HELP WITH MY HORSE UCLERS PLEASE!!!

Question

Prince Charlie Horse   Hello! I am trying to formulate a feed for my 5 yr old OTTB...He has had bouts of ulcers for the past two years that I have had him...This will be our THIRD time on Omeprazole...I cannot take it:-(((
I do EVERYTHING to keep these ulcers at bay...He has free choice hay ALL DAY.2nd cutting orchard grass! He is NOT stalled, free to come and go as he pleases...he is in a small herd, just him and an old 20 yr old...they have free reign of a 12 acre pasture....He is fed two feedings a day, I feed a HIGH fat High Fiber low starch/sugar feed made by ADM--PRIME GLO. Its main ingredient is Alfalfa and i feed 3 pounds TOTAL a day. He also gets a pound of Healthy Glo( made by ADM, RICE BRAN) a day to help him keep weight.He is also give a small amount of trace minerals daily because I catch him digging in the dirt a lot:-) He is on a prebiotic for his hind gut, and a pro biotic...not to mention he gets a 2 tablespoons of the following a day for his health: Devils Claw, for a pain reliever( he has chronic Lyme), Spirulina- all around health, Marshamallow Root: lining of his stomach, Eyebright:he has eye allergies in Spring,summer,fall...Milk Thistle:for his liver, help with Lyme, Echinacea: for his immune system--LYME, UGH.And last but not least, RoseHips- help with his immune system, vitamin c, recovering from the Lyme...
He is NEVER trailered. he is NOT a show horse. He WAS being ridden 4 times a week, LIGHT work in the ring.
We cannot figure out how THIS horse could have so many ulcers...some that were about to bleed:-( I had him scoped last week.
He is done his treatment for Lyme. ( 5 weeks worth of Doxy)
I really would like to get these ulcers in check. I would really like to stop giving him any grain...but I want to make sure that he gets all the vitamins, minerals, fats,carbohydrates that he needs everyday. He goes out at night to eat grass all night, but in the day he chooses to stay in his stall and eat his hay. Oh, and he gets apple cider vinegar in his water...help with flies and various other things!!
Do you have a formula for this hard keeper?
THANK YOU SO MUCH and SORRY SO LONG:-)))
Sincerely, Marcy Flickinger from PA

Answer
Hi Marcy,

Thanks for your question.  Well, it seems that you have a challenging horse on your hands :)  For most horses the solution to ulcers is routine, treatment, free choice forage and lots of outside time to move and graze.  But every now and again you come across the case that is not at all easy to solve, and it would appear that you have one of those cases.  My usual suggestions won't help you in this case, because you are already on that track...free choice quality forage and lots of turnout and movement.

Normally horses are susceptible to developing ulcers when they go prolonged periods of time without eating (especially forages) and when on high starch diets.  Horses secrete digestive enzymes 24/7 regardless of gut fill and if they secrete these acidic enzymes into an empty stomach, the acid buildup can erode the stomach wall lining thus creating ulcers.  Forages are very good at soaking up the enzymes, and chewing forages increases the amount of saliva the horse produces and secretes...and saliva buffers the acidity in the stomach.  High starch diets can increase enzyme production/secretion and increase the risk of ulcers.  Certain medications can also trigger ulcer formation and/ or irritate a case of ulcers.  But sometimes we see ulcers in horses that otherwise shouldn't have them...horses that have unlimited access to forages, have next to no starch in the diet, and who have not been on meds that would induce the condition.  And I think your horse falls into this category.  

Some research has shown that horses can produce and secrete excessive digestive enzymes in response to elevated blood histamine levels.  It becomes a long story to explain why horses may have high blood histamine levels, so you may have to trust me on this one and save a very lengthy response.  But it is possible to remedy histamine levels and stem the excessive flow of digestive enzymes, and bring an end to the ulcer cycle.

So this would be my suggestion:  remove the high fat high fiber feed from your horse's diet (to minimize grain of any kind) and replace it with beet pulp, using the beet pulp as a way to get other feed additives into him.  You can keep the mineral, Healthy glo and other additives in as their benefits out weigh the risk of feeding them and keeping them ensures a balanced diet.  Switch your prebiotic and probiotic to LifeForce Formula from Alltech.  Not all pre- and pro- biotics are created equally, and the LifeForce Formula is going to help re-establish the necessary balance in your horses gut, where other supplements will not. Try adding grapeseed extract to his feed as it is a great anti-histamine and will help control histamine levels until the LifeForce has a chance to reset your horse's system.  I would recommend that you keep him on both the LifeForce and grapeseed for 60 days; you may be able to take both out of his diet after that but keeping them in will not hurt him.

I would suspect you begin to see a change in his body weight in about 3 weeks, and have noted improvement in 2 months.  The suggestions above are designed to address the root cause of the ulcers and not just treat the erosion to the stomach wall.  I've seen this type of case several times in OTTB and as hopeless as it sometimes seems, I've had good success solving these unusual cases with the suggestions I've made.   Please let me know how you're doing if you try this approach :)  Best of Luck

Thanks, Corlena