DOGGED NEMESIS
At any given jackpot, ten horses are tied to a section of fence. Can you believe a staggering nine of them have irritated sores in their stomachs that could be making them bad in the box or unwilling to take the jerk?
It’s been 15 years since a study in the Journal of Equine Veterinary Science noted that up to 90% of performance horses have some kind of ulcer. It underscores our need to understand the causes, symptoms and treatments of ulcers.
Why do these sores form in the first place?
The equine stomach has two parts, according to Mark DePaolo, DVM, of Pilot Point, Texas, (DePaoloEquineConcepts.com). The upper third is like our esophagus, while the bottom two-thirds is more like our stomach, lined with glands that secrete acid, enzymes and mucous. We humans only secrete acid when smelling or eating food. But horses constantly produce acid and enzymes—up to 16 gallons of acidic fluid every 24 hours.
According to Dr. DePaolo, it takes as few as five days for an
