Humphrey’s owner said:

“He was perfect to handle in moderate work, but began misbehaving when exercise intensity was increased – spinning around, shaking his head and not moving forward off the leg. An examination of his back, including radiography and ultrasound, showed no problems, but an endoscopy revealed bleeding stomach ulcers.

My vet prescribed a course of ulcer-healing treatment. I continued to work Humphrey throughout the treatment and within a week he was going forwards off the leg and beginning to work well. Another endoscopy a month later showed that the ulcers were completely healed.”

Trojan’s owner said:

“He was fine normally, but as the workload increased he became very grumpy and would start biting when the saddle was put on. He misbehaved during dressage work, was reluctant to canter or gallop and had no spark at all. He seemed to tie-up when schooling, but there was no muscular stiffness and his appetite was normal.

When a vet did an endoscopy we found he was suffering from serious ulcers. But he was put on treatment and within days the change was amazing –I had ten times the horse underneath me! He had power in his paces and concentrated during flat work, like someone had re-started his engine!

As well as using medication to stop the ulcers coming back, we also turn him out every day and make sure he always has hay available. It’s been very worthwhile, as regular checks have shown that the ulcers have stayed away.”

Dusty’s owner said:

“He’d been at the same stable for three years when he started having ‘attacks’ once a month or so – shaking his head and backing up against a wall before showing signs of colic. He was riding well though, had no other problems and would happily compete the day after one of these colic attacks. The vet took a look at him and found nothing of concern. But a colleague suggested it might be gastric ulcers, because the symptoms sounded like those a friend had described whose horse had ulcers!

Dusty was referred for an endoscopy and sure enough, ulcers were found. He was given treatment and there was a remarkable change in his temperament. He’d always been difficult when picking up his feet, for example, which I thought was just part of his character, but after treatment he became so much easier to handle.”

Captain’s owner said:

“ Captain was in full work and regularly competing, but we noticed that he was lying down more than usual. This became more frequent, then started happening outside of competition days. Captain had always been a good traveller and although he could get wound-up, he certainly wasn’t a typical ‘stressy’ horse. But he had become rather lethargic under saddle, seemed to have little energy and his coat was pretty rough – which we put down to a virus. Our vet checked him out and couldn’t see any obvious problems, but the endoscopy clinic found four fairly serious ulcers.

He was put on anti-ulcer medication for about a month, which seemed to improve the condition, although he was still a little flat. He continued treatment for another two weeks, after which there was an amazing improvement – he had so much energy it was hard to believe it was the same horse”.