Ridecamp: Re: [RC] Wine Country/Gastroguard

> as Heidi points out - are management practice issues.
> The significance here is that we have a population of
> endurance horses competing that are on pasture that are
> still showing ulcers.  What does that mean?

It means that confinement is not the only issue.

As you mentioned yourself, your horse is one that internalizes his emotions.
And I think that the "mainstream" of Arabian breeding has been selecting for
this type of horse for 30-40 years, as they really put on a "buzz" in the
show ring.  This is not the normal type of mindset for the classic Arabian.
And it is increasingly difficult to find horses with the old-style
"survivalist" mindset.  I still think that horse selection is the #1 factor
here, and that we need to be looking beyond just conformation issues.  How
the metabolic functions work in a horse are just as hereditary as
conformation.  (Of course, how you manage those metabolic functions is a big
part of it--but if you are already starting behind the line with a horse
that is not genetically "designed" to be a metabolic survivor, your
management issues become far more difficult.

I think that the researchers at the ride are likely right that
bacterial/viral causes need to be revisited.  There are certainly some
interesting aspects along that line in other species, and there is also the
possibility that horses who suffer from infections (however seemingly mild)
that have little or nothing to do with ulcers directly are still suffering
stress due to being put back to work when they "seem" ok but may not be
fully recovered.  Influenza is certainly a virus where there are lots of
detrimental effects to going back to work too soon, for instance, even
though the horse appears to be fully recovered and "just fine."

Heidi

PS:  I'm quite familiar with the open areas in CA, BTW, and I know that many
horses do live "out"--but my comment was relative to other states/areas, and
it has been my experience that a higher percentage of horses are confined in
CA than in many other areas of the west coast.  So I was speaking to the
results as a whole there, not just about your particular horse.  I'm sure
the same applies in some areas of the eastern seaboard, and other heavily
populated areas.


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