just an fyi
http://www.fda.gov/AnimalVeterinary/NewsEvents/CVMUpdates/ucm422694.htm
Regarding all horses on ulcer meds all the time, I think some horses are definitely more prone to ulcers than others. My worst also happened to be the worst worry-wart horse I ever owned. He was also the one with light, but chronic hock/back pain until we addressed it. I think all of those things contributed–including his personality. Just my experience though.
We have a horse who gets the “Xyla-meanies” if given Xylazine. His reaction is very short lived, and goes mostly away with time. Which doesnt sound like your situation. But we are extremely careful when he is sedated. Might that explain the injection reaction?
I had one that was xylazine aggressive…that was scary! Dormosedan for his hock injections ever after. But…it was very short lived.
My bet is the steroids caused an ulcer flare in this horse.
She’s doing a lot better (and I think it’s totally possible that she had a bad reaction to the sedative because she had such a large dose and often doesn’t handle drugs well), but after learning more about ulcers, I think she may have been living her whole life with mild ulcer issues anyway. I’m now worried that what I thought was her being a sassy mare who wanted to be dominant was actually her being upset because her tummy hurt.
So I’m going to treat for ulcers for a month and see how she does. I also ordered her a new blanket because she’s too fat right now and her current heavy weight is a tad tight, which could also make her grumpy and uncomfortable (she wears it during 8 hrs of daily turnout and is naked at night). And she has a nice new Back on Track back pad that she can wear under her turnout blanket all day to keep her back comfortable and warm. Plus she still has the monthly Legend and freshly injected hocks. (why yes, I am bleeding money)
If she’s still grumpy a month from now with every comfort I can possibly provide for her, I’m calling it and saying that that’s just her personality.
update
So we’ve been on the ulcer meds for 3 days, and if any improvement has been made, it’s small enough to be owner-placebo effect. Still occasional teeth grinds at the walk under saddle while I ask her to stretch and not happy to wear tack. However, she seemed LESS unhappy about it and the tight lumbar region muscles were less tight (particularly after walking for 20 minutes). I’m going to back off again and give her more time to let the ulcer medicine work. I’ve heard some people say their horses are back to normal in 24 hours, others say weeks.
If the ulcer medicine never ends up helping, my last idea is teeth.
Everything else has either been flexed, x-rayed, injected, adjusted, or otherwise vet-checked in the last few months, and she’s perfectly normal, glowing, fat, and happy as long as no one tries to ride her. bah
My uber princess gelding was cranky because of teeth. And the vet said they weren’t even all that bad. But they were bad enough for him. jingles for your silly girl, who doesn’t appreciate your throwing money at her.
just my 2 cents worth - hock injections can HURT! and it feels strange to walk around with extra fluid in your joint capsule for about 3 days afterwards…
Also, ranitidine is cheap & easy to use daily for an ulcer-prone individual.
YMMV, 
J
I know that you’ve had a chiro adjust her, but have you had a vet who used either accupuncture or accu-laser? My mare who has had some chronic muscle tightness in the back has always benefited from these sessions. They do not cure whatever underlying condition may be present, but sometimes the pain and stiffness continues even after you’ve dealt with whatever caused them to begin with.
It might be worth trying.
Good luck.
hock injections can HURT! and it feels strange to walk around with extra fluid in your joint capsule for about 3 days afterwards…
but now it’s been 2.5 weeks 
but have you had a vet who used either accupuncture or accu-laser?
I tried acupuncture a couple years ago for a different, much more severe lumbar spasm (it ended up that she was fighting with her neighbor horse and after 6 months of failed treatments and an expensive trip to a vet 2 hours away, she was fine 3 days after we switched her stall), and learned that she needs so much sedative to tolerate the acupuncture that it really doesn’t do any good.
jingles for your silly girl, who doesn’t appreciate your throwing money at her.
Thanks
I’m going to keep up the ulcer meds and try walking her in a halter today. Maybe if it is her teeth she’ll be happier with no bridle and let me know. I hesitate to have her teeth done unless I really think there’s something wrong because of the 3 doses of sedative needed to keep her civil during the process (I’m sure you can see a theme here). Plus all the flying around the aisle when the vet tries to give her the first shot might make her ulcers (if the exist) worse. She stands perfectly quietly for her monthly Legend and is generally very well mannered on the ground… just not for the vet
RJC, you may want to take a peek at my loooong thread about my mare’s c spine issues, because what you’re going through is starting to sound familiar:
And it may be useful to try gabapentin at this point. Fairly inexpensive through CostCo or Walgreens (last time I checked.)
Omeprazole takes a MINIMUM of 3 days to get into their system and sometimes horses don’t show a positive response for a number of days after that. Ranitidine gets into their system immediately, it is just harder to keep up with since you need to give it (ideally) every 8 hours. So your mare might need more time to show a positive result from the ulcer meds. Ulcers definitely can develop as a result of pain and/or stress–I have seen that happen in a number of horses.
Simkie- jeez. You went through so much for Blush. Thankfully my mare was and is sound, but yes, some of what I read was awfully familiar (nose wrinkles when putting on the saddle pad and such). I think I’m not quite ready to go down the rabbit hole yet, but if a month of ulcer meds doesn’t fix it, I’ll talk to my vet about the gabapentin and go from there. I’m sorry you had to retire Blush. It’s frustrating to try so hard for them and still not have a healthy horse.
And thanks JannieC. That makes me feel better. I was being impatient…
Tonight she reached for the bit before I was ready to offer it to her and did some nice forward lunging (one tooth grind), though with no saddle. She was also receptive to her massage for the first time since her hocks were done, which I take as a good sign. She had been displaying rage whenever I tried to rub her back the last couple weeks.
I also stuck an exploratory thumb in her mouth, felt some sharp edges, and immediately signed her up to have her teeth done Wednesday. Poor horse.
Try Finish Line’s U-7 for a cheaper ulcer preventative once you get them cured. I found it made a huge difference for my gelding who is very ulcer prone. Finish Line sponsored a study at Oklahoma State, the results of which are on their website, which found that U-7 really did help in young horses undergoing their first race training.
I used the liquid which tastes really good to horses and syringed about an hour before riding or anything stressful. It’s all herbal and has slippery elm and licorice.
OP, update?
Treated with blue pop rocks for a month, saw 75% improvement. No longer backing away from mounting block, grinding teeth in crossties, or being unreasonably ragey about girths. Still walked funny after being saddled and would get fussy and mildly teeth grindy after about 10-15 minutes of real work at walk under saddle. I started giving her a pound of alfalfa after each grain meal, smaller grain meals, and a natural stomach soother supplement to hold her over while also ordering a month supply of Abgard and a week of full tubes of UlcerGard. She started the Ulcergard last night. My plan is to give her the week of UlcerGard before starting Abgard (in case it isn’t buffered as well), then treat for another 3 weeks and taper for a week or two.
I can tell she’s feeling pretty good because she’s become an animated handful suddenly and is unreasonably excited about food. She’s also drinking much less water and no longer dunks every bite of hay. When she was really sick she’d flood her stall with pee every night and was sort of turned inward and grumpy.
Now that I know she’s probably suffered from ulcers for most of her life, I’m interested to see her healed. She’s moving very nicely, so once we can train we should have fun. I’m going to try getting on this weekend, once our terrible cold snap is over.
The alfalfa and lack of work have also turned my TB into a walrus. She’s down to two pounds of grain per day, which is a record low for her, and she still jiggles. At least I know she isn’t cold!
I have my mare back!
I have ridden my horse 5 times now in the last week and a half! It’s ver exciting. We lost a lot of muscle, but she’s nicely forward and the new hocks are a lot of fun. She’ll always look a touch NQR in her left hind to the vets I board with, but I can’t tell and she apparently works out of it.
This is what worked for us:
Week of full tubes of ulcer guard followed by
Two weeks (with 2 more to follow) of a Abgard stable pack
Much smaller grain meals
1 pound of soaked allfalfa 3x per day
Round bale outside
Lots of good hay when inside
The flax probably helps too but she’s had that all along. And yes, she’s fat as a walrus at this point.
Thanks for the help!
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