ridings equine vets

Gastric Ulcers- Risk Factors and Associated Conditions

So why do horses get gastric ulcers?

Great question! And unfortunately it is one with several different factors, some of which may or may not apply to your horse!

Severe ulceration present on the sqamous region

Medications
- Some medications such as prolonged use of NSAIDs (non-steroidal anti-inflammatories such as bute, inflacam, danilon) at high doses can cause gastric ulceration
Diet
- Diets high in concentrates (grains) and low in roughage/fibre (hay) are known to predispose the stomach environment to gastric ulcersExtended periods without access to forage have also been associated with gastric ulcersNot feeding some fibre (chop) before riding has also been linked with ‘splash’ lesions affecting the squamous mucosa
- Intermittent access to water has also been associated with gastric ulcers
Stress
- Horses who are thought to be ‘highly strung’ or ‘stressy’ by their owners/handlers are more likely to develop certain kinds of gastric ulcers
- Illness or disease
Management
- Multiple handlers and sudden changes in management have also been associated
- Some horses have very different personal preferences- one horse may LOVE being in the field 24/7 but for another this would cause them a lot of stress. Some horses enjoy being in work 6 days a week, others find that concept incredibly stressful. Each horse requires different management and this is something we will discuss when performing gastroscopy for your horse
Pain
- One factor we are seeing more and more as a significant factor in the development of gastric ulcers is pain
- This can be broken down into orthopaedic pain, back pain or abdominal pain from other areasOrthopaedic pain is alarmingly common. Even low grade lameness cases are being seem more and more frequently for gastric ulcers, and when trotted up these cases are being identified.
- In refractory cases (ulcers keep coming back) or those which fail to respond to treatment it is recommended to ensure that we do a thorough soundness check/back assessment to ensure that we are not missing an underlying niggle!

Normal anatomy of a horses stomach showing glandular and non-glandular regions

So what do we do about controlling the risk for our horses?

Ensure they have continuous access to forage and fresh water
Ensure they are fed ½-1 scoop of chop before riding
Ensure any diet or management changes are made slowly
Acknowledge that not every horse will be happy with the same routine!
Use of ¼-1/2 dose of oral omeprazole has been shown to be preventative in times of ‘stress’ (for example going away for a riding camp, moving yard etc)
Exercise 4-6 days per week and ensure regular ‘rest’ days are included
Maximise turnout as much as possible
Avoid high doses of NSAIDs where possible (only if safe to do so)

This is by no means an exhaustive list and there will always be a portion of horses where we really struggle to pinpoint an exact cause of their gastric ulcers- but hopefully by doing our due diligence we can get to the root cause and make any necessary changes!

Please contact us on 07747 771182 if you have any questions about gastric ulcers or would like to book in for a gastroscope. These can be performed on both your yard and in our clinic. Thanks! Alex

Blog - 11/14/2025

Client evening - Lameness - 27th August

We have a client evening coming up focusing on lameness - this evening is open to all who want to come and learn about lameness!

Katie and George will be presenting - covering what lameness assessments involves and what to expect, then arthritis and joints including some of the latest treatments we offer for your horses joints and what a diagnosis of arthritis can mean for your horse.

This client evening is at a different venue - Askham Bryan College. We are trying to vary the location of our client talks - so that they are not always closest to one are of our clients. This time we will again be offering teas and coffees plus cakes for all attending.

There will be opportunity to ask questions on the topics covered to either of our vets - either in questions after the talk, or come and talk to any of our vets during the short interval or afterwards.

The talks will start at 7pm, but you can arrive from 6:30pm and get coffee, tea and juice. The event is being held within the conference centre at Askham Bryan College.

Please let us know you are coming to book a place - email us, message us or call us - so we can cater to numbers.

Blog / News - 07/16/2025

Ragwort Poisoning in Horses

It is that time of year again where many of us will be tirelessly digging out ragwort from our fields. But why do we need to do it?

Why is Ragwort poisonous?

Ragwort contains toxins called pyrrolizidine alkaloids which if ingested in sufficient quantities can cause poisoning in horses. Small amounts of ragwort eaten over a long period of time causes accumulation of the toxin in the liver which results in liver damage. Alternatively large amounts ingested in a short period of time will also cause liver damage. Although the mature plant is generally avoided by horses due to its bitter taste, the nature of this cumulative effect means even small amounts of ragwort in your horses field should be removed.

What are the symptoms of Ragwort poisoning?

The toxin causes liver damage therefore symptoms are consistent with liver disease or failure. It is important to remember that horses may not display symptoms until the condition is advanced.

