Equine gastric ulcer syndrome (EGUS) is highly prevalent in horses and most
commonly found in racing and performance horses. This condition may negatively
impact the health and athletic performance of affected horses (Vatistas et al. 1999).
Proton pump inhibitors are commonly used to treat EGUS, however, a less expensive
method, such as a change of diet, may give similar results. Alfalfa hay may offer some
buffering capabilities within the stomach (Nadeau et al. 2000). The objective of this
study was to further investigate any possible antiulcerogenic properties of alfalfa hay.
Twenty-four Quarter Horse yearlings, 12-16 months of age, were utilized in this study.
The 77-d experiment consisted of two 28-d periods separated by a 21-d wash-out period.
Horses were endoscopically examined at the beginning and end of each period and
blocked into two treatment groups. Treatment 1 included coastal bermuda grass (CB)
hay and Treatment 2 included alfalfa hay as the only forage source. Horses were fed in
stalls, housed in small dry lots, and subjected to an exercise regimen using a mechanical
horse-exerciser.
A significant effect of diet, was observed on ulcer score (P< 0.05). CB hay–fed
yearlings experienced an increase in ulcer score severity compared to that of alfalfa hay–
fed yearlings. Significant healing did not occur during the wash-out period, but horses experienced a significant increase in ulcer score severity (P< 0.05). The outcome of this
study suggests that alfalfa hay does have antiulcerogenic capability.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:tamu.edu/oai:repository.tamu.edu:1969.1/ETD-TAMU-1230 |
| Date | 15 May 2009 |
| Creators | Lybbert, Travis Craig |
| Contributors | Gibbs, Pete G |
| Source Sets | Texas A and M University |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Book, Thesis, Electronic Thesis, text |
| Format | electronic, application/pdf, born digital |
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