I would like to know what others are feeding their horses with ulcers and the amounts being fed. I have a 7 year old OTTB mare that I am sure has ulcers. She is on 24/7 turnout with access to her stall, she has a roll of Bermuda hay at all times, and she is currently fed 3 quarts of Nutrena SafeChoice Senior morning and night with U-Guard. I would like to try alfalfa or beet pulp in her diet with or without the grain. What amounts with the grain or without the grain have others tried? I would like to try to change her diet before having her scoped.
1 T spoon dried cabbage daily (feeding 7)
[QUOTE=2enduraceriders;8493930]
1 T spoon dried cabbage daily (feeding 7)[/QUOTE]
cabbage? interesting. has anything at all been proven in horses? people are very different.
why not just feed alfalfa? it has plenty of glutamine in it, which is what i assume you are feeding cabbage for.
I have tried dried cabbage. We put her on 2 weeks of a mixture of alfalfa, beet pulp, rice bran, aloe, dried cabbage, flax seeds, chia seeds, papaya, etc. It helped a little but when she went back to her “normal” feed she seemed worse than before.
My guy just scoped positive with grade 4 ulcers but the vet said I was doing all the right stuff feed wise so I’ll share it with you (btw, he’s on Gastrogard and getting rescoped in a couple weeks)
AM and PM:
2 qts Legends Performance Pellet
1/2 c Cocosoya oil
1 qt dry (but fed soaked) plain beet pulp
AM: was feeding Smartgut Ultra but upped it to Smart GI ultra after scoping (both were recommended by the vet)
All day: Free choice hay/grass
I just started feeding soaked alfalfa cubes before trailering
My TB was a hard keeper and I suspected ulcers. I tried to do alfalfa/beet pulp/rice bran/flax only, but it just wasn’t enough calories for him. How much does the three quarts of what you’re feeding now weigh? I’d probably start there and up it if she starts to lose condition.
If I remember correctly, at the highest end I was feeding:
3lbs alfalfa pellets
1lb beet pulp
1/2 cup flax
Three times a day.
He really had a hollow leg though, I ended up feeding almost 12lbs of Triple Crown senior a day. Plus all the alfalfa hay he’d eat, which on the coldest days was almost a full small bale.
[QUOTE=keke5529;8493811]
she is currently fed 3 quarts of Nutrena SafeChoice Senior morning and night [/QUOTE]
At 20% NSC, while it’s not the worst, it’s not what I’d feed an ulcer horse - too high.
If you can get Triple Crown, their Sr would be much better.
If you are sure your mare has ulcers, then you should treat them - Ulcergard/Gastrogard, or Abprazole, or the more time consuming ranitidine. That’s in addition to changing the diet to be lower in sugar and yes, adding alfalfa if possible.
If you just want a dietary change, then do the feed change, and add some alfalfa hay, or replace some of her Bermuda with alfalfa.
In 9th month of treatment with monthly scopes…
AM:
1 qt seniors (pro form step 6)
20ml Omeprazole
20 ml Bethanchol chloride
PM
2qt seniors
1 qt soaked beet pulp
20ml Bethanchol chloride
2 scoops equitop myoplast
rice bran oil
plus unlimited alfalfa/ Timothy hay (round bale during day, hay net in stall)
horse de is looking great but still has pyloric ulcers so now another round of antibiotics (sulpha) for21 days!
Ulcers are a bitch but I’ve finally found a feeding plan which is keeping Sully in good weight and more importantly he wants to eat 
I feed mine approx 8 lbs of alfalfa per day, split into 2 feedings. He also has access to grass hay all day long.
Otherwise he is fed:
3 # Haystack LoCarb/LoFat (a pellet of alfalfa, beet pulp, timothy, flax, rice bran)
2 # TC Sr.
----- this is watered into a mash for him, twice a day.
Supplements: loose salt, added into the mash; psyllium; magnesium, UGard powder, smartpak smart digest ultra, brewers yeast, vitamin supplement, papaya enzyme tabs, and ranitidine (only when he’s having a flare up).
