FROM Roger Rittenhouse [EMAIL PROTECTED] I have experience on this one - so here are some comments
There are other very good products to manage the levels of stomach acid - I believe far better then a drug which prevents the production of same. Called photon inhibitor. One of my problems with resolving the problems with Omni, was to first get him scoped. That proved he had no ulcers, and also none of the alleged problems related to 'daily wormers' Now I had to figure out how to control 'acid' issues in the gut - when he failed to eat well during travel and at a ride. I chose to use a oral acid neutralizer product. At the time there was one from KER NEIGH-LOX. Its cost a bit, but not the same as Gastroguard AND most important it is NOT a DRUG, its is a horse anti-acid.. ie Malox. It appeared to work well. Once he figured out he needed to eat, there was no need to give it to him, since the natural digestion process was doing its job. One problem I really had - and asked the experts (vets) What happens if and when he starts to eat normal and the drug is in his system? How will he produce enough 'acid' to digest the normal quality of feed. The horse produces a constant given level of acid all the time, since he is suppose to eat most of the time - graze. So I had to reason it was not good to shut down the process, IF there were NO ulcers. What was I going to fix or prevent?? What I need to control was the acid levels during time of travel and less food intake and let the system function normal when he ate well. The scoping and other tests indicted no internal problems nor excess production of acid. SO WHY go on this drug. The use of oral acid control product worked well. He did not get an over acid load when he failed to eat well, then when hungry his guts were not inflamed from the acid, so he wanted to eat and fill-up. He eventually learned - just chowing down all the time was much better then the alternative. I do not use any acid management product as long as he eats well traveling to a ride and at the ride. There are other products OTC from Jeffers etall that will work well for this purpose. Now IF your horse really does have ulcers, then he has to STOP competing until well... DUH? Sure, you MAY have to put him on a drug to help the healing process, but some of the OTC products may work OK. BUT he should not be doing rides... The scoping offered at this ride is GREAT. It should show almost NONE of the horses doing endurance have ulcers. I will take that bet. Why? we USE them ,work them, rest them, feed them, well and ALL the time. Very few endurance horses are stuck in a box 24/7. Roger Rittenhouse Mike Sofen wrote RD> Ulcer Research at Wine Country Rides RD> RD> RD> I would guess the distributors or makers of Gastrogard are paying for it - RD> they're giving away a free sample (that's a $35 tube at retail). They RD> charge about $32/tube in their 28 day treatment pack (about $900) which is RD> what is required to heal most ulcers, so they have a rather large vested RD> interest in expanding the scope of their markets in any direction. RD> RD> However, it doesn't minimize the usefulness of the 'scoping - knowing for RD> certain that your horse does or doesn't have an ulcer would be great RD> knowledge to have and much cheaper than hauling your vet out. RD> RD> I am investigating an alternative to Gastrogard and will report back with RD> details in a few days. RD> RD> Mike Sofen Roger Rittenhouse =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net. Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/Ridecamp =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
