB that “if he doesn’t eat call the vet”…looks great…fat and happy…never puts a foot wrong on the ground, in the barn, or in TO. The horse is a legit unicorn. He has his quirks under saddle…nothing crazy and given his past it is no biggie. Even the issues we had when I decided to start investigating, really were not horrible. I just knew something was not right. Everything is UTD…feet, teeth, tack, chiro, and knock on wood, this horse is SOUND!!..He has two mini horse friends…lots of TO, a double stall that is deeply bedded, eats a RB, gets good alfalfa at night and is never without hay.
So anyone that is contemplating trying the Nexium…go for it. The change is unreal and now I feel horrible that I did not look into having him scoped when I got him. I plan on treating him for 45 days with 3 pills and then starting the weaning. I have always had TB mares that were ulcer prone and the difference in the presenting Sx are really drastically different. I am so glad I had those two mares before this pony. Again, thank you!!
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Hello.
My my horse has concluded the standard nexium treatment with a prolonged weaning stage followed by introducing smart gut ultra while still on nexium before cutting out nexium entirely. When he was on nexium he was a solid citizen. Since stopping it he has returned to being fiery while jumping and getting too hot. This is what he did prior to starting nexium that resolved with treatment. He hasn’t demonstrated ulcer behavior aside from that. Do I wait longer to see if smart gut ultra will work or do I do something else? I know I can’t keep him on nexium forever. But I’m not sure what’s next.
If I were in your shoes, I’d scope. He may require additional treatment with a PPI, or additional drugs (as for delayed gastric emptying) or need different treatment (like for hind gut ulcers.)
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Around here it’s not uncommon for horses to stay on a low-dose of Gastrogard long term. So I don’t see why Nexium would be any different. Three internal medicine specialist that treat a lot of horses thought that staying on a 1/4 of gastrogrogard lifelong. I would think staying on one or two pills of Nexium would also be of little concern.
Thank you. I’ll see how much my vet charges for scoping.
Omeprazole can have a mild effect on personality that can be seen as “calming”, according to one of my vets. Not sure if esomeprazole would do the same, but if he scopes clean @Equestrianette that may be one thing to consider about his response to Nexium.
