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Belly Up
After last weekends show I went home and as we probably all do, spent some of the evening looking back and our performance, and what we can improve upon for next time.
I know Axel wasn't right this last weekend and whether it was behavioral or physical I needed to find a way to help us improve moving forwards. So begins a process of elimination with horses, rule out pain before considering behavior.
So, where to start. Firstly the horse looks sound, no lameness at all. Secondly he has recently had a lot of time spent on saddle fit and thirdly he has recently had his neck injections. So that at least rules a few things out.
Next I looked at what I have been feeling on my boy. Slight balking every now and again at going forwards under saddle at home but usually worked out of. He is so much worse at shows or in stressful environments.
In the back of my mind I started to wonder if his ulcers had returned, or never really healed in the first place and the more I thought about it the more sense it made. So, on the Monday I gave him a good whack of Pepto Bismol before riding to see if he felt any different. It was a great test as he was like a different horse and really happy to work. Luck was on our side and I managed to get the vet booked to come and scope Axel that next day. Unbeknownst to poor Axel, this means starving him overnight so that the vets view isn't obstructed by food when he inserts the scope and camera.
The next day dawned and Axel was ready for his scope. Dr Hupp from Cherry Creek Equine came out and brought his cool machine, assistant and camera all ready to investigate. Axel was sedated quite heavily and they were ready to go. It was fascinating watching the camera on it's route through Axels nose and all the way down into his stomach. As soon as we got there we could see the ulcerations in Axels stomach wall. Dr Hupp checked everywhere and although the ulcers were pretty bad and extensive, they were confined to the first part of his stomach (esophageal region) which is easier to heal than ulcers that are in the glandular region. Ulcers are rated in the USA on a scale. "Gastric ulcers are graded on a scale of 1-4 based on their severity. Grade 1 ulcers are the most mild and consist of areas of reddening or hyperkeratosis of the mucosa. Grade 4 ulcers are the most severe and consist of extensive or actively bleeding ulcers". In the end; Dr Hupp diagnosed Axel with Grade 4 ulcers. Dealing with this, Axel must have been incredibly uncomfortable especially when working under stress. It completely explains his symptoms and behavior. The interesting thing is that we had treated for ulcers back in March with Omeprezole but either the compound didn't quite get them, or they came back with a vengeance. This is the first time we have scoped so now we have a benchmark to work from and when we rescan again in a month we should see a marked difference in the extent of the ulcers.
We will treat him daily for at least a month with Gastroguard, the treatment is expensive but really effective so I am very hopeful that he will recover from this. The vet says he should be feeling hugely better within the week and to continue with exercise as normal. I am sad that he has been in pain but happy we are fixing it and on our way hopefully to a much happier ginger boy!
I know Axel wasn't right this last weekend and whether it was behavioral or physical I needed to find a way to help us improve moving forwards. So begins a process of elimination with horses, rule out pain before considering behavior.
So, where to start. Firstly the horse looks sound, no lameness at all. Secondly he has recently had a lot of time spent on saddle fit and thirdly he has recently had his neck injections. So that at least rules a few things out.
Next I looked at what I have been feeling on my boy. Slight balking every now and again at going forwards under saddle at home but usually worked out of. He is so much worse at shows or in stressful environments.
In the back of my mind I started to wonder if his ulcers had returned, or never really healed in the first place and the more I thought about it the more sense it made. So, on the Monday I gave him a good whack of Pepto Bismol before riding to see if he felt any different. It was a great test as he was like a different horse and really happy to work. Luck was on our side and I managed to get the vet booked to come and scope Axel that next day. Unbeknownst to poor Axel, this means starving him overnight so that the vets view isn't obstructed by food when he inserts the scope and camera.
The next day dawned and Axel was ready for his scope. Dr Hupp from Cherry Creek Equine came out and brought his cool machine, assistant and camera all ready to investigate. Axel was sedated quite heavily and they were ready to go. It was fascinating watching the camera on it's route through Axels nose and all the way down into his stomach. As soon as we got there we could see the ulcerations in Axels stomach wall. Dr Hupp checked everywhere and although the ulcers were pretty bad and extensive, they were confined to the first part of his stomach (esophageal region) which is easier to heal than ulcers that are in the glandular region. Ulcers are rated in the USA on a scale. "Gastric ulcers are graded on a scale of 1-4 based on their severity. Grade 1 ulcers are the most mild and consist of areas of reddening or hyperkeratosis of the mucosa. Grade 4 ulcers are the most severe and consist of extensive or actively bleeding ulcers". In the end; Dr Hupp diagnosed Axel with Grade 4 ulcers. Dealing with this, Axel must have been incredibly uncomfortable especially when working under stress. It completely explains his symptoms and behavior. The interesting thing is that we had treated for ulcers back in March with Omeprezole but either the compound didn't quite get them, or they came back with a vengeance. This is the first time we have scoped so now we have a benchmark to work from and when we rescan again in a month we should see a marked difference in the extent of the ulcers.
We will treat him daily for at least a month with Gastroguard, the treatment is expensive but really effective so I am very hopeful that he will recover from this. The vet says he should be feeling hugely better within the week and to continue with exercise as normal. I am sad that he has been in pain but happy we are fixing it and on our way hopefully to a much happier ginger boy!
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| Axel and the endoscopy |
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| Stomach: which should be grey/ pink without those dark pink/ yellow areas which are all ulcers |
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