I’ve been following this thread for a while and decided to try Nexium Clear Minis on our 1900+lb draft gelding. We give him 5 a day.
Without ranitidine or omeprazole,he usually refuses to eat grain at horse shows then returns home refusing grain (but always eats his hay) and refusing to canter on the right lead. Dosing with ranitidine 3 times a day is a pain in the butt. Ulcergaurd/Gastrogaurd for a 1900lb horse is cost prohibitive. (though my vet has had results from using half a tube on regular size horses and is pretty sure we’d get results from 1 tube of Gastrogaurd a day with the big boy)
Nexium hits the sweet spot of ease of use plus cost effectiveness. Our big boy ate his Nexium all weekend at the show and ate his grain all weekend and came home with a happy tummy and a right lead canter.
Is everyone dosing 3 per day, with exception of Goforward and her 1900# biggun (that’s big! what kind of draft is he?) receiving 5 per day?
Goforward, that’s so great about coming home with a happy tummy AND a right lead canter!
My horse has been getting 3 per day up until a few days ago when we moved him to a new barn and a little misunderstanding caused him to get 6 per day. He’s totally fine from getting 6. 3 is probably sufficient though lol!
Color of Light, my big, oh so sensitive, boy is a registered Clydesdale. All 18.2 hands of him. 
Yes I used three clear minis per day. Mare is between 800-900 pounds
My STB gelding is finally done with his treatment! He was a pretty calm and relaxed guy when I got him, but you could tell something just wasn’t quite right, moreso than the “I’m confused” of starting under saddle.
Basically left him alone and treated for ulcers–he’s even better than before, and we managed our first real ride this week with zero drama. So happy to have learned about this!
I was so excited after I read the study, I went right out the next day and bought a few bottles of nexium. I gave it to my gelding who wolfed 3 pills with a treat no problem. Within a few days he started to tolerate brushing way better, I was thrilled. Unfortunately he also started to develop hives within a few days. Sometimes he gets hives in the Spring so I wasn’t that concerned but the hives got progressively worse and worse. I stopped the nexium for one day and gave him dex and the hives were gone by the next morning. I’m really hoping that the hives were just a coincidence and not an allergic reaction. I really want to continue the nexium because I really do think it was helping. Has anyone had any similar experiences?
Weird, ERG!
Has he ever had omeprazole? Any hives with that, if so?
This is a great thread! I wish I tried this before the ulcerguard! Our vet told us to also give our horse one sweet potato a day from now on as it helps and we also put a cup of aloe vera water in his feed. We have seen a huge improvement! So for those horses who stress over the little things at the barn this too could possibly help! We have friends who give their horse sweet potatoes now too and said it seems to have helped as well. Just thought I would share 
Question, each time I taper my mare off of the Nexium after a month of treatment she goes back to spooky crazy behavior, can I keep her on the Nexium for the whole summer?
Like DPS, I am not able to to get off my 3 capsules/day of Nexium. Every time I try, symptoms come roaring back. (In all fairness, this happened with Ulcergard too.) Now he seems like he needs more than 3 capsules a day. He’s been on some version of PPI since the winter, when he dropped crazy amounts of weight. I’ve finally gotten his condition back to where it should be, but it’s clear his tummy is bothering him again. Starting to tear my hair out.
Keeping a horse on a PPI (Nexium or Gastrogard or whatever) is really probably a question for your vet. There are certainly risks associated with long-term use of these meds.
There are also other issues in the stomach that could be contributing to recurring or very slow to heal ulcers–like delayed gastric emptying syndrome. DGE would require different treatment instead of or in addition to a PPI.
Yeah. I’m going to keep with it until the end of September and then do some serious investigating. In the meantime, the Nexium is keeping him very comfortable at a fairly low cost. I just don’t really like the idea of him being on it forever and am itching to get him off it.
Bumping this up to the top… not sure if it’s still on there, but if you use Target’s Cartwheel app, there was a $7 coupon on there. My local store had it for $23, so $16 = not bad! Unfortunately you can’t stack with the $3 coupon in the newspaper or the website, but still a great deal.
$16 is a great price! Thanks for sharing, Fritt!
I want to report in, my mare is off the Nexium and doing great!!! We are getting ready to leave for a 4 day show something I did not see us being able to do so we are super pleased.
Bumping back up again as I’m about to try this for my mare who is showing precursors to cribbing and is extra cranky lately. Any preference between tossing the pills in their grain or stuffing in a treat? Mare is an oinker who will eat Sulfa liquid in her grain, so I’m not concerned about her refusing to eat the pills.
I’ve certainly noticed no difference between hand feeding and tossing in grain. Go with what’s easiest I DO make sure that the pills don’t soak, though…so if water is being added to grain, and you’re in a boarding situation where you have concerns that the pills will go in too early and soak with the grain, hand feeding may be a better bet.
Keep us all posted!
Update on my crew: I went through a few weeks again with Piggy. He was on antibiotics for his cellulitis, so on nexium for his belly as preventative. 10 days of SMZs, so 10 days of 3 pills/day, then a week of 2 and a week of 1. Figured that since I was preventing I could skip the 30 days, and then just carefully taper. Worked great!
I crack open a stud muffin and stuff the pills in, then squeeze it back together. Then, if I’m not going to be at the barn one day, I leave the pre stuffed treat to be put in the horse’s grain bucket. (He’s very picky but LOVES Stud Muffins) That way I know he gets them all and none will be left in the bucket or on the ground.