Symptoms include:

Lethargy

Photosensitivity – inflammation of white-haired/pink-skinned areas when exposed to sunlight

Weight loss

Diarrhoea

Colic

Neurological signs – blindness, compulsive walking, head pressing

For those not displaying symptoms, we can assess liver damage through a simple blood test. This blood test can detect elevated liver enzymes however does not confirm a diagnosis of ragwort poisoning; a liver biopsy can tell us more information about cause of elevated liver enzymes.

Treatment of Ragwort poisoning

Treatment is based primarily on supportive care to aid liver regeneration. In severe cases, liver damage can be irreparable and prognosis is guarded even with treatment.

Supportive therapies may include milk thistle, vitamin E and selenium.

Prevention and control

It is not enough to assume your horse will choose not to eat ragwort so control is essential. Regular checks of your horses field will identify presence of any new plants so it is important to know what we are looking for throughout the year.

Seedlings can start to appear in autumn – they are about 1-1.5cm tall

Rosettes are generally seen from early spring onwards

Mature plants flower between May and October – these can reach up to 2m!

Ragwort removal

DO wear gloves (can be harmful to humans too)!
DO remove plants before flowering, at their rosette stage if possible and whilst ground is soft
DO remove as much root as possible as it will regenerate from any root left behind – purpose designed forks will help with this
DON’T dispose of pulled ragwort on muck heaps as this will encourage plants to re-seed (DEFRA can advise on appropriate methods of disposal)

Spraying is an option for large affected areas however the dead plant is still poisonous so all traces need removing before anything is to graze on the area again.

Ragwort can be disguised into hay and is more palatable this way so may be accidentally ingested – look for thick fibrous stems, yellow flower heads, leaves with ragged edges and remove where possible.

If you have any concerns or would like some advice on Ragwort please remember to speak to your vet - we can be contacted on 07747 717474, please note we can only give opinions on horses in our area who are registered clients. Enjoy the sun! Holly x

Blog - 06/23/2024

Strangles Awareness

Strangles awareness week has just passed and following on from this we thought it would be a good idea just to give a little refresher on Strangles!

Blog - 05/25/2024

Laminitis

Coming into spring with the grass starting to come through – and likely some warmer weather coming soon here is a reminder of what laminitis is and what we can do with laminitis.

We have already given a brief summary on facebook (click here) and Holly has written about feeding for a laminitis prone horse / pony – click here for more details.

If you want more details there is also a recent information leaflet by BOVA - here, and a weight management leaflet here.

Why is laminitis such a concern?

Laminitis is a very painful condition of the hooves in horses, ponies and donkeys, which in some cases can start without any warning. It is common and unfortunately once you have laminitis it is much more likely to have another episode in the future. Laminitis can also lead uncontrolled pain or a poor prognosis and is one of the more common reasons horses are euthanased.

Even with milder cases horses can be on rest and out of work for long periods of time.

What causes Laminitis?

In the vast majority of cases laminitis is caused by one of two hormonal diseases (endocrine):
Cushings disease (mostly in older horses) or Equine metabolic Syndrome (EMS – similar to type II diabetes in people) which is usually seen in overweight horses.

Both of these conditions can be diagnosed by blood tests and are managed with medication, weight management, diet and exercise – details of which are coming in a blog in June, or click here for an older article.

Other causes include:

Diseases with severe inflammation – for example retained placenta after foaling, certain severe colics and bad diarrhoea.
Overloading the limb – if there is a severe lameness on the opposite limb overloading of the other leg can cause laminitis.
Severely overgrown hooves – a lot of pressure on the limb from overgrown hooves can also cause lamintis.

Signs:

Acute sudden cases can show: severe pain, weight shifting, high heart rate, reluctant to move or recumbent (lying down) – and they can in some cases be difficult to distinguish from colic.

More chronic cases – often have more subtle signs, but have pain especially when walking on hard or uneven ground, difficulty turning and raised digital pulses.

Below is a short video of a horse with laminitis trying to move:

What to do if my horse has signs?

If out bring your horse in slowly and rest them in a box with a deep bed. Make sure there is fresh water available and keep them on a restricted diet – ideally on soaked hay, but making sure you avoid anything rich in carbohydrate or sugars – see Holly’s recent post for more details.

Most horses with laminitis will need a visit from your vet for a diagnosis, pain relief, blood tests and x-rays/treatment as recommended.

Treatment

Rest on a deep bed is an important part of treatment – this should reduce further damage to the laminae in the hoof and allow the hoof to start to repair. Hoof support from pads and when more comfortable remedial farriery to fit support shoes like heartbars may also help.

X-rays can be important as they allow us to see what is going on inside your horses hooves - and help assess severity and plan treatment / farriery. They can also help assess how long it will take for your horse to recover and make a plan going forward.

Rotated pedal bone in a pony with laminitis — An x-ray of a hoof showing marked pedal bone rotation - the front wall of the hoof should be parallel with the front of the pedal bone in the hoof.

