I think wood chewing is a sign of ulcers.
My gelding is a pleaser and will internalize negative feedback from his rider. He is a young guy so he obviously needs feedback, positive and negative, and lots of positive when it reinforces good behavior.
His rider mentioned he was interested in woodchewing, which he has never done before.
We’ve added Izmine, a free choice mineral, to his clay and DynaPro and making headway. Placebos don’t work on horses so they give pretty honest feedback.
~Sally
Originally posted by jazzrider:
I haven’t read through this whole thread – but I’ve got a question. I have a retired OTTB who has mild ulcer flare ups. I’d prefer not to have to give him anything via syringe – just add it to his food. I can’t add papaya (dried, pureed, etc – I’ve tried) or aloe juice to his food – or he will stop eating for days. Any time I add something new (particularly something strange like liquid or a white powder) he goes off his feed. I’m tired of buying things then putting them on a shelf. Is there a not-super-expensive ulcer supplement that is not white, and is alfalfa/grain-like in smell?
If not, I’ll syringe aloe and/or papaya – which has worked well for me in the past – but he really pouts when I do it. I’d like to find something easier for both of us. Thanks.
Aloe doesn’t have a really strong flavor, maybe you could disguise it in some applesauce or something similar that he would think was a treat?
Also I have bought berry flavor aloe, I didn’t like it because it was too sweet…my horse liked it.
I discovered this over the summer, I can buy papaya puree made by healthmate at my local health food store - the one in my area is called Queen’s. I read the stomach soother bottle then the healthmate papaya puree bottle and they are the exact same thing! They are made at the same place and the bottles are even the same - just different labels.
For the same size bottle of SS, I pay $3 or $4 a bottle, for double the size it was $7 or $8. Can you believe the price difference? Plus, in PA there is no tax because it’s considered food. Also, if I buy a case of the stuff the store will give me a discount.
I give it to my horse before he eats his grain.
I looked into the chewable tablets at the GNC but they were really expensive and I don’t think my horse would eat them.
I also looked into making the puree myself, but that looks like a big pain and I don’t imagine it would really save me much money, if any.
Originally posted by Oakstable:
Aloe juice in a syringe?
How much?
How often?
Aloe in a bottle. Dump a cup over the feed 
I do it once a day. You might have to start with smaller amounts.
A lot of our horses have had great success with U-Gard powder. For mild ulcers we’ve given 60 ccs. of liquid Mylanta before meals and stressful events like shipping, which seems to work well on the guys who just get “tummy-aches” and don’t show the signs of having real ulcer problems.
She said that the 50 lb. bag is $68 with $8 shipping.
I haven’t read the whole thread, but we use Gastroguard to clear ulcers in foals and in an adult horse post surgery. I’ve heard of it also being used in a lower dose as a preventative.
Of course, the best prevention is by free choice hay or at minimum multiple hay feedings (4-5) a day so a horse’s stomach is not empty for hours at a time.
Monaco-
I started a thread about Succeed about a week ago. I have been told to buy it and that it is a fabulous product, but by and large, the research (informal) that I have done online has not led me to believe that has been true for all. I’d really appreciate if you would share the changes in your horses with Succeed and why you like it so much. If I really got the feeling that it worked, I’d buy it, but I feel that there is a lot of smoke and mirrors.
Can you combine UGuard with say, Aloe or papaya? I have a horse that was scoped and they found 10 mild to moderate ulcers. No surprise there. Race horse, then show horse. Always lived in a stall. High stress kind of guy. He was treated with GG and given some time off (non-related to the ulcers, really not for anything, but that is another REALLY long story). However, he is now back in work. I wish I could just go ahead and do another month of GG, but alas it’s too $$$.
I was thinking maybe a probio, yeast, antacid, and aloe or papaya. He gets Ultium and rice bran (actually slowly switching from rice bran to Glanzen/sunnies) and chaff. About to switch from Cosequin (waiting to run out) to Reitsport (which is Glanzen/Hylasport/probio). Thoughts?
The aloe was recommended to me before Succeed by the same person who recommended Succeed-
My other horse gets the same base (ultium, rice bran <again, will switch to Glanzen/sunnies when I run out> and chaff) but also gets Missing Link. I really think he might have a very mild set of ulcers (diarrhea on/off, mild, mild cribber).
Has anyone had success with Tums?
My guy was diagnosed with fairly severe ulcers in early November. He had shown no signs up until a few days before I brought him into the clinic. He was reluctant to work, then had decreased water consumption and the day he shipped, he became very depressed. His appetite was always excellent.
He was just rechecked and the ulcers are healed. We did a month of GG, and now 1/4 tube or one dose of UG in the AM with Neighlox at night.
My plan is to add Aloe to his feed after a month of UG and keep him on the Neighlox. I will probably use the UG at shows and when shipping.
harr754 - I was looking at the stomach soother stuff yesterday and was wondering if it was basically just pureed papaya.
So you buy the same stuff at your health food store? Is that store like a GMC or a mom and pop type place. Do you remember how much you paid?
Hunter’s Rest and I were just talking about papaya and if there is a cheaper source than the stomach soother stuff - I’m all for it.
And who here has heard of using fenbendazole?
Soooo sorry, for some reason it will not bring it up! go to the first link I gave you, click on farm animals, then at left click on maintain health and it will bring you to the aloe vera pellets. One lb is the same as an 8oz serving as the aloe vera juice, looks interesting. Someday I will learn how to paste a link correctly!! 
Went to Walmart last night and bought some aloe vera juice and mylanta. I squirted some mylanta down his throat and added juice to my boy’s feed this morning… having high hopes he will show some improvement in his eating habits. Thanks for all the insight folks, this was a very timely topic for me and I am hoping I don’t need to start paying $30/ tube for gastrogard. Hopefully the more natural methods will do the trick.
I put the Equitum (it’s a powder) on her feed, which I questioned since she was basically off her feed from her upset tummy. So, I gave her just enough grain to mix with supplement, and added applesauce and pancake syrup to get her interested in the first few feedings.
My mare is on cimetidine so ,how many tums as a rule would anyone give a 1000 lb horse? And also, zantac and Ranitidine are the same thing. How come the article says 4 zantac= 300mg of ranitidine?
Also, just for conversation, I just read an article that said the generic ulcergard is not the same as the brand name.
Originally posted by Oakstable:
What symptoms do you see if a horse has an ulcer? I know they are very common.
Some symptoms (the ones I saw) are:
frequent colic episodes
teeth gnashing
irritable when eating…stopping and starting
girthy
weight loss or poor coat condition
there are others. All of these things are also symptoms of other things. I eliminated some of the other things and chose a harmless homeopathic remedy (aloe) and waited to see what happened. All the symptoms went away. 
I’m pretty sure it was $150. The insurance company paid for it.
BarbB, can I ask how much aloe vera you give in the feed? I would like to try that, have heard good things about that and papaya juice.
Yes, still loves them and still feeling much better with them. Highly recommended!
That is the company. They just have not updated the prices on the internet yet.
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