Okay, so to update everyone: I am feeding Nexium and it seems like he may be feeling better. He has been pretty quiet the last week, although still gets amped up to jump and can be excitable under saddle, but has been falling asleep during grooming and seems less ticklish about his underbelly. It’s only been about a week, so hard to know for sure but it’s cheap enough that I am going to try doing a full course of treatment (60mg every day for a month +taper). I have switched him to a Cosequin supplement that does not have any MSM at all so we will see if that does anything (hasn’t come in yet). If I see no difference, I will switch feed to TC senior but trying not to change too many things at once. I will probably try to switch slowly in the future anyways but as I said, I don’t want to change too much all at once. Thanks for all of your advice!
You could try adding an ounce or two of Cocosoya oil to each bucket meal; most horses love the flavor, and it would not make him hot, 4 oz a day divided is not going to make him fat–and you may find that it makes the TC low starch palatable for him. I have an ulcer prone Appendix, and his evening bucket always has 4 oz of aloe vera juice and 2 tsp of slippery elm bark powder mixed in–eats faster/better with them added, so must help his stomach feel better.
