Equine gastric ulcer syndrome (EGUS) affects the majority of competition horses. Prevention through appropriate management dramatically reduces suffering from this common painful condition.
Gastric ulcers cause chronic pain that affects virtually all intensively managed horses. The prevalence in racehorses and elite sport horses exceeds 90% - an extraordinary disease burden accepted as normal in these performance environments. Ulcers cause pain that affects behavior, performance, and quality of life. The insidious aspect of EGUS is how well horses tolerate it - signs may be subtle until ulcers are severe. Prevention is straightforward in principle: continuous forage access, reduced stressors, and careful NSAID management. The challenge is that management practices common in performance horse environments - limited hay to maintain weight, intensive training, and NSAID use - are precisely the factors that cause ulcers. Welfare-positive performance horse management requires genuinely addressing these practices.