Horse Ulcers: Symptoms, Causes, and Treatment (2023)

Ulcer is one of the common diseases in horses that you should ignore at any level because it leads to many dangerous consequences. As a horse owner, you must know about ulcer symptoms, causes, and treatment.

Equine Ulcers Behavior:

If you notice strange changes in your equine’s behavior, it may be due to the presence of an ulcer. Your horse will start avoiding its regular activities, like willingness to perform specific movements and daily activities.

5 Noticeable Signs and Symptoms of Ulcers in Horses:

An excessive amount of acid in the stomach of horses leads to ulcers, and they can be diagnosed with the help of a few noticeable signs and symptoms. Some of the common symptoms of ulcers in horses are below.

1. Reduced Appetite:

Stomach disorders due to ulcers will lead to the poor appetite of equine. If your horse is reluctant to eat food, then there are more chances it is a symptom of an ulcer. A sudden change in feeding habits depends on gastric ulcers that you can notice conveniently.

2. More Saliva:

A horse produces almost 10 liters of saliva per day to buffer the acid produced in the stomach. But if you are experiencing excessive salivation in your equine, it is not normal. An excessive amount of saliva is a big sign of an ulcer in the mouth or stomach of the horse.

3. Weight Loss:

Ulcers in the stomach of the equine will lead to poor appetite, and its weight will reduce significantly. Weight loss may be the reason for poor nutrition absorption due to an ulcer damaging the horse’s stomach. Even if your horse is eating normally but still losing weight, you should consult your vet to diagnose any possible chances of an ulcer.

4. Bad Coat:

A healthy horse has a shiny, smooth, and fine coat. Whereas if a horse faces a stomach ulcer, it will lead to a wrong coat. If your equine coat is dry and has lots of loose hair, it is one of the ulcer indicators. A horse’s coat indicates its health, so you should not ignore any signs of dryness, lack of shedding, and brittle hair.

5. Extended Lying Down Time:

If your equine is showing poor body condition with a decrease in performance and spends most of its time lying down on the ground, it is not normal behavior. Ulcer in horses makes them feel tired quickly, and a horse seeks more rest.

3 Main Causes of Ulcers in Horses:

A horse owner should be familiar with many causes of ulcers in horses to prevent such diseases. Ulcer in a horse depends on a few following reasons.

1. Pattern and Frequency of Diet:

A healthy diet is essential for getting maximum performance from your equine and keeping it safe from many infections and ulcers. A horse needs to feed more frequently, so if you feed your horse infrequently, the amount of acid produced in the horse’s stomach will not be buffered, leading to an ulcer. Besides this, if you feed a horse with more grains, less saliva is produced, which will not be able to neutralize the volatile fatty acids. These fatty acids are the leading cause of the presence of ulcers in the stomach of a horse.

2. Dehydration:

Gastric fluids dilute with the help of constant access to water. So if your horse is not hydrated properly, it will cause an ulcer.

3. Stress and Excessive Exercise:

If your equine is living in a stressful environment, its feeding habits will be changed, leading to ulcers because stress leads to excessive blood flow to the stomach. Similarly, excessive exercise is another cause of ulcers in a horse’s stomach.

Treating Ulcers in Equine Naturally:

It is effortless to treat ulcers in horses naturally with the help of different herbs, natural supplements, and a supply of natural diet. A high-fiber diet is compulsory to cure ulcers in horses naturally, so it is better to add a natural diet to herbal medications for the best results. You can add mint, ginger, lemon balm, Aloe Vera, and fenugreek to your equine’s diet to treat the ulcers naturally.

Is aloe Vera good for a horse with stomach ulcers?

Aloe Vera is famous for its hundreds of benefits, and it is also capable of reducing the number of acids in the acid that is the leading cause of ulcers in horses. You can treat gastric ulcers naturally with Aloe Vera’s help to most horse owners. Wounds are healed quickly with the help of this herb, and it also relieves pain associated with ulcers.

Can ulcers in horses go away on their own?

If you expect ulcers in horses to go away on their own, then there are very few chances of it. Ulcers in the stomach can heal on their own, but it takes quite a long time. If your equine has no access to a stress-free environment with a good diet, then you cannot expect an ulcer to go on its own.

What is the best way to treat Ulcers in Horses?

Ulcer treatment is quite expensive, and different medications are available for it that you can give under the supervision of a vet. The best way is to go for natural treatment of ulcers with the help of different herbs if the ulcer is at the initial stage. The inclusion of natural supplements in the horse’s diet is also very important, so you should add Equinety Horse XL and Equinety Ultimate OEC, the two best products that can combine to supplement your horse. These two products will not help cure ulcers, but they will also keep your horse healthy naturally.

What is the fastest way to cure a stomach ulcer?

The fastest way to cure a stomach ulcer is by taking proper medication prescribed by the vet and adding natural supplements to the horse’s diet. A horse not feeding any supplement will take more time to cure stomach ulcers. Equinety Horse XL is a good product for your horse to boost its immunity, leading to quick recovery from ulcers.

Prevention is much more important than cure. So being a horse owner, you must be aware of the ways that are ideal for preventing ulcers in your horse. Our website has a comprehensive article available on this topic, so just read the prevention guide about equine ulcers. This prevention guide will help your equine remain healthy and away from any ulcers.

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