Pain relief – as above horses can be in a lot of pain and need courses of pain relief including bute or other NSAID drugs and in more severe cases other types of pain relief are likely to be included as well.

Weight management – overweight horses are more likely to have equine metabolic syndrome (EMS) which is a common cause of lamintis, but losing weight reduces this risk and can control it well in many horses. In the shorter term medication can help control this condition.

Recovery

Recovery can take weeks in milder cases and months in more severe cases – more than 60% of horses are back in work within 8 weeks.

How to prevent laminitis

Laminitis cannot be cured completely with many severe cases not returning to complete comfort, and recurrence being common. However steps to avoid recurrence and also the first episode of laminitis include:

Weight management – horses at the correct body condition are much less likely get an episode of laminitis.
Restrict access to very rich feeds – other than breaking into a feed room and eating a large quantity of rich food, avoid very rich pastures and feeding sugar rich foods – especially in EMS or horses with previous laminitis episodes.
Blood testing for Cushings disease – in older horses (teens or older) the risk of having Cushings disease increases. Monitor for signs of Cushings and consider testing every year to rule out the disease in older horses – especially if your horse has had previous laminitis.
Keep your horses feet well trimmed/shod – although farriery is unlikely to cause laminitis overgrown poor quality feet will not help, and severely overgrown feet may be a cause.
If your horse has severe lameness on another limb consider a deep bed and possibly support for the opposite weight bearing limb.
In severely ill horses prompt treatment and management may reduce the risk of laminitis.

If you have any concerns your horse may have laminitis please remember to speak to your vet - we can be contacted on 07747 717474, please note we can only give opinions on horses in our area who are registered clients.

Blog - 04/29/2024

What should I be feeding my EMS/laminitis prone pony?!

FORAGE

Forage is an essential part of all horses and ponies diets to maintain a healthy gastrointestinal system so we need to find a balance when dieting.

To assist weight loss and reduce risk of laminitis and equine metabolic syndrome diet should be low in non-structural carbohydrates (simple starches and sugars) – ideally non-structural carbohydrate (NSC) content should be less than 10%.

Knowing the starch and sugar content of your hay can be tricky, generally later cut/coarser hay is lower in NSCs however it is not an exact science. There are now various companies offering forage analysis, these can be found easily with a google search.

As a general rule hay has a lower NSC content than haylage so is most often the forage of choice. Straw has the lowest NSC content - good quality straw can be used to replace a small percentage of the hay ration (no more than 30%) if needing to slow eating time.

How much?

1.5% bodyweight for weight loss – for a 500kg horse this equates to 7.5kg per 24 hour period, for a 250kg pony this equates to 3.75kg per 24 hour period

1.75% bodyweight for maintenance – for a 500kg horse this equates to 8.75kg, for a 250kg pony this equates to 4.4kg per 24 hour period

Soaking hay

Soaking hay is a sustainable approach to weight loss – by removing carbohydrates from the hay it allows us to feed adequate quantities of fibre in order to maintain welfare and gut health while minimizing starch and sugar intake.

We recommend soaking hay for 10-12 hours for EMS and laminitis.

Soaking also removes minerals so horses need to be supplemented for these – the easiest way to do this is by feeding a balancer – most balancers are below 10% NSCs and there are lots of low calorie balancers available that are aimed at good doers.

Soaking reduces palatability so it can be necessary to increase soaking time gradually.

Soak in cold water and ideally out of direct sunlight - soaking at higher temperatures might encourage bacterial growth.

Haylage cannot be soaked due to fermentation and bacterial growth.

Supplementary feeding

As mentioned earlier it is often a good idea to supplement your horse or pony with a light/low calorie balancer to ensure they are getting the vitamins and minerals they require, especially when on soaked hay and/or a grass-free diet.

These can be safely accompanied by a molasses-free chaff or mash to increase fibre intake.

The 10% rule applies to feeds too! So look out for those little numbers on the back of the bag – less than 10% starch and sugar!

Grazing

Time at grass needs to be managed carefully, consider one or more of the following options:

Turning out late at night (when grass sugar levels are at their lowest) and bringing in early morning
Track systems
Grazing muzzles
Strip grazing
Co-grazing with other species (sheep)
Yard or dust paddock turnout

Blog - 04/25/2024

How can such a small seed cause so much trouble?

As many of you are aware, atypical myopathy is a deadly disease with devastating consequences for both the horse and the owner. Atypical myopathy in horses occurs when components, usually seeds or shoots, of the sycamore tree (Acer pseudoplatanus) are ingested. One of the features that makes atypical myopathy so fatal is the relatively tiny amount of toxin required to cause disease in horses. Sadly, once the toxin has been absorbed into the bloodstream, there isn’t much we can do. This post aims to explain the disease process behind sycamore toxicity and why we have seen an increase in cases in recent years.