It can take a long time to find the right combination to keep it under control, even after treating. I have treated mine with omeprazole originally, and then worked to find the right combo to keep him happy.
Good luck.
I would treat with Gastroguard first…then go to Succeed Oral Paste Syriges and either U7 or Nutracell Labs Ulcer Aide Liquid…Smart GI Ultra is also good as is KER Riteteac …next I would incorporate good quality alfalfa …and stop the Nutrena Safe Choice-despite the name -it’s actually quite high in starch and sugar which is irritating on the gut-especially of they have ulcers…better options would be Triple Crown Senior, Pennfileds Fibergized Omega, or even plain soaked beetpulp such as Speedibeet or Fibrebeet and you could add a ration balancer plus a fat source such as Progressive Nutrition, Tributes or Buckeye
Ditto the recommendations to treat the ulcers with medication.
Aside from sucralfate is there anything else that coats the stomach lining?
I found “Gastrafate Suspension”; this is non-rx. Has anybody used it?
[QUOTE=Obsidian Fire;8497081]
I feed mine approx 8 lbs of alfalfa per day, split into 2 feedings. He also has access to grass hay all day long.
Otherwise he is fed:
3 # Haystack LoCarb/LoFat (a pellet of alfalfa, beet pulp, timothy, flax, rice bran)
2 # TC Sr.
----- this is watered into a mash for him, twice a day.
Supplements: loose salt, added into the mash; psyllium; magnesium, UGard powder, smartpak smart digest ultra, brewers yeast, vitamin supplement, papaya enzyme tabs, and ranitidine (only when he’s having a flare up).
It can take a long time to find the right combination to keep it under control, even after treating. I have treated mine with omeprazole originally, and then worked to find the right combo to keep him happy.
Good luck.[/QUOTE]
Not being critical, but why would you make a mash for a horse with ulcers? Concentrates already are not chewed as much before swallowing vs long stem forages. Chewing produces saliva which is loaded with bi-carb (nature’s buffer). I would think a mash would require very little chewing before the horse swallows. I understand that you’re adding 9 different supplements, and I could see maybe a small portioned mash for your supplements. If I had a horse with ulcers, I’d want him chewing as much as possible.
For my ulcery OTTB, a great diet he’s been on for 2 months now is as follows:
(as soon as they arrive, Abprazole to be added to do another treatment round. Even a perfect diet can’t prevent OR treat ulcers. You need to treat AND fix the diet.)
AM
6.6lbs Alfalfa Pellets
1oz Multivitamin
Electrolytes
Smart Digest Ultra
Actiflex 4000
U gard
PM
6.6lbs alfalfa pellets
unlimited grass hay at all times, overgrazed grass in PM (with hay offered as well)
[QUOTE=Brian;8499438]
Not being critical, but why would you make a mash for a horse with ulcers? Concentrates already are not chewed as much before swallowing vs long stem forages. Chewing produces saliva which is loaded with bi-carb (nature’s buffer). I would think a mash would require very little chewing before the horse swallows. I understand that you’re adding 9 different supplements, and I could see maybe a small portioned mash for your supplements. If I had a horse with ulcers, I’d want him chewing as much as possible.[/QUOTE]
Because this is a senior horse, a lifelong cribber, with very poor teeth.
Plus, he developed hind gut ulcers and the recommendation when treating those is to ‘rest’ the hind gut by removing long stem forage.
He cannot eat enough regular feed to meet his needs. I do provide him free choice hay. I also source out only soft-stemmed hay, and third cut alfalfa with smaller stems and lots of leaf, so that he can chew everything.
Even tho we’ve gotten past the hindgut issue, he has been able to finally keep weight on and be “tummy happy” with how I am doing things.
Not all the supp’s I give are mixed into the mash - in fact most are not. I feed him TC Sr dry (he does still like to feel like a ‘real’ horse) with most of the supps mixed in that, I just pour it on top of his mash, and it all goes down the hatch - chewed.
That’s why he gets mash.
