The Thing About Ulcers

This topic is so often the starting point of a conversation with new customers here at Hi Form. Suspected ulcers are rife across our horse population along with, in our opinion, far too frequent occurrences of colic. It is a modern-day phenomenon and one that we can take steps to manage by taking better care of our horse’s gastric systems. 

There is no question that horses suffer from stress related ulcers which are more difficult to manage, but feed related ulcers are far more within our control. 

It is true that we find ourselves far too often with our heads in our hands when looking at Social Media, where well meaning people are giving advice that, to our minds, is not correct, unknowingly incorrect and misleading. 

To quote Einstein, “All conditions and all circumstances in our lives are a result of a certain level of thinking. If we want to change the conditions and circumstances, we have to change the level of thinking that is responsible for it” or in terms we understand “You cannot solve your problems with the same level of thinking that created them.”

If we accept this logic, then we must take a hard look at our feed, at what we are putting into our horses’ stomachs. Our horses are strict herbivores, it is how they have evolved. Their stomach and gastric system has not changed in 2 million years but in the last 40 years or so, we have seen radical change in what we feed them – far too quickly for evolution to catch up, and we wonder just why we are having problems?

Vets are up to their necks in scoping and dispensing medication that simply treat the symptom and not the root cause of the problem. Back to Mr Einstein, doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results maybe be his definition of insanity but we think it aptly applies for feeding our horses. 

Here at Hi Form we assist many owners looking after horses recovering from ulcers in conjunction with their vets. Along with our highly qualified Hi Form clinical nutritional team, our aim is to work with you for prevention both now and in the future and we look at every individual case prior to providing help, advice and assistance.

Our aim is simple, happy, healthy horses – we find prevention is far better than cure.  

The thing about Ulcers  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ggKyzOcohVY&t=97s