My mare was scoped at the beginning of the month and the vet found grade 2 squamous ulcers and moderate glandular ulcers (large focal area of enlarged tissue with mottled hyperemia and superficial ulceration, just deep of the lesser curvature; no overt bleeding). Started gastrogard, misoprostol 2x/d, and sucralfate 2x/d. She did show marked behavioral improvement - still a little spooky, but notably less rushy and more willing to ‘cruise control’ out on the trail.
Rescope at the end of the month showed full resolution of the squamous ulcers but the glandular ulcers were significantly larger and angrier. Vet took 3 biopsies to see if this is just proliferative ulcer tissue or something else. Per vet, we’re stopping gastroguard but continuing on the misoprostol and sucralfate.
I figured there was a good chance the ulcers wouldn’t be completely healed after a month, but I hadn’t really prepped myself for the possibility that they would have gotten so much worse! So while I’m waiting on the biopsy results from Cornell - does anyone have experience with glandular ulcers that have gotten WORSE after 4 weeks of meds?
- Management details: mare lives in a dry lot with 5 other horses, with constant access to a round bale. Occasionally turned out on grass as weather and ground conditions permit but not more than a couple hours a day. Stalled 1-2 hours in the morning (for breakfast/while paddocks are being cleaned). She is one of the low horses on the totem pole and does get pushed around a bit by 3 of the other horses in the herd, but gets along fine with the other 2 horses.
- Feed: She’s fed 1x/d - Pro Elite ration balancer, Outlast, and Vermont Blend pellets for additional copper/zinc.
- Workload: mainly trail and endurance, with 1 flat lesson a week. We don’t ride more than 4 days a week but do haul out 1-2x weekly to hit the trail, and it’s not unusual to rack up 25 miles a week in hacking or conditioning rides. (NB: after her first scope, vet said she could continue working - due to weather and schedule, she’s only been ridden 10 times this month, so considerably less than usual.)
- Anytime we’re tacking up or before hauling out she gets a flake or two of hay and about a pound of chopped alfalfa. She is also permitted to grab grass on the go when we are hacking. Holds her weight well even when we’re in full training workload and competing (25 and 50 mile endurance rides).
