equine
When your normally wellbehaved performance horse starts acting strangely what do you do Do you immediately think he is developing an attitude or do you look for other causes If your horse demonstrates any or all of the behaviors below you may want to think twice before assuming he has an attitude problem. Your horse may be displaying equine symptoms of ulcers.
Refusing jumps
Acting up in the alley way
Kicking in the trailer
Pinning his ears when you put your leg on
Biting or kicking when his girth is tightened
While these may seem like a group of unrelated symptoms theyre not. They are common equine symptoms of ulcers. Veterinarians and other researchers have recently recognized gastric and colonic ulcers as serious health threats especially among performance horses or horses in training. The reasons ulcers are so common among these horses include:
* Infrequent high carbohydrate meals and inadequate access to hay or pasture
* Heavy training schedules
* High stress environments
* Excessive use of drugs especially nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs
To treat the equine symptoms of ulcers I like to feed pelleted senior horse feed because it is easier to digest than grains. In addition I find that supplementing horses with one or a combination of these three product lines is very helpful: Simplexity Health Stomach Soother and SUCCEED.
** Simplexity Health Products **
Simplexity Health offers extremely highpotency acidophilus bifidus enzymes and blue green algae. When fed as a supplement to the pelleted senior feed these products are very healing to the digestive system and can be very helpful to those that are showing equine symptoms of ulcers but need to remain in training. The probiotics acidophilus and bifidus help heal any ulceration in the stomach while the enzymes help the horse easily digest his food preventing further damage. The bluegreen algae supports the whole healing process as well as providing the horse an easy source of energy in the form of glycogen from the bluegreen algae cell wall.
** Stomach Soother **
This commercial product is designed for the treatment of stomach ulcers and digestive distress in horses. It is made from natural papaya a tropical fruit which is native to Central America and Mexico. Papayas active ingredient is papain which resembles the digestive enzyme pepsin. Papain stimulates the appetite soothes membranes of the esophagus and stomach and quiets inflammatory bowel disorders.
Papaya also contains nutritional compounds such as Vitamin A Vitamin C calcium iron niacin potassium riboflavin and thiamin. Two ounces twice a day is a great ulcer preventative and can be very soothing for those showing equine symptoms of ulcers. This product is fine for longterm use but it must be refrigerated once the bottle is opened. The company is working on a daily dosing system to overcome this challenge for those who do not have refrigerators near the barn.
** SUCCEED **
This natural product contains oat oil which is rich in polar lipids and oat flour which is high in betaglucan soluble fiber yeast extract and the amino acids LThreonine and LGlutamine. Polar lipids are watersoluble fats that help transport nutrients into the bloodstream and support a healthy gut lining. Soluble oat fiber evens out the rate of digestion to improve digestion. Yeast extract supports normal levels of digestive microbes in the large intestine. The amino acids LGlutamine and LThreonine support a healthy mucous lining throughout the digestive tract. SUCCEED comes in a paste form for daily dosing of horses that are off feed definitely one of the equine symptoms of ulcers and a granule form that can be added to the feed once or twice a day. I find this product to be most helpful for horses with ulcers in the large intestine. Many people find a combination of SUCCEED and Stomach Soother works best.
For more information on managing horses with ulcers or for onestop shopping for holistic horsekeeping products such as those mentioned in this article be sure to click the resource box below.
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Madalyn Ward DVM is a recognized author and veterinarian in the field of holistic horsekeeping. For free tips on horse health horse personality types and horse nutrition plus onestop shopping on holistic horse products visit http://www.BuyHolisticHorse.com.
Tags: healing process acidophilus high carbohydrate digestive system serious health anti inflammatory drugs non steroidal anti inflammatory drugs blue green algae high potency health threats
Source: http://www.articlealley.com/article_656173_54.html
Madalyn Ward DVM has been the owner of Bear Creek Veterinary Clinic in Austin Texas since 1985. She is certified in Veterinary Homeopathy Chiropractic and Acupuncture. She is the coauthor of Holistic Treatment of Chronic Lamintis and has lectured about homeopathic medicine for horses around the United States and Canada since 1992. Madalyn has consulted on articles for Dressage Today Chronicle of the Horse The Horse The Whole Horse Journal and Practical Horseman. Through her website Holistic Horse Keeping (http://www.holistichorsekeeping.com) she publishes a free monthly newsletter offers the Healthy Happy Horse Resource Group has ebooks available a home study course and provides information and resources for horse and mule owners. http://www.holistichorsekeeping.com