# Bucking mare update and ulcers advice



## showjumpingfilly (24 September 2012)

A while agi I wrote a thread about my mare who was being a bucking bronco! 

A lot of the advice was either to change her serious lack of continous work or the usual health checks.

On the vets advice I carried on working her amidst various tests. 
She spent a week at the vets having several scans, work ups and scopes. They were all clear so continued to work her hard. 

She seemed to show some improvement as I got on her case more if she bucked, tapping her on her shoulder if she humped/bronked, which sent her forwards and it ceased. 
She has had a big problem accepting my leg, so did lots of lengtheing and shortening using mainly my seat, an gradually upping the amount of leg. This seemed to really get her focused and didnt let her brain wander off into naughtyness!! So all was fairly well.

Stupidly she had a week off whilst i was away as a friend who was meant to lunge her pulled out.

When it came back to working her she wasnt as bad as she can be, but even sessions that started well usually had at least 2 bucking sessions. She is now getting back to where she was, but still seems a bit rushed and tense compared to how she was before the week off.

On to the advice.

She was scoped clear for ulcers but I still have my doubts.

She is girthy - dislikes her belly being touched so swishes her tail and sometimes goes to bite when you brush it. She doesnt like the girth being done up and fidgets about but saddle and back absolutely 100% ok.
She is sensitive to you using your leg, but prefers faster work, and is worse when shortened up (although half the time i think she feels better because she cant buck in the fast work but she doesnt seem as tense. But i have a feeling she doesnt understand the short work (very long strided/forward going previously) so finds it difficult and then gets tense) 

Have seen some other threads where feeding a chaff in feed can help, she is now on alfa a oil as she is prone to losing weight in winter and tends to look good on this.

Also saw somebody suggest feeding a haynet before work which i have been trying to make sure i do and she does seem better with this. Ie no bucks but intention still there.
Last time i rode her she had no haynet and had one yeeha humpy moment but she had also had 3 days off.

So, i was thinking of giving her some sort of supplement that helps ulcer sufferers to see if there was any improvement. What does everyone recommend trying her on?

Have seen that robinsons do some sort of acid relief supplement for those who acid splashing affects?

Have also seen limestone flour mentioned on here?

And then gastri aid?

I want to do right by her as she could be cracking, but have spent a fortune on tests, so although I want to try the supplement for ulcers route, i don't want to go to expensively as need to leave money in the tank to explore other options if necessary.

So basically want to know what simple tests/supplements i can do give to see if acid is a problem for her? 

Thanks for reading! Sorry its long!
And thanks in advance


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## Tempi (24 September 2012)

Theres no point giving her a supplement for ulcers - the supplements are for horses that have had them and they have been treated.  She would need a proper ulcer treatment first.

If you really think it is ulcers then try equine omeprazole, i get mine from America - 3 sachets a day for a month and then drop down to 2 sachets a day and go from there.  You should see a difference within 7 days.  I did this with my mare and it made an amazing difference to her - shes now just on Feedmarks UlcerCalm and is totally off the omeprazole.  The reason I went down this route was because shes not insured and is 19 so i didnt want to put her through scoping (and the expense) when I felt I could try this first.

http://www.abler.com/category/gastric-ulcer-treatments 

I used the Abrazole Plus as it has a probiotic with it aswell and only works out a little bit more expensive than the normal sachets.  They do a quick delivery which works out around £15 and arrives within about 4 days normally, also they were doing a 20 sachet free trial.

I'm sure some people will disagree with me as I know the use of Omeprazole is a bit disliked on this forum by some people, but I know a lot of people who have gone down this route and had really good results.


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## be positive (24 September 2012)

I have an event horse at livery, he showed some symptoms of ulcers, girthy, some cold back type of episodes, drooling, not eating up, the odd stop when SJ but happy to fly XC on rock hard ground. 
He was scoped clear but I decided to change his diet anyway and treat him as if he was sensitive to acid build up, he is now on calm and condition, alfalfa pellets and linseed, he had Gastriaid for 6 weeks, plus adlib haylage or grass.
I feed him am and pm but if he is ridden in the afternoon, rider comes after school in the week, I then give a 1/2 ration about 1 hour before, also at competitions he gets a small feed between dr and sj, the sj phase was the main issue. He has a net at all times while on the lorry.

We now seem to have a different horse, he is no longer girthy, has stopped drooling and is now mouthing the bit, he eats all his feed licking out the bowl, something he has rarely done before and I had tried several types, best of all he has sj clear every time out since changing diet, it may all be coincidental but the horse is happier and so is the rider.

He may not have had ulcers but I think he was sensitive to the acid, possibly had them in the past, it would be worth doing something similar with your horse, it costs nothing to alter diet and if it works will be worth it.


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## wench (24 September 2012)

There have been posts on here about colonic ulcers? Perhaps do some research ok these? 

If you read the ulcer supplements speil, they will mainly say for horses prone to gastric upset. Ie not just ones that have had it. It may be worth trying her on one. Protexin's acid ease also has pro and pre biotics in it; these will also help. 

Other things to consider - have you had her back xrayed (kissing spines) or had a thermal imaging scan done. This is relatively cheap and can help pinpoint problem areas. 

Or... You could try using an animal communicator. There is one lady I use who is very accurate, and it can be a very good starting point... And it's realitively cheap and easy!


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## Kokopelli (24 September 2012)

If it's definitely not ulcers could it be her ovaries?


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## showjumpingfilly (24 September 2012)

Have had her back xrayed - no kissing spines, and ovaries scanned - no problems there.

Vet is inclined to think i'm looking for a problem that isnt there and that its just her attitude, but im just not convinced about the ulcers.


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## wench (24 September 2012)

Well pleased to see that it's not KS. 

My next ports of call would be thermal imaging and communicator


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## maccachic (25 September 2012)

Musclular / osteo problems.  Also are her feet correctly balanced?  If they aren't she will need to use muscles to stand as she isn't in a neutral balance - think relaxing on stilettos - takes muscles to stand upright.  This will mean she is constantly usings muscles and they get sore and other parts compensate.

My guy had ulcers Im pretty sure I changed him to a simple diet and the change in him was dramatic he put on weight (while still slowly tranistioning the feed change) that I had been battling with for a couple of years despite high calorie diets.  He was put on Lucerne chaff and Oats with a supplement which balanced it (previous diets were theortically balanced but I am skeptical now wether premixed / extruded feeds, minerals are actually avalible for use by the horse) salt and hay - he is kept out all year round, he is now a relativly easy keeper despite being a hard keep for the previous 2 years.


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