1 Year Later

This day last year went very differently. Today it was a warm pleasant spring like day filled with a shinning, dapples, & happy Ben. Last year however played a different tune. It's hard to forget. It was warmer but there was an unforgiving rain that seemed to pelt you into the hole that I had seemed to be hurrying myself in. Not knowing what the outcome would be as we traveled an hour up north. The emotions that swirled through my mind & my most precious son quietly traveling in the trailer behind us. He was grinding his teeth that morning after his fast & he was beat down from his gas colic just a few days before. We arrive at the hospital & though it's big & the surrounding areas were as pretty as a picture it's not a place you want to be at, not for why we were there. The office had a warm feeling especially after being soaked from the rain. It was almost time for Ben's exam the one we had been waiting for since my deduction to take him. What it would reveal was yet to be determined. They unload Ben from the trailer & take him to a holding stall until the room was ready. He began his ever too familiar pattern of circles without hesitation. He had come to hate stalls & any confinement for that matter. He had come to feel trapped like he couldn't escape something & it was his way of coping with it. Not too long after we were called in & Ben was already there waiting quietly. They began the hundreds of questions & began the initial exam. Shortly after he passed that he was sedated & the much anticipated scope had begun. Now I'm no expert at gastroscope but I knew it wasn't normal. I had figured he had ulcers all along, but not to the extent I saw on that little screen. No wonder he was loosing his mind & his body all at the same time. His stomach was in a constant state of burning with no escape. After the gastroscope he was then shaved for his ultrasound. It revealed nothing major other than signs of colonic ulcers as well which led the vet to then run the succeed test to confirm. Boy did it confirm alright. He was poked & proded & ultrasounded on the outside & the inside. Everything checked out fine except for the fact that he had severe ulcers burning his entire GI tract. Relieved that nothing else had been found I couldn't help but still feel upset. His ulcers had been causing him so much anguish for a long while. I was scared that if this treatment didn't work where would we go from there. 

It was time for Ben to wake up from his sedation & for them to come up with an extensive treatment plan. As I waited for the medications & Ben to be ready to be trailered back home I was surged with so many emotions I couldn't quiet express how I was feeling. It's almost like I was in a daze. Being thrown so many curve balls all at once & trying to catch them all at the same time. Once the medications were explained I was even more overwhelmed. So much information had just been handed to me & I was trying to think how I was going to make it all work. The soakings were 5 times a day between the first two medications alone. Ben was ready to go & they had given him a dose of his sucralfate for the trailer ride home. He eagerly started munching his hay starving from his fast the night prior. I made many phone calls as so many people wanted to see how he was & what we found on the ride home. After the calls I just sat there trying to grasp everything & hoping things would start to look up & he would be healthy once again. It was hard to picture that back then. He had been sick for awhile & each time hit him harder than the last & no one knew what was wrong with him. My instincts told me ulcers, but I never knew they could cause all the harm & chaos they did. I wasn't totally blindsided but I wasn't fully aware either.

Fast forward to one year later exactly & I feel like I just now finally got my Ben back. Yes it took that long. Yes he has been doing well, but I hadn't quiet figured out a perfect plan for him though I tried many different things. He is back to being my Ben 100% & then some. He's happy he's got a great appetite, he's moving well, he's put on tons of weight & condition, & I finally feel I have him in he right place. I feel it in my instincts. He's on an extremely healthy food free of GMO, wheat,soy, & any other crap they put in horse feeds now a days & call them healthy. He's on Crypto Aero wholefood. Asitrids oil has been nothing short of astronomically amazing for him from the inside out & gave him that extra glove to catch those curve balls. He's on a great stomach/hindgut/sand support supplement Assure Guard Gold & he's on high levels of Vitamin E & joint support. He's never been happier & neither have I. He had been through hell & back & seeing how he is today brings nothing short of tears of pure joy & happiness. Crazy how different one year can be. I'm just glad this one is different than the last. 

