Evidence-based strategies to prevent equine gastric ulcer syndrome in horses undergoing competition training and regular stabling.
Ulcer prevention in sport horses requires treating management conditions rather than continuously medicating horses that continue to be managed in ways that cause ulcers. A horse on long-term omeprazole that still has no ad libitum forage access, still receives large concentrate meals and still spends 20 hours per day stabled is receiving symptom management without addressing root causes. The welfare-appropriate approach is to use medication to allow healing while simultaneously implementing management changes that reduce acid production, increase buffering and restore the horse to conditions in which its gastric mucosa can remain healthy without pharmacological support.