What do you all feed your ulcer prone horses? Ready, go!
I fed Total Equine for years with good results as it is basically extruded alfalfa pellets. Now I feed ProForce Fuel and it works well and costs a lot less. I also feed Exceed 6-Way and Gastro-Plex, which has eliminated my need for any ulcer medications before, during, or after hauling to barrel races.
Not much … lol
Free choice mixed alfalfa, meadow, timothy hay. It hangs from a giant net in the corner of her stall and NEVER runs out. I replaced the bottom ring with a cord so I can empty it from the bottom and then pull the net up into the loft if she needs to have hay taken away for any reason. Otherwise I’d not be able to do anything but cut it down. It is monster sized.
1 small handful of Integri-T for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. She also gets a spoonful of soaked beet pulp at lunch because her field mate’s owner has to walk right past her stall to give his mare her bp lunch lol
Evening she gets a soup made of 1kg Purina Senior (she is not old, but likes this feed), .25kg Equilizer, 1 cup ground flax seed, 1 scoop Biotic 8, 1 Tbs eatin’ yeast, 60cc aloe vera gel, 2400IU vit E, 200mcg Selenium (we are in a se deficient area), 1 chopped pear, 2 cups of canola oil (1 cup in summer when on grass, used to be 3 cups year round until she finally put on weight) and enough hot water to make a lovely soup. I recently added in a scoop of Equinity because free 30 day sample.
She has choked which is partly why she gets so little hard feed until night time. I also don’t want to make barn staff water feed that she will probably just look at anyway. Breakfast is, in her mind, an optional meal. Going outside is what’s important. Lunch interferes with nap time. Dinner interferes with her keeping an eye on what the rest of the inmates are doing when their owners come to visit. Night feed is what she really likes to mow down on. There is very little activity in the barn and night feed contains all the delicious stuff.
With the large net she has really become an excellent hay eater. With the feeding her WHEN she wants to eat thing, she has gained weight (to the point I’ve cut back on calories in the night feed) and KNOCK ON WOOD, she hasn’t even seen a bottle of ulcer meds in over 6 months. She used to have to be dosed ahead of anything exciting and needed to carry on treatment for a week or more until she would happily eat normally again. That was after the full wank of months of treatment.
TC Senior, free choice grass hay (fed in a large net) while in the stall and good pasture while out. 1 flake alfalfa in the evening.
During the summer when he is out at night and in during the day, his feed is split into 3 feedings and alfalfa is fed in the morning.
No supplements except MSM. Ulcergard around travel times.
Hay, hay, hay if he isn’t eating grass. Hay in the trailer, hay when tied to the trailer, hay filled belly before riding, if on a trail ride he gets to graze along the way. Alfalfa hay is a good choice before stressful things like trailering. He gets two meals of soaked Triple Crown Natural Timothy cubes so I can get his minerals, ground flax seed and salt into him.
Unlimited Timothy/alfalfa hay in a hay net which is never empty… when he outside he also also has hay in front of him at all times; 1 scoop step right Srs feed in the morning; 10cc omeprazole in the morning ;
4pm : 2 scoops step right srs feed and 1 scoop beet pulp
Supplements: equiptop myoplast mixed with unsweetened apple sauce
this diet has been working very well for the past 1.5 yrs but he is constantly monitored and weight carefully monitored with regular vet chks! It’s a constant battle. (I believe each scoop is 1 quart )
I board so cannot offer my ulcer-prone horse 24/7 access to hay - she gets ~20lbs/day divided into 3 feedings. In spring and part of summer, there is some pasture in her turnout. When we travel, I try to keep hay in front of her 24/7.
She gets bagged feed 2x/day. Right now, I am trying TC Senior but at a lower level than recommended so I add a multi-vitamin. Specifically for ulcer prevention, I add oat flour (for hind gut) and G.U.T. supplement to her baggies and I also feed 2 handfuls of alfalfa pellets before each ride. I give the maintenance does of omeprazole before, during, and after travel.
I board too, leheath. Luckily my BO’s policy is as much hay as they want but they must not waste it. Since my horse is a hay waster, I came up with the giant net idea. Others have followed suit and it makes a huge difference to not only horse health but stall cleaning and ease of feeding.
Chicamux - I too allow my horse to hack and snack. In the summer we often work in the hay field. When I give her the go ahead for a break her snout goes down and she walks from one alfalfa plant to the next. Nom nom nom
Thanks for the replies. The horse can live in a pasture, and although there isn’t much grass most of the year, he is nearly free fed, so he can eat almost all day if he likes. The problem we’re having is keeping weight on him in winter. The list of “can’t eats” is longer than the list of what he can eat! I have tried increasing his flax, putting him on an ulcer friendly weight booster, upping the ulcer friendly grain, and blanketing him. He is still thinner than we would like. He need something we fat in it, but I can’t find anything that doesn’t have something else he can’t eat. For instance, rice bran would work except he can’t eat that. He also won’t eat beet pulp or one of the ulcer-friendly grains I found that is “cool calories”. He was ok in summer but winter has been hard on him.
What about adding oil (canola, corn, other vegetable) to whatever he IS able to eat? 1/2 to 1 cup per day will add LOTS of calories and theoretically, help him gain weight. Flax oil would do double-duty of extra calories and anti-inflammatory.
And alfalfa cube/pellets (soaked), 2-3lbs/day (add the oil to that)
My ulcer prone horse was being free fed grass hay, on horse tech’s Gutwerks, on daily turnout, low nsc feed (hes IR to boot), minimizing his daily stress level, and we were still having flare ups about every 3 to 4 weeks. At the beginning of Dec we changed him to Cavalor Strucomix and Cavalor Fiber Force as his additional feed (additional to the hay), and he hasn’t had an ulcer flare up since. And he has had more stress because of bad weather limiting turn out, soggy arena limiting exercise etc. I’m a believer.
Add canola oil even if you have to use a dosing syringe to get it into him. If you add a little molassrs or apple sauce to the syringe, it will quickly become a treat.
Add another blanket, his metabolism may be working too hard to keep himself warm and burning off too many calories doing so.
Find a way to up his forage from almost free fed to free fed, and make sure he is not having to compete for it.
Good luck, it can be a long haul figuring out what works for the thin ulcer horse.
I think if we add another blanket, he will be too warm. I think we might try adding veggie oil too.
This week we increased his hay by bringing him inside for the afternoon to eat alone, increased his flax, and added a ulcer supplement. I do think he has put a little weight on in the last few days. Its just covering up those ribs!
We feed our horses a completely grain-free diet. If you are looking for added calories, you might look into “Cool Stance,” which is coconut meal. Our local feedstore carries it so it is reasonably priced. If you have to order it and have it shipped to you though, I think it gets pricey. I feed my horse 2 cups per day. My sister’s horse gets 3 cups. http://www.stanceequine.com/product-coolstance-copra
OP, does your horse get alfalfa?
Our gelding was ulcer-prone on and off. We tinkered with his regimen before we settled on this: he gets five pounds of Nutrena Senior per day, a half cup/day of whole flax seeds, Smartpak GI, lots and lots of coastal (the only hay available) and, twice a day, one flake of alfalfa.
The alfalfa has seemed to really help. Gives him extra calories, he doesn’t get real high off of it, and he gobbles it up.
Knock on wood, he’s been on this specific regimen for a year and he’s done great. No colic, no ulcers, even after a friend borrowed him for a month for a show.
