July Case of the Month: Not Just a Training Issue
Molly is a four-year old quarter horse mare being started under saddle by her new owner. Her training had been going very smoothly, when she started suddenly exploding under-saddle with a rider on and spinning. Initially this was thought to be behavioural, but when it persisted she was seen by a veterinarian.
On the physical exam there was mild lumbosacral stiffness, but the rest of her exam and movement exam was otherwise unremarkable. A routine dental prophy and screening gastroscopy was recommended prior to investigating the possible proximal hind end soreness. The mare had her teeth floated, and was scoped a couple of weeks later. During the gastroscopy, the mare had extensive generalized, bleeding ulceration (grade 4 out of 5) of her upper stomach (squamous mucosa) and though not as severe, still marked, generalized ulceration of her lower stomach (glandular mucosa). She was put on 28 days of gastroguard and sucralfate, with the veterinarian expecting her to require several months of treatment given the severity of her gastric lesions.
Management recommendations as ancillary treatment included a small amount of alfalfa in her diet, 24/7 hay, increased grass turnout with paddock mates and decreased pelleted feeds, as well as a small amount of corn oil daily. Her repeat scope a month later showed a very surprising improvement, all the way down to a grade 1 out of 5 ulceration in the upper stomach and some mild grade 1 lesions around her pyloric sphincter.
A week following her initial scope, Molly’s spinning behaviour under saddle had not recurred. She was awarded the Gastrogard guarantee rebate (28 tubes for free) which will help to complete healing of the remaining lesions, but continued to progress through her training with more normal behaviour following gastric ulcer treatment!
