No Scope No Hope?

So in this blog i'm going to go back into ulcers. As the title states no scope no hope....but it's not what my fellow Hunter/Jumper's may be thinking! Scoping aka Gastric Endoscopy is in relation to ulcer check! I'm going to go over why I believe it's very important to actually scope for ulcers & not just throw things & by things I mean random tubes of Ulcergard & various supplements in hopes of winning the (or what it feels like) never ending ulcer feud. So here we gooooo...

Gastric Endoscopy is not fun & i'm not here to sugar coat it. You have to starve your beloved companion for over 12 hrs with not even a drop of hay. When you see your horse that morning it will bring hangry to a whole new level. You may notice teeth grinding because with not eating that long the acid begins burning your horses GI tract extra good. After your horse has been starved you have to then sedate them because who is actually going to stand a foreign object being shoved so far into your nostrils that it makes it to your stomach? Once the endoscope is in place the real picture of what's going on is finally revealed. Now the endoscope only goes so far & it does not include anything past the stomach & we all know how long a horses entrie GI tract is, but it gives you a great indication of how things are without the guess work. With the scope you are able to get a diagnosis. You are able to get a grade on the ulcers. You are actually able to come up with a legitimate treatment plan & not one you "think" will work. The cheapest part of treating ulcers is the scope. The expensive part comes afterwards & why are you willing to throw your money around not knowing what your dealing with? Think of all the time & money you could have saved by just scoping & following a good treatment plan you work out with your vet? Let me guess oh well I'm trying this new supplement or doing the ulcergard like this.....when in reality the only thing your actually doing is prolonging things, not fixing the problem or treating properly & in the interim wasting your money, time, & horses comfort. STOP! Get the proper diagnosis you may be lucky & not even have an ulcer issue & can redirect your plan to something else.  Just a reminder scoping is for gastric ulcers NOT colonic ulcers so if your lucky to not have a gastric ulcer problem don't forget the GI tract is veryyyyy long so don't forget the possibility of colonic ulceration as well. So do your horse, yourself, & your wallet a favor & just get a real diagnosis. Treating blindly will not work it may by you time, but you will always have a reoccurring problem.

Another reason to not throw random tubes of ulcergard at your horse is you don't know what your attempting to treat! Sure the label says this, but does your horses stomach? While I do feel Gastrogard is a great treatment medication, I do not think it is something to play around with. It has long term side effects & you can cause an even bigger problem if you don't know what your horse actually needs to heal. I have tried a lot of supplements from Aloe to high end products ect. & sure they bought Ben time, but after so long it's not enough. I would never play the guessing game again. This is why I am writing what I am. Maybe someone can read this & heed a warning. Ulcergard is like playing with fire it's great & very useful but you better watch you don't get burned because when used improperly your asking for trouble & more than you bargained for. So please again get a proper diagnosis on your horses grade of ulcers & follow your vets instructions.

After scoping & treating properly you need to do some detective work as to WHY your horse got ulcers in the first place. They don't just automatically hang out in your horses GI tract for the fun of it. Ulcers are almost always a secondary condition to a primary cause. Sometimes you won't always find that exact cause. Honestly I'm not sure I actually found Ben's. What I do know is you need to take a good hard look at your riding & management currently. Grain is your enemy  (some are better than others though) & especially in overload talk about a burning stomach ache! Access to hay & alfalfa 24/7 is your best friend especially in the form of a nibblenet! Stall keeping is not your friend either ok your horse gets 8 hrs outside a day but what about the other 16 hrs.... oohhh you didn't think of it that way well i'm sure your over 1,000 pound horse might.....?  Showing, training, trailering, NSAIDS, illness, herd changes, not enough turnout, not enough hay, pain from anywhere, high grain diets loaded with fillers & gmos & who knows what else are all reasons your horse can & will have ulcers. Ulcers can form in as little as 5 days (I dare you to google it if you question it) that's pretty damn short if you ask me!

Ok you did the scope, the correct treatment plan, & made some great changes in your horses management which is all great! So does that mean that while your horse is being treated you can just continue on as if nothing is wrong because you put a band aid on it temporarily right so it's ok right? WRONG! Give your horse a break! I don't mean forever but while your undergoing treatment yes! What you are doing or where doing was not working clearly. Ulcers are an injury not one you can see to the naked eye (hence the scope!) but they are an injury to the GI tract they can bleed & everything!!!!! They do not heal overnight though with te proper meds you can see an almost immediate difference but this does not mean its ok to saddle up & go for a ride. As with any injury time is your friend. Sorry it may ruin your immediate show plans or lesson plans but in the long wrong your horse & wallet will thank you. By treating everything proper the first time around you will save money, time, your horse, & give you a better shot at remaining ulcer free!