The "I think my horse has ulcers"

Just as the title states this blog is for the people that have that thought in their head regarding their horse. It's mind blowing to read through posts on the internet with so many people who state "I think my horse has ulcers" & what do they do about it? Not what you should be doing..... I don't understand why people have this idea in their head that ulcers are not a big deal...what you can't see won't hurt right? WRONG! I along with many other horse owners have gone through just how bad ulcers can truly be & the havoc they can wreck in your horses & your life. Sure you may try this supplement & you may make a few minor adjustments & you may get lucky that those things might actually work.... but have you really truly completely healed the problem or have you masked the symptoms enough to where you "think" everything is just fine..... Scary thought... Ulcers are not an easy 1 2 fix & wham you'll never have an issue again. Ulcers are almost always a secondary condition to a primary cause & it's your job to figure out both. Is it easy? HECK NO! It's extremely hard to figure it out & even harder to keep it all under control! Ulcers are never easy or cheap & trying to "get away with" the lazy route will get your right back to where you started quicker than you thought.

I recently read an article written by a vet & that vet made a very bold but in my opinion very true statement. He wrote "there are two types of horses, those that have ulcers & those that WILL have ulcers". We create a lot of horses problems these days by our feeding & management. Years ago horses never had half the issues they have now & I don't even mean just ulcers! Getting horses back to the basics with how we feed them & how we manage them is key to their success & your long term healthy, happy partner under saddle. Many things nowadays are for the convenience of the horse owner not what the horse truly needs to thrive. So why is it half of you reading this probably have a little thought in your head maybe my horse has ulcers & you just push it to the back & not do anything about it? Why is it not a big deal? Ok you haven't had a major issue ....yet.... but how lucky do you feel in a few weeks, months, or even year? 

Depending on your horses pain tolerance level & how well they hide things it can be hard to tell if there is a problem. Sometimes horses can be screaming at you & no one seems to listen, but instead play it off as "bad behavior" or "poor training". Nine times out of ten a behavior issue is the result of a physical/ medical issue not a "training issue" or "bad behavior" issue. Yes some are training & behavior, but you need to look at everything. Has your horse recently moved to a new barn, changed field mates, food changes, trailering, competition, more riding, pain somewhere, suddenly behaving badly even if it's as minor as a head toss or tail swish, not eating as much, touchy when being groomed, moody, anything at all? Any & all of those things can cause ulcers & in as little as 5 days. Yes 5 days is all it takes for an ulcer to form....Let me guess my horse is in perfect weight & condition & super shiny so clearly there is no ulcers right..... NO.... they may "appear" perfect on the outside but their insides might be screaming & burning.

The ulcer grade scale runs from 1-4 with 1 being the least severe & may show little to no symptoms depending on the horse & 4 being the absolute worst & hardest to treat. Bleeding is usually for grade 3 & up ulcers. Ok your thinking well I will just try some supplements & maybe a round of ulcergard & I should be good to go.... sure if your lucky & have maybe 1 ulcer at grade one... but if not then no your mostly doing more harm then good. Treating a horse blindly for an injury such as ulcers is like putting a blindfold on & aiming for a small target in a big field maybe you will hit it just right or you will miss altogether. Scoping is the best option. Is it fun for you or the horse no. Is it worth it yes. You will know exactly what you are dealing with & HOW to deal with it. Ben needed 3 medications to treat his ulcers. He was on Gastrogard prior to scoping & he still hit rock bottom! Gastrogard does NOT treat the entire stomach so depending on where your ulcers are you may be doing nothing! Ben had them coating his entire GI tract & while the Gastrogard helped it was not enough so we still had a problem! Gastrogard & Sucralfate do not reach the hindgut so they will not treat the hindgut/colonic ulcers. Ben was on a separate medication for his colonic ulcers. He was also treated for 6 months with extremely slow tapering doses of all the medications. You can't just throw ulcergard at them for a month & call it a day more like call it an even bigger problem because now you haven't tapered off & created gastric rebound effect yay!