Sycamore trees, Box Elder trees, and the unripe fruit of the Ackee tree all contain a naturally occurring protein called hypoglycin A. If a human ingests the unripe fruit of the Ackee tree, a clinical syndrome extremely similar to atypical myopathy called Jamaican vomiting sickness is caused. The Ackee tree is not indigenous to the UK, but there is a plant commonly found in this country that contains a very high concentration of this toxin – the sycamore tree.

When hypoglycin A enters the body, it is rapidly broken down to the active toxin methylene cyclopropyl acetic acid (MCPA). This toxin blocks one of the key enzymes involved in the conversion of fatty acids to usable cellular energy. This prevents cells from metabolising fatty acids and making new molecules of glucose. Think of fatty acids and glucose as petrol and diesel, and hypoglycin A as a blockage in the fuel tank. When the supply of fuel is cut off, cells must start using their “reserve fuel” called glycogen. Once this back up fuel is used up, the cells have no way of obtaining a fuel source and the cell’s engine begins to shut down. This is why there is a delay between toxin ingestion and the appearance of clinical signs.

Figure 1: Hypoglycin A

The cells that run out of fuel first are the ones with the highest energy demands. One of the cells that work the hardest in a horse’s body are the muscle cells (myocytes). These muscle cells are the first victim of hypoglycin A toxicity, hence the name atypical (not typical) myo- (muscle) -pathy (disease). When the muscle cells begin to starve, signs such as sweating, muscle lethargy, muscle weakness, muscle fasciculations and tremors, colic signs, and dark coloured urine are seen. As the disease progresses, more and more cells begin to run out of fuel, resulting in worsening clinical signs. The deadliest feature of atypical myopathy is that the actions of hypoglycin A are irreversible. Once MCPA has blocked the cell’s fuel tank, there is no going back. The only hope is that the amount of hypoglycin A ingested was small enough that only some of the cells have a blocked fuel tank, and enough have been unaffected.

Recently, we have seen an sharp increase in atypical myopathy cases caused by an increase in the amount of hypoglycin A in the environment. The term “mast year” is used when a tree produces an abnormally high number of seeds. These seeds will subsequently go on to produce an abnormally high number of shoots. It is this phenomenon that has caused the higher-than-average number of atypical myopathy cases in recent years. Although the concentration of hypoglycin A in seeds and shoots varies dramatically, only a very small amount is needed to cut off the fuel supply to all the cells in a horse’s body. The only way to stop this devastating disease is to prevent horses from ingesting seeds and shoots containing hypoglycin A.

For further information regarding atypical myopathy, please click here. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact us on 07747 771 182.

Blog - 04/01/2024

Sarcoids- what are they and should I be worried?

Sarcoids are types of tumour which occur in the skin. They are the most common type of equine skin tumour and have a wide range of appearances.

Common places which we see sarcoids include between the back and front legs, around the sheath, eyes or ears or on the chest or abdomen. They are common in younger to middle aged horses but can present at any age, a genetic predisposition has been noted so there may be horses that are more prone to getting them.

Blog - 02/24/2024

2022 round up for Team Roberts

Amy and Sarah two local riders that Ridings Equine Vets sponsors have sent us a summary of 2022 - well done to you both and we will see you over 2023!

2022 was a busy year for Team Roberts with lots of training and competing working towards our season aims...

News - 01/13/2023

Equine Choke

We regularly see horses with choke - including a couple recently, so here is some information for anyone who wants to know more!
What is choke?
Choke is any condition - usually a blockage - that stops food and saliva passing

Blog - 01/25/2020

52582633_2135219599898793_1201188222525243392_n

Flu update - keep up to date with vaccines

A reminder that although equine flu is not making the headlines all owners should still be maintaining their flu vaccines We would still recommend that ideally your horse should have a booster 6 months after their previous vaccine - or arrange a booster if it is already over 6 months since your last vaccine.

The latest update shows 9 new cases confirmed in the UK last week - and a case has been confirmed in Yorkshire earlier this month.

Blog - 05/24/2019

Training aids – help or hindrance?

There are many different types of training aids on the market and many different opinions on them too! This blog will hopefully give you a little more insight on what you should do if you are considering using them.

Training aids are most commonly used for the following reasons –

Blog - 02/11/2019

Gastric Ulcers- Risk Factors and Associated Conditions

Client evening - Lameness - 27th August

Ragwort Poisoning in Horses

Strangles Awareness

Laminitis

What should I be feeding my EMS/laminitis prone pony?!

How can such a small seed cause so much trouble?

Sarcoids- what are they and should I be worried?

2022 round up for Team Roberts

Equine Choke

Flu update - keep up to date with vaccines

Training aids – help or hindrance?

Book an appointment now

Contact us

Contact info