So this boils it all down to scope, proper treatment for your horse (not your friends) , make some big changes, & some R&R! Take that down time to spend quality time with your horse. Form a strong relationship on the ground & when you get back in the saddle you will have a stronger team in the end!

Springing into Health

Spring is finally here & so is full blown shedding season! Ben is shedding out very well this season which is a good indication of metabolic health! His weight is continuously improving & his muscling is looking great! I haven't updated in awhile because I wanted to give the changes I had made a few months ago a really good run. So in this blog I will give my opinion on the things we've done!

Let's start with his feed. As I've mentioned before in my other blogs I changed Ben's feed entirely. I switched him to a feed called Crypto Aero. It's a wholefood with all natural ingredients free from soy, wheat, corn, molasses, fillers, barely & GMO's. It's an oat based feed with lots of great additives some being de-hulled sunflower seeds, rosehips, spirulina, papaya, cabbage & the list goes on! I was nervous because he was going to be eating half of what he had been eating previously & he's the hardest keeper ever! Well over 2 months later & he is improving everyday! He is doing great with this diet change & eats 6 lbs a day split between 3 meals. He loves it & his body is getting the much needed detox from commercial feeds that have a lot of not so great ingredients! I highly recommend this feed to anyone looking to change their horses health inside & out for the better!

I also added the supplement Crypto Aero Plus to compliment his feed. It again has all natural ingredients that support your horse from the inside out. It has replaced his stomach, hoof, & joint supplement & he's been doing great with it! It fills in any vitamin or mineral gaps that may be present as well. Ben loves the taste & very much enjoys eating this green powder!

His next supplement is his Vitamin E with added SE. Ben gets a total of 4,500 IU's of Vitamin E. Again unless your horse is grazing on lush pasture for a minimum of 12 hrs per day they are not meeting their vitamin e requirements. In order to survive they need a minimum of 1,000 IU's & more if working or nervous system issues or age. I went ahead & added the Selenium portion to his vitamin e as they compliment each other & our area is deficient in SE. His feed also does not contain any selenium. So he is given only 1 mg a day.

Another favorite is his Astrid's Oil! This product has helped transform & recover him from his ulcer history. That's nice to here & write that it's history! Astrid's Oil is again cold compressed oat oil that supports the entire horse from the inside out & gives your horse what it lacks. That's the best way for me to describe it based off of what I have seen it do after 4 months of use! Love it & cannot recommend it enough for all horses!

Flaxseed is another product I have added to Ben's feeding regimen. I chose to ground whole flaxseeds myself daily & keep in fridge until fed. This is the best way to give flax & most cost effective. Ben receives 2 cups daily split between 2 feedings. Some of you might be gasping 2 cups! Yes 2 cups..... again much research you can feed up to a pound of flax safely. It's when you go over a pound (not a cup) that it can cause issues. Ben eats 1/2 pound a day. He loves the taste & it has no added ingredients like many other products that are flax based.

The last supplement he gets is of course his Assure Plus for sand removal. Again this is the best & most recommended product for removing sand. It is proven more effective & has the added benefit of pro & prebiotics.

With bug season quickly approaching & Ben switching to a more natural approach to life (which is proving its worth very nicely) I have decided to try garlic. I know some of you say yay some of you say neigh. Yes I have read literally every piece of literature about garlic prior to my decision to use it. I have also check with trusted friends who use garlic & both his vets including the specialist that saw him at the hospital for his ulcers. Every single person has given garlic the green light to go. So with that I bought Springtime Incs. Bug Off Garlic! Ben was a little wary of the new taste but seemed agreed with its aroma straight off the bat. After a sprinkle on some carrots he seems to rather enjoy eating it to my surprise! So since he has been on garlic for only a few days I cannot give my full experience with it yet until bug season has been in full swing & its had time to fully get into his system which takes 2-4 weeks alone (hence start early).

So this is where things are currently at to keep Ben happy & ulcer free! Let's not forget along with these things he also receives 24/7 turnout & 12-16 pounds of alfalfa hay a day & free choice grass hay always available. Making changes for your horse is very important when first diagnosed with ulcers. I am happy to say I finally found the perfect program for Ben & he is thriving on it! He has never been so happy!