This blog is based off the experience I have gone through, my opinion, & the countless hours of research I have done. If you don't agree or believe it stop reading & google things for yourself. Open up your eyes & your horse will thank you. No not every single horse has an ulcer problem & i'm not trying to say you ignore your horse or anything of the such. What I am saying is monitor your horse & if you find yourself even possibly thinking there might be an ulcer don't put it off to the back of your mind, but instead make some changes. Take a look at things & change them! Management & diet explore those avenues. Have a vet check your horse for any pain issues, make sure your tack fits properly , run some blood work , make sure the teeth are level & your not having sudden problems. Run a succeed equine fecal blood test! It's cheap easy & will give you an indication if there is an issue. It's not 100% because it's to be used as a part of other diagnostic tests & overall well being. Your horse may still have a problem despite negative results because you ran that test for a reason right?

Positive Changes for 2017

Once again I have been slacking on the blog writing, but to my defense I made changes & wanted to give a better opinion on them! So where to being now? I ran this months Succeed Fecal Blood Test & it was picture perfect negative! I had switched his GI supplement to Ritetrac to see if I would notice any better improvements, but I did not & therefor saw no reason to continue with a supplement he showed no improvements with. He was on it for a little over two weeks & if there was going to be a change I would have noticed something. So I went back to my tried & trusted Assure products. I did however step up to the highest support level called Assure Guard Gold. I am even more in love with this product.... why? Because it supports the major 3 areas needed! The stomach, hindgut & sand removal all in one supported everyday! Ben loves the pellets & it's easy dosing & I know he's getting the highest level of support! I recommend any of the Assure products to any horse. They have all different levels of support for whatever your needs may be!

Another change that has made a complete 180 so to speak is adding Astrid's Oil to his diet. What is it? Cold compressed oat oil is what it is! Why is that so amazing because it gives the horse what it lacks & needs support in. For Ben he needed weight/condition & always could use some added GI support! He has packed on pounds & muscle like nobodies business! He has been on the oil for 22 days & I am extremely impressed with what I see. He is gaining weight, muscle, overall happier/calmer, getting up better, appetite increase, water intake increase, & the shine on him was always good but now you need your sunglasses to look at him! This is the only oil on the market that is like this & it only just became available in December. I highly recommend all horse owners look into it & highly consider it. I cannot even do a description justice on what this product can do for your horse. The oat oil contains all the benefits of feeding oats without the starch content if that is a major concern. It's extremely high in polar lipids which have amazing benefits & properties one being strengthen the GI lining over time & decreasing/ helping prevent ulcers! Just google Astrid's Oil & prepare to be amazed!

With Ben turning 28 I am very into making sure he stays healthy & happy. Yes I have been doing that all along, but after much research into nutrition recently & I mean a lot! LOL I have decided to change Ben's feed from the Cavalor Fiberforce & Strucomix Senior to the Crypto Aero feed instead. Why if he's been doing so well? Because research has proven to me that is not the healthiest support for horses that's why. The Crypto Aero has no fillers, no preservatives, no GMO's, nothing but wholefood. A diet the horse has evolved on. Bringing back the basics. I do feel a lot of issues horses face & deal with today are a result of the feed. You eat healthy why not your horse too? Google Crypto Aero feed & again prepared to be amazed...... I just started this feed the other day & he loves it but I cannot give a full review on it just yet until at least next month!

Ben's solar trough has been some of the best money spent ever. Those that criticize about the price won't understand until they have tries it just how amazing that trough is! It has now been in below zero, extreme winds, snow, ice, rain, you name it that trough has powered through it all. Not one speck of ice, not one frozen float, nothing but full water access that is a comfortable water temperature for your horse. Never worry about ice again or a dehydrated horse! BT Solar Suntank is worth their weight in money hands down.

Ben has been doing very well lately & I intend to do my very best to keep it that way hence why I do so much research! I feel like I finally found his support system to a healthy Ben & a happy Ben! With 24/7 turnout, Crypto Aero feed, Assure Guard Gold, Astrid's Oil, Vitamin E, Smartflex Senior herb free, & free choice grass hay & alfalfa in moderation! That is the ingredient for a healthy, happy senior!