Equine gastric ulcer syndrome affects the majority of performance horses and causes chronic pain. Understanding causes, prevention, and treatment improves welfare outcomes.
Gastric ulcers represent a largely human-created welfare problem — the result of managing horses in ways that conflict with their digestive physiology. Horses evolved to graze near-continuously, buffering stomach acid with saliva. Stabling, restricted forage access, concentrated feed, and stressful performance schedules create conditions in which acid damage is almost inevitable. Behavioral signs including girthiness, poor performance, and reluctance to work indicate pain that is often missed or attributed to training problems. Prevention through management changes — maximizing forage access, reducing stressors, and feeding hay before exercise — is more sustainable than repeated omeprazole courses.