@RJC Yes I decided to go with the GG for that reason! Less hassle, can start immediately, not going to cripple us 
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Wow, that surprises me! I’ve used multiple insurance companies and ulcer diagnostics and treatment have always been paid for.
Wow! I know I’ve seen them covered in the past but I guess things have been changing recently. I have been self-insuring for years so not up-to-date on policy coverage (plus my horse’s entire body would be excluded at this point 
)
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That’s interesting. I just renewed my horses insurance in September and I shopped around a bit. Almost all (if not all) of the policies offered to me covered ulcers completely or to some extent. I was actually rather surprised.
Glad you’re getting things sorted, OP. Hopefully this does the trick!
A week into the GG and there’s no improvement to the ridden back pain yet. She’s lunging beautifully as usual, but still angry at the mounting block and getting mad when asked to trot when I’m mounted.
I tried the (very padded) bareback pad today to “test” if it’s saddle related, but it was the exact same reaction.
Will give her another week off to see if the GG needs more time to do its magic.
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I’d test for Lyme and any other tick born diseases in your area and also EPM. My mare and at least one other mare in my area both had weird symptoms such as hypersensitivity to touch, ulcers, girthyness etc. Did all the usual stuff just like you and finally tested for epm. Treated for that a couple years ago and she improved remarkably. We tested and treated her for Lyme and Anaplasmosis this year and that helped her even more. All those diseases hit the nervous system and posting may irritate superficial nerve endings repeatedly causing discomfort.
Good luck. It’s been a journey with my mare. I feel like a hypochondriac, but every time she gets crabby with me something turns out to be wrong!
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When my horse got ulcers after hock injections (on ulcergard preventively) we had to add misoprostal to his treatment plan. That worked super fast compared to gastrogard alone. Might be worth asking vet about? I use a product called Nutrient Buffer now that has been a game changer for my horse and several others at my barn in times of stress or recovery.
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Good news! We’re almost at 3 weeks of Gastrogard and I definitely noticed an improvement to her comfort today! I think it’s doing the trick.
I have been using some R+ for the past couple of weeks at the mounting block and after I get into the saddle to help break some of the unhappy associations around that, although she completely uninstalls her brain when food rewards are used (even low value ones like hay pellets) so I am going to limit that. Today she did some trot work without a single head toss; she was nappy initially but I think it was because she knew I had the treat pouch on and she wanted to stop and be fed; once I got rid of the treat pouch she went loads better.
Very cautiously excited that this could be our solution!
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Updating again after the GG has been completed. I immediately put her on slippery elm and yea-sacc once the GG was done to help support her digestion; I wonder if she has hindgut issues as she actually got more sensitive about brushing near her flanks during the run of GG.
Unfortunately our head tossing, unhappy horse has not resolved with ulcer treatment as I hoped. I sent a video under saddle to my vet today and she sees a RH lameness, although it’s mild. Maybe it’s still ulcer related?
Due to emotional, mental and financial weariness, at this point I’m going to give her the winter off completely and reevaluate in the springtime when she’s coming 5. I had already been thinking of giving her at least a month or two off during our cold months anyway, so this is just starting a bit early. She could use some more growing and I hope it will do her some good.
I’m just feeling really defeated tonight; I know many of you can relate. I knew going into buying a young horse that you have to really look at the long run… Which is harder for me than I thought it would be. I was so hoping to be further along than we are. Sigh. Anyway.
See y’all in the spring 
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Hugs and jingles that Dr Green (or… Dr Winter?) does his job.
If not, take a look into that RH. Likely it’s growthy-ness but I’ve had stifle issues present like this consistently (head toss, sometimes twisting away from the side of the bad leg). She is the right age for benign weirdness due to growth spurts. Adequan, maybe back shoes, and targeted strengthening can do wonders after some time off. I remember getting joint aches as a kid and my mother always said “you’re just growing!” 
.
Young horses can be exhausting. The roller coaster is real!
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Thank you for the encouraging words! I will definitely be getting her assessed before we start any work again.
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Bummer, I’m so sorry that it didn’t resolve yet. I think the winter off could potentially be a good idea ( it really just depends on the horse and the issue… For my own horse time off always made him worse!)
If you suspect hind gut might be involved, this might be a time to try sucralfate. Just my opinion based on what I am going through with my young mare. I am currently reducing sucralfate and replacing with a herbal supplement
Good Luck
What herbal supplement are you using?
I am trying Excel. Aloe, slippery elm, and marshmallow root, peppermint.
Did you scope? Unfortunately, a course of GG doesn’t necessarily mean the stomach is healed. It could still be gut related.
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No, I don’t have the funds to scope again right now.
I’ve heard of this happening a lot. 60 days of GG and sometimes more, or needing to do GG and sucralfate, or miso/sucralfate instead. Depends on the type of ulcers. The regimen is intense, and difficult to schedule if you’re depending on barn workers or work away from home (lol ask me how I know).
I believe if you scope-treat-scope, the company will give a second 30 days of GG free if ulcers remain. But you have to have documentation.
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Sucralfate is very cheap (well compared to misoprostal and ulcergard) at the human pharmacy with a good RX coupon. Pretty sure I paid like $60 for 300 last time. Might be worth calling your vet and asking if they would write a prescription for you.
No 2 horses are the same, so all I can do is relate my experiences. After 3 weeks of full dose ulcergard, we scoped. Horse responded to ulcergard positively within 2-3 days. Not much was found on scope, just mild irritation at pyloric area. We added sucralfate and tapered ulcergard. Horse continued to show signs of improvement. At end of bottle of sucralfate, horse started showing discomfort, so reinstated sucralfate. Right now tapering sucralfate with veterinary approval. Started horse on Excel a couple weeks ago. We are also doing daily PT, stretches to relieve the effects of long term effects of GI discomfort on entire horses body(shoulders, iliopsoas, etc) and groundwork.
I will add that last spring I empirically treated with full dose ulcergard. Horse did improve but I don’t think I treated long enough or perhaps with correct medicine.
Just something to think about, hopefully saving someone else time and grief😰
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