Gastric ulcer development in horses in a simulated show or training environment.

This research investigated how transporting horses, putting them in unfamiliar surroundings, and giving them light exercise often related to recreational activities could increase the development of gastric ulcers. It concluded that such actions tend to cause gastric ulcers, which can develop under these conditions within six days.

Methodology

• The research involved a randomized controlled study of 20 client-owned horses which didn’t have gastric ulcers at the start of the study.
• These horses were divided into two groups: a control group of 10 horses which stayed on-site with no changes in their management, and another group of 10 horses which were transported to a different site.
• The transported group was subjected to a four-hour transport on day 0, placed in individual stalls, fed twice daily, and exercised twice daily over a three-day period.
• On the fourth day, this group was transported back to their original site, and on day 5, all the horses were endoscopically examined to assess their gastric mucosa status.

Results

• The horses that were transported and exposed to unfamiliar conditions showed a significantly higher rate of hyperkeratosis and reddening of the gastric mucosa when compared to the control group.
• While only two control horses developed gastric ulcers by the fifth day, seven of the transported horses developed ulcers during this period.
• The ulcer scores of the transported horses significantly increased over the days, whereas there wasn’t much change observed in the scores of the control horses.

Conclusions

• The study ultimately concluded that typical activities associated with the recreational use of horses can induce the development of gastric ulcers.
• It was further observed that these ulcers can develop within six days under such conditions.