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  Discussion on Concentrated feeds and ulcers
Author Message
New Member:
Mollysue

Posted on Sunday, Mar 26, 2006 - 10:10 am:

There are many posts on how to cure and prevent gastric ulcers. As I understand, access to forage throughout the day is essential, as is removing stress in the environment, providing maximum turnout, etc. Yet I'm confused about how to choose the right concentrated feed for a horse prone to ulcers. I had my mare on timothy hay and sweet feed. As I understand now, sweet feed may have been part of the problem due to high starch content. I am looking at switching her to a complete feed with fiber at 15-18%, protein 11-13% and fat from 3-10%. All have low NCS numbers (non-structural carbohydrates). She is ridden 5-6x per week for 30-45 minutes. Is a higher or lower fat content best in the case of ulcers? What about fiber and protein? Is alfalfa meal a plus? The feeds I am considering are Triple Crown Complete, Triple Crown Low Starch and Gro-Strong. Thanks for any advice.
Member:
Vickiann

Posted on Sunday, Mar 26, 2006 - 9:14 pm:

I've been using the Triple Crown products for over a year (including the Low Starch, Lite and 12% supplement. I also use their grass forages) -- various feeds for individual needs -- and I am very satisfied.
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Monday, Mar 27, 2006 - 6:57 pm:

Concentrates per-se are not the problem it is the lack of forage constantly available that is the problem. I think our recommendations for nutrition in Care for Horses » Nutrition » Equine Nutrition an Overview of Feeding Horses is about as non-ulcergenic as you can get. There is some suggestion that fats are less ulcergenic than starches but this is counter balanced by the increase nutrient density requiring less forage to maintain condition, in my opinion. Pay attention to your horses forage and the rest falls into place.
DrO
Member:
Jockyrdg

Posted on Monday, Apr 3, 2006 - 6:42 am:

Hello all
Just came back from the Mid-Atlantic Nutrition conference - equine track. They had a presentation on ulcers. Briefly, they explained why the grain tends to set off ulcers- acids from fermentation- and discussed the use of various treatment protocols. Feed management will not heal the ulcer, that must be done through medication. Once healed recurrence can be reduced or eliminated through feed and management practices. To emphasize the Horse Advisor's forage recommendations, they feel the calcium in alfalfa works as a buffering agent against the acid, rather like a natural antacid. Of course all other health issues must allow the use of that forage. It has long been stated that stress is a contributing factor and interestingly they found that horses that were transported (anywhere) had an increase in ulcers over horses which stayed at home. This led to the speculation that giving a low dose of Omeprazole prior to transport may help reduce the onset of ulcers.
Beverly
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Monday, Apr 3, 2006 - 9:14 am:

Hello Beverely,
The implication of your post is that the ph lowers (becomes more acid) during grain meals, when the opposite happens. The reason is that the main buffering agent is saliva which is released during mastication. It is true the ph rises higher (less acid) during alfalfa meals but all this talk about differential ph during meals looses the main point: the danger period is during periods of no eating. The best explanation of the pathogenesis for clinical ulcers at this time is that episodic feeding practices in combination with intensive exercise that splashes acid up on the upper portions of the stomach that are not designed for this exposure. The emphasis should not be on any problems the grain may cause but should be on the lack of ad lib forage. This is where reliable ulcer prevention, that fits with all the models including stress, come to a junction.

I also am not sure that once ulcers form they cannot heal on their own with good management practices. This runs counter to several common experiences. First, I have known hunt horses that are transported frequently but over years of this clinical ulcers never develop. Second, before there was a diagnosis of ulcers and modern therapy for it there was a phenomena of "track sour" in race horses that in most cases was almost assuredly clinical gastric ulceration. Without any modern therapies, 6 months to a year at pasture usually fixed the problem and they came back to race successfully. It is true once ulcers become clinically apparent that management has not yet been shown to quickly resolve the problem but this is not a well studied phenomena. I think there are still many open questions on this subject.

We can talk about the relative stomach ph of different concentrates but it must be realized this is a small part of the picture. It is not what they are fed so much as what is not fed that is the problem. Most of the above points are discussed in greater detail in the article on ulcers.
DrO
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