Equine gastric ulcer syndrome (EGUS) affects the majority of performance horses and many leisure horses. Prevention and management significantly improve equine wellbeing and performance.
Gastric ulcers cause chronic pain that affects equine quality of life, willingness to work, and social behaviour. The condition is primarily management-induced - modern horse keeping practices including restricted forage access, high concentrate feeding, and stabling create conditions that the horse's stomach is not adapted for. Prevention through management is more effective and welfare-positive than treatment of established ulceration. Horses showing signs of ulceration deserve diagnostic scoping and appropriate treatment rather than assumptions that performance decline or behavioural changes reflect training problems. Addressing ulcer pain often transforms equine behaviour and wellbeing.