What are the causes of EGUS?

EGUS is a multifactorial disease. This means that many factors can contribute to the problem including pain and general management, including exercise and diet. Whilst any EGUS concerns should be discussed with a vet, Dengie have developed a questionnaire to help determine a horse’s ulcer risk. When it comes to feeding management, research has highlighted some significant links to ulcer risk.

What feeding strategies increase the risk of EGUS?

Lack of fibre or low forage diets increase the risk of EGUS. Forage can be fresh (e.g., grass) or conserved high fibre materials such as grass (e.g., hay and haylage, alfalfa, and cereal straw). Forage is important as it helps maintain the fibrous, saliva covered mat in the horse’s stomach which helps to buffer acidity and reduce acid contacting the stomach lining, thereby protecting the stomach. Chewing forage produces double the amount of saliva compared to concentrates. Saliva contains bicarbonates that help to buffer acidity in the stomach giving it some protection. Acid is continually produced in the horse’s stomach. Horses that have low forage diets will spend longer without anything to eat reducing the effectiveness of the fibrous, saliva covered mat and increasing the ulcer risk.

Diets that contain higher levels of starch have been found to increase ulcer risk. Feeding 1% of bodyweight of grain (cereal-based concentrate feeds) resulted in a marked increase in ulcers in non-exercised horses. This equates to 5kg for a 500kg horse. Feeding 2g per kilogram of bodyweight of starch per day or 1g per kilogram of bodyweight of starch per meal more than doubled the risk of gastric ulcers in horses. This equates to 1kg of starch per day or 500g of starch per meal for a 500kg horse. Dengie have produced a handy Starch Intake Calculator to help you determine how much starch is provided by the feeds you are using.

What are the symptoms of EGUS?

Symptoms of EGUS are not always easy to distinguish from other issues or diseases! Some common symptoms include: Weight loss Biting or being grumpy when being girthed Dull coat Intermittent colic There’s no link between the severity of ulcers and the range of symptoms seen in the horse!

Advanced: Feeding Horses with Equine Gastric Ulcer Syndrome (EGUS)

Test your Nutrition Knowledge!

It’s now time to put into practice what you have learnt about feeding the performance horse. Answer all the questions below correctly to receive your Dengie Nutrition Certificate, plus you can earn FOUR AMTRA Suitably Qualified Person (SQP) points. To ensure your points are awarded please make sure that you include your unique AMTRA number in the box provided with your details.

Feeding Horses with Equine Gastric Ulcer Syndrome (EGUS)

Feeding the disciplines

Test your Nutrition Knowledge!

Related courses

Ingredients and Labelling

Importance of Fibre for Digestive Health

Forage and Fibre