Free Evaluation At The Wine
Country Rides
Does Your Endurance Horse
Have Ulcers?
With the
availability in recent years of endoscopes of adequate length, stomach (gastric) ulceration is now commonly diagnosed in horses. Studies in race and show horses have
shown a prevalence of gastric
ulceration from 60% to 90%. The presence of gastric ulceration has
been associated with clinical signs
such as poor appetite, attitude changes,
colic and poor performance. At
the University of California we have evaluated the performance of horses with
gastric ulceration and found that horses with ulcers had decreased oxygen consumption
representing a 4.5 times decreased response to training compared with normal
horses. This means horses are
getting tired faster during performance with ulcers, and this may occur without
any other signs. Stresses and
demands on the horses and riders during endurance races differ from other equine
sports, because these horses perform for hours over uneven terrain, and often in
less than ideal environments.
Gastrointestinal signs, such as colic and diarrhea have been
complications associated with endurance
races in horses. Intense endurance
exercise in humans has been
associated with gastrointestinal signs included gastrointestinal bleeding, abdominal
cramping, nausea, diarrhea and bleeding ulcers.
The goal of this study is to determine the
prevalence of gastric in endurance horses and determine if there is a
relation between ulcers
and/or bleeding with general health, diet, and management.
Procedure: On
June 1st at the end of the race, horses will be allowed to rest
and recover before evaluation. You
can also have your horse evaluated on Sunday morning. It is best if we evaluate them before
they eat after the race or the next morning prior to feeding so the stomach will
be empty. We will provide a questionnaire (attached) with specific
questions about your horse's health, feeding, transportation and training
protocols. For the endoscopy we will pass an endoscope
(similar to a stomach tube) through one of the nostrils to visualize the
stomach. We will show you the
inside of your horse's stomach, we will take some pictures and we will give you
a copy. If your horse has ulcers we will give you a free sample of
gastrogard, so that you can start treating your horse. The complete procedure will last about 10
minutes.
If you
provide us with your e-mail address or fax number we will send you the results
of your horse and the study.
We will also
give a short presentation Friday evening on gastric ulcers in
horses.
If you have any
question please call or email Dr. Snyder (jrsnyder@xxxxxxxxxxx) or Dr. Nieto (jenieto@xxxxxxxxxxx) at (530)
752-0290
