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"You don't know what you don't know". I say those words often in the horse industry and if there is one thing that I could do over I would have aggressively treated my horses for ulcers.
I remember at the beginning of my horse career I ordered a box of omeprazole from Abler for a very difficult thoroughbred mare. I stopped treating her because it was cost prohibitive, took a long while to ship, and I had a bottle of ranitidine from another horse. Gosh, if I could do it all over I would have thrown sucralfate, alfalfa hay, and omeprazole at that particular horse for treatment. This is the combination that seems to work for me and keep my performance horses happy. Before we dig into my top picks of ulcer products I want to briefly share the behavior that my mares display when they aren't on their "meds". Basically, they get extremely marish and cranky. They pin their ears when I tighten the girth and touch their belly and they also drink a lot of water. When they are on their meds they are happy and don't exhibit cranky mare behavior.
2. Sucralfate (vet script needed)
There is absolutely no way to sugar coat this, but my horses are demon ponies without their sucralfate. As soon as they are back on their meds they turn into angel ponies, but they need their 10-15 tabs of sucralfate 2-3 times per day to stay happy. This product has made the biggest and quickest improvement in all my horses.
Two products that didn't work.
Ulcer products are EXPENSIVE! There, I said it! They cost a lot of money so choosing which to purchase is always a big decision. Not to mention, there is a lot of research out there supporting what works and doesn't. These are two products that just didn't work for me. The first, was Daily Gold, which comes HIGHLY recommended by many horse owners (including my friends that rave about it). Quite frankly, it just didn't work for me. My horses would not eat it and did not like the taste of it. The second is called Ulc-R-Aid, and it was another product that came recommended. My horses didn't mind the taste and ate the product just fine, but I didn't see any results or changes in their behavior.
The next product I would like to try is Ulceraser from Equine Elixirs. I am very interested in trying this product because I have used the Equine Elixirs "Positude" formula on sale horses before with good results including noticeable changes in the horses behavior when they were on and off the product.
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AuthorAshley is a dressage trainer and instructor that loves to train dressage and teach lessons. Archives
March 2022
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