How feeding management, turnout, and stress reduction prevent equine gastric ulcer syndrome in performance and pleasure horses.
Gastric ulceration represents a widespread but often invisible welfare problem in the horse population. Affected horses experience chronic abdominal pain that manifests as reluctance to work, behavioral changes, poor body condition, and reduced performance. The pain is real, persistent, and experienced by the majority of stabled performance horses under common management practices. The management changes needed to prevent ulcers - ad libitum hay access, turnout, reduced concentrate feeding, stress minimization - are achievable and often improve other welfare indicators simultaneously. The prevalence of EGUS in managed horses reflects a fundamental mismatch between natural equine feeding biology and the intermittent feeding patterns humans impose for convenience.