Horse Equine Gastric Ulcer Prevention and Treatment

Gastric ulcers are extremely common in horses, particularly sport and racehorses, causing chronic pain and behavioural changes that are often misidentified.

Key Facts

Studies find gastric ulcers in up to 90% of racehorses and 60% of performance horses
Horses are designed to graze for 16+ hours per day - acid production continues without food
Intermittent feeding and high concentrate diets are primary risk factors
EGUS is classified as squamous ulceration and glandular disease with different causes
Omeprazole is the gold-standard treatment but requires full 28-day courses for healing
Horses cannot tell us they are in pain - behavioural signs include girthiness and poor performance
Access to constant forage through slow feeders is a major preventive measure

Welfare Considerations

Gastric ulcers cause chronic abdominal pain that horses experience continuously rather than intermittently. The behavioural changes owners observe - reluctance to work, sensitivity to grooming, reluctance to turn - represent a horse in persistent discomfort. The tragedy is that management factors are almost entirely responsible: the way we house and feed horses creates the conditions for ulceration, yet this is normalised as industry standard practice. Providing continuous forage access and reducing periods of an empty stomach is simultaneously welfare improvement and ulcer prevention.

What You Can Do

Provide access to hay or forage for as close to 24 hours per day as possible
Feed small frequent hard feed meals rather than large infrequent ones
Ensure access to pasture turnout as a source of continuous natural forage
Ask your vet to scope for ulcers if your horse shows any unexplained behavioural changes
Complete full treatment courses - do not stop omeprazole early even if horse improves
Use slow feeders or hay nets to extend time spent eating
Reduce stress and management changes which are recognised ulcer risk factors