Preventing stomach ulcers: 4 feeds that your horse should avoid!

Most show horses suffer with stomach problems. The causes are clear: stress during training, the long journeys or tension before and during the shows. No one says competition horses have it easy. But whether amateur or professional: riders love their horses.

That’s why we want to do them as much good as possible. We are ready to invest in the health of our horses because our horses are the value to us. They do everything for us. We want to give something back to them. For the following four feeds, you should consider once more, whether it is your favorite straight or should you resort to an alternative.

 

  1. An apple a day, keeps the doctor away?

How do you reward your horse if it worked really well today? If your sweetheart is prone to stomach problems, such as a stomach ulcer, you should pay attention to what you reward him with. Apples are a welcome treat on any horse, but a vulnerable “stomach patient” can be very sensitive to apples. The acid in the apple as well as the sugar can disturb the balance of the stomach and lead to unpleasant complaints. Of course, an apple is allowed but try to alternate with a carrot or beetroot every now and then.

 

  1. Ginger – why when feeding especially for gastric patients, great caution is required!

For about 15 years, ginger is used in horse feeding for its anti-inflammatory, analgesic effect. Especially with kissing spines, hoof problems and other arthritic diseases ginger is said to be very effective. But ginger also has a downside. The feeding of ginger over a longer period of time can lead to gastric mucosal irritation and colic. For this reason, ginger is absolutely taboo for horses with stomach ulcers and those that are prone to gastric ulcers! Ginger only suppresses the pain but does not treat the problem. In addition, it should be mentioned that ginger is doping-relevant and thus also less suitable for competition horses.

 

  1. Alfalfa – it depends on the particle size.

Among horse owners alfalfa is known as a valuable nutrient supplier. It is rich in easily digestible protein, calcium and magnesium. This alfalfa should be able to buffer the pH in the stomach of the horse and thus protect the gastric mucosa from further irritation. This has a positive effect on stomach ulcers. Alfalfa is usually chopped or ground.

However, Leipzig scientists have recently found in a study that the particle size of alfalfa is important in terms of gastric ulcer.

For this purpose, the horses were fed for 14 days with 1.5 kg alfalfa chips per 100 kg body weight. As a check, the horses had 24 hours grazing after a 16-day wash-out period and were fed with hay. Before and after the two different feeding methods, the horses were each endoscoped. It was found that the horses on the antrum pyloricum (beginning section of the stomach outlet) had increased gastric mucosal changes after feeding with alfalfa chips. It can therefore be assumed that the alfalfa shreds do not have a particularly positive effect on the gastric mucosa due to their sharp-edged structure, but cause mechanical irritation of the gastric mucosa and thus gastric mucosal lesions.

 

Preferably feed alfalfa as a pellet or extrudate, because especially horses, which have a gastric ulcer or are prone to gastric ulcers, have a very sensitive stomach. Continuous roughage intake as well as the pasture attitude have a positive effect on the stomach of our horses.

 

  1. Flaxseed – uncooked not more than 100g a day!

Flaxseed is a popular supplement for stomach patients and horses that have coat change problems. Because of their mucus and fiber content, flax seeds have a positive effect on the digestive tract ed-italia.com. The mucilage of linseed have a positive soothing effect on the gastrointestinal mucous membranes. Their high fat content and the ratio of unsaturated fatty acids provide horses with energy and have a positive effect on the coat.

 

The linseed oil contained in flax seed has a high content of omega-3 fatty acids. These tri-unsaturated fatty acids neutralize arachidonic acid, which is a trigger of many inflammatory processes in the body. A disadvantage of flaxseed is the content of cyanogenic glucosides. These are precursors of toxic hydrocyanic acid, which are broken d

Most show horses suffer with stomach problems. The causes are clear: stress during training, the long journeys or tension before and during the shows. No one says competition horses have it easy. But whether amateur or professional: riders love their horses.

That’s why we want to do them as much good as possible. We are ready to invest in the health of our horses because our horses are the value to us. They do everything for us. We want to give something back to them. For the following four feeds, you should consider once more, whether it is your favorite straight or should you resort to an alternative.