Equine gastric ulcer syndrome affects a majority of performance horses and represents a significant welfare problem caused largely by management practices that conflict with horse physiology.
Equine gastric ulcer welfare illustrates how management practices designed around human convenience rather than horse physiology create significant suffering. The combination of restricted forage access, high concentrate feeding, training stress and intermittent stabling creates conditions where gastric ulcers are almost inevitable in performance horses. Prevention is far more welfare-positive than treatment — maintaining continuous forage access, minimizing stabling, managing training stress and avoiding ulcerogenic medications dramatically reduces ulcer prevalence. The high recurrence rate following omeprazole treatment without management changes demonstrates that medication cannot substitute for appropriate care. Welfare-centred management should ensure horses can express their natural continuous grazing behavior.