Equine Ulcers and Stress: Danish Study Looks at Link

It is not unusual for horses to get stomach ulcers. But how important are the ulcers? Is it because the horse is stressed that it gets stomach ulcers? And does a horse with stomach ulcers have a greater tendency to crib or have other types of abnormal behavior?
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It is not unusual for horses to get stomach ulcers. But how important are the ulcers? Is it because the horse is stressed that it gets stomach ulcers? And does a horse with stomach ulcers have a greater tendency to crib or have other types of abnormal behavior?

Scientists from the Faculty of Agricultural Sciences at Aarhus University in Denmark are investigating the possible connection between stomach ulcers and stress in horses.

"Even though there are a lot of indications that ulcers are common in horses, we don't know how important they are for the horses' level of stress and reactivity despite the fact that it could impact on their welfare and their daily use," said Senior Scientist Jens Malmkvist, PhD, leader of the newly started project..

Some studies from abroad have found surprisingly high frequencies of damage to the stomach lining of horses up to 93% in horses that were studied when they were in training. In Denmark the latest figures show that over half of the horses have ulcers to a smaller or larger degree

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