Equine gastric ulcer syndrome affects an estimated 60-90% of performance horses. Dietary management, reduced stress, and appropriate medication can prevent, manage, and heal ulcers while improving horse welfare.
Gastric ulcers represent a welfare issue created largely by management practices incompatible with equine digestive physiology. The horse's stomach was designed for continuous small-quantity forage intake - a physiological reality that intensive sport horse management, with long periods between meals and high-concentrate diets, undermines. The result is that the majority of performance horses experience acid damage to their gastric mucosa throughout their careers. The welfare cost is chronic pain affecting appetite, performance, and behavior. Prevention through appropriate feeding management - hay before exercise, multiple small meals, turnout with grazing - reduces ulcer risk significantly without medication. When ulcers are present, treatment with omeprazole combined with management changes provides healing and welfare improvement.