Diet for horses with ulcers: Feeding a horse with EGUS [Guide]

If your horse is “just a little fussy at feeding time”, “gets upset when the girth is tightened” or “sometimes eats eagerly, sometimes walks away from the feed bowl”, it may not be a matter of temperament. In some horses, these small signs point to one problem: gastric ulcers.

In Poland, EGUS affects up to 50-90% of competition horses and 25-50% of leisure horses, showing that this is a widespread problem, not one confined to horses in hard training. In practice, a diet for horses with ulcers is more than an addition to treatment. It is an everyday tool that helps the stomach stop “working against the horse”.

Introduction: Equine ulcers are a silent epidemic in Polish yards

When you hear “ulcers”, you often picture a performance horse that competes, travels frequently and lives under pressure. This is part of the truth, but not all of it. In Poland, the problem also affects leisure horses whose lives seem calmer.

This matters because it changes how you think. The question is no longer simply whether your horse is “sporty enough” to have EGUS. Instead, ask whether its everyday life supports stomach health.

Why ulcers are so common today

Horses evolved to eat forage almost continuously, move and live within a steady routine. Yet many yards operate differently. Long gaps without food, larger hard-feed meals, transport stress, limited turnout or overly sudden changes to the daily schedule are common.

Your horse's stomach does not “switch off” between meals. Acid is produced continuously. If the stomach lacks fibre, saliva and food for a prolonged period, its lining has less protection. This is when problems begin.

What most often misleads owners

The biggest trap is that symptoms may be undramatic. Your horse does not have to lie down in pain or clearly refuse food straight away. Sometimes all you see is:

• Reduced willingness to work despite unchanged physical ability to move
• Nervousness during saddling or girth tightening
• Less appetite for hard feed than for hay
• Mood swings and unexplained irritability
• Poorer condition despite apparently adequate feeding

For a horse with suspected EGUS, diet is not “a nice extra”. It is part of treatment and prevention of recurrence.

This is why a diet for horses with ulcers needs to mean more than choosing a bag of feed. Feeding patterns, fibre type, how supplements are offered, access to water, herd stress and daily yard organisation all matter.

Where improvement really begins

The biggest change usually comes from getting the basics right rather than one miracle product. A horse with ulcers needs predictability. It needs chewing, saliva, fibre and peace while eating.

To help your horse, start with a simple premise: its stomach functions best when the day resembles natural feeding patterns rather than two large feeds “morning and evening”. This is the starting point for everything that follows.

Understanding the enemy: What gastric ulcers in horses are

Picture your horse's stomach as a container with two different zones. The lower part is better protected against acid. The upper part is much more delicate. Problems begin when acidic contents reach areas with weaker protection.

This is why your horse can look well externally yet experience chronic discomfort. Ulcers do not always develop suddenly. They often progress quietly.

How the lining becomes damaged

Your horse produces stomach acid continuously. This is natural. When it regularly eats fibrous feed, chews extensively and produces saliva, the stomach is better equipped to defend itself.

However, when it goes without hay for a long time, receives a more concentrated ration or works on an empty stomach, stomach contents can move and irritate sensitive areas. A simple comparison often helps: when a container holds little solid material, liquid “splashes” against the sides more easily.

Two pictures of the same problem

In practice, lesions in different parts of the stomach are discussed, but the most important point for you is this. Horses with ulcers do not all behave alike, because the problem does not develop in the same region or for the same reason in every horse.

Some horses react more strongly to feeding gaps and training. Others respond more to environmental stress, social tension, transport or persistent errors in their ration.

If your horse eats hay more readily than hard feed, yawns frequently, becomes fussy during work or is “not quite itself”, consider its stomach early rather than waiting for obvious symptoms.

Symptoms that are easy to miss

Non-specific symptoms are the most misleading. You see a change but struggle to name it. Common observations include:

• Reluctance to work without obvious lameness
• Dullness or irritability that comes in waves
• A dull coat and poorer overall appearance
• Pausing during meals or eating hard feed more slowly
• Yawning, lip smacking and fussiness after eating or before work
• Hypersensitivity when the flanks and abdomen are touched

There may also be signs that are clearer to you. Your horse may grind its teeth, show pain during saddling, tense up at the girth or react more sharply than before.

Why diagnosis becomes confusing

The difficulty is that many of these behaviours can be mistakenly attributed to temperament, training, a weather change or “sulking”. This is why equine ulcers are so often dismissed initially.

If you suspect EGUS, the most sensible approach is to address feeding and management urgently and confirm the diagnosis with your vet. A good diet helps but does not replace investigation. Without understanding how the disease works, however, it is difficult to create an effective feeding plan.

The foundations of a diet for horses with ulcers: Four golden rules

Your horse's stomach produces acid almost continuously. This is the most important starting point when planning a ration for a horse with ulcers. Understanding this mechanism makes it easier to judge why some options help while others only appear sensible.

For people with gastric ulcers, 5-6 meals daily at 2-3-hour intervals are recommended, and regular meals reduce symptoms in 70-80% of patients in remission, according to the National Centre for Nutrition Education. The practical principle is similar for horses. The stomach tolerates a steady supply of fibre and small portions better than long gaps followed by larger feeds.

These four golden rules follow from that physiology. They are not complicated, but you need to apply them consistently, including in an ordinary Polish yard where feeding often follows staff schedules rather than the stomach's needs.

Forage first

Hay and other well-tolerated fibre sources should form the foundation of the ration.

There are two reasons. First, chewing increases saliva production, and saliva partly buffers acidic stomach contents. Second, the fibrous mass creates something like a natural protective layer in the stomach. Acidic contents then contact the lining less aggressively, especially during movement and work.

In practice, this means one thing. Your horse should not spend many hours with an empty stomach. If constant hay access is impossible at your yard, shorten the gaps between portions and extend eating time, for example with small-holed haynets or more frequent hay servings.

Less starch and simple sugars

The second rule concerns hard feed. Large portions of cereals and predominantly starch-based mixes often worsen the situation, especially in already sensitive horses.

This does not mean every horse with ulcers should eat only hay. Many competition horses, seniors and poor doers still need extra energy. The difference lies in where that energy comes from. It is safer to base the ration on high-fibre products with lower starch and simple sugar levels than to increase oats or ready-made mixes containing large amounts of grain.

This is an important shift in thinking. Ask not only “how much energy does my horse need?”, but also “in which form will its stomach tolerate that energy best?”. This approach later makes choosing specific feeds, chaff and supplements available in Poland much easier.

A practical rule: if your horse needs more energy, improve the structure of the whole ration first, then increase hard feed.

Small portions offered more frequently

Many well-run yards stumble over this rule for organisational reasons. Two large feeds morning and evening are convenient for people but poor for a horse with EGUS.

Small portions work better because they do not overload the stomach at once and reduce periods when acidic contents act on an empty or poorly protected lining. Compare it to adding small amounts of wood to a fire rather than loading everything at once and leaving the stove for hours. A steady rhythm allows the whole system to work more calmly.

Sometimes simply dividing hard feed into three or four smaller meals is enough. Sometimes you need a simple written plan for yard staff. This is where theory must meet practice. A good diet for a horse with ulcers goes beyond what is in the bag: it depends on your horse actually receiving it at appropriate intervals.

Water and peace while eating

The fourth rule is sometimes underestimated, although it makes a major difference in everyday management. Your horse needs constant access to clean, fresh water. With dehydration, food moves through less effectively and the whole digestive tract functions less comfortably.

Feeding conditions are equally important. A horse that eats tensely, drives its neighbour away from the feed bowl, waits anxiously for its turn or is regularly disturbed during meals cannot benefit from a balanced ration as it should. For a horse with ulcers, peace while eating is not an extra. It is part of nutritional therapy.

Applying these rules in an ordinary yard

You cannot always control the whole feeding system at a livery yard, but you can usually improve more than you think. Start with simple changes you can maintain every day:

• Divide hard feed into more, smaller portions
• Do not leave your horse without fibre for long, especially overnight and before work
• Offer hay before training or transport, so the stomach is not empty
• Extend eating time with haynets or suitable presentation of chaff and hay
• Limit sudden changes in feed, feeding times and supplements
• Observe your horse's reaction after every change, because one horse may tolerate a product well while another tolerates it less well

The best diet for a horse with ulcers is one you can maintain day after day. It should protect the stomach while working within the realities of a Polish yard, guiding you from a general principle to a specific decision at the feed bowl.

What to put in the feed bowl: Choosing feeds and ingredients

With a horse with EGUS, the hardest question is usually not “should I change something?”, but “what exactly should I buy, and what should it replace?”. It is easy to fall into two extremes here. Some owners offer almost anything just to keep their horse eating. Others remove half the ration and leave only hay, even though their horse still needs energy and nutrients.

The most sensible approach is to judge feeds by how they behave in the stomach. Do they encourage chewing and saliva production? Are they gentle on the lining? Do they rely too heavily on starch and simple sugars?

Ingredients that usually help

In practice, feed groups that increase fibre intake and spread energy more evenly tend to work well.

• High-fibre chaff helps prolong eating time and increases chewing
• Alfalfa in an appropriate form is sometimes used as part of a stomach-supporting ration
• Low-starch feeds are usually a better choice than traditional cereal mixes
• Unmolassed sugar beet pulp can be a useful source of structural fibre
• Oils are sometimes used as an energy source where cereal intake needs limiting

Owners also often ask about ready-made products. Rather than mixing many raw ingredients yourself, some horses do better on specialist high-fibre, low-starch feeds, such as formulas in the SPILLERS range, or chaff designed to support the stomach.

Ingredients that often make matters worse

The most troublesome feeds usually deliver a rapid energy “boost” at the expense of being gentle on the digestive tract.

Options more often considered unsuitable include:

• Large portions of oats
• Maize and other starchy cereals fed without good justification
• Mixes containing molasses, if your horse tolerates them poorly
• Very sweet or highly concentrated feeds
• Sudden changes in feed type without a transition period

Not every horse reacts identically. However, if your horse has diagnosed ulcers or EGUS is strongly suspected, building the ration around fibre rather than grain is safer.

Comparing ingredients in the diet of a horse with ulcers

The best ration is one that lets your horse eat calmly, finish its feed, work without becoming irritable and maintain condition without overloading the stomach.

Where owners most often go wrong

The first mistake is judging feed solely by its energy level. A horse with ulcers needs more than “power for work”. It needs fuel that will not worsen the condition of the lining.

The second mistake is focusing solely on one product. Even a good feed will not help if your horse goes without hay for long periods, eats under stress or works on an empty stomach.

The third mistake is changing things too quickly. If you want to move to a diet for horses with ulcers, do so gradually and observe your horse's reaction to each element separately. This makes it easier to see what really works.

The role of supplements in an ulcer-support diet: What to feed and when

Supplements in the diet of a horse with EGUS have one job: to support a well-planned feeding and treatment programme rather than replace it. This matters because many owners seek “something for ulcers”, while your horse's stomach works more like an interconnected system. If feeding patterns, stress levels and daily yard organisation are poor, a supplement alone will usually not solve the problem.

A well-chosen product can nevertheless provide real help, especially when you know which problem you want to support. For one horse, protecting the lining during a return to training takes priority. For another, improving ration tolerance after treatment. For another, reducing stress responses associated with transport, changing stables or tension at feeding time.

Protective and buffering products

This is the most frequently used group. These products aim to support the lining's protective layer or limit irritation from acidic stomach contents. In practice, they are most commonly used during higher-risk periods, such as moving yards, resuming work, competