Equine gastric ulcer syndrome is extremely common in sport and pleasure horses, causing chronic pain that is largely preventable through management changes.
Gastric ulcers represent one of the most common and chronically painful conditions in domestic horses, yet are largely created by management practices at odds with equine physiology. A horse stabled for 20 hours with two hay feeds and a high-concentrate diet experiences gastric acid splashing on unprotected mucosa for hours between feeds - the physiological recipe for ulceration. The stoic nature of horses means chronic gastric pain is frequently missed or misattributed to behavioral problems. Veterinary diagnosis and omeprazole treatment provides relief, but without management changes ulcers recur. Prevention through appropriate feeding management is both welfare-superior and economically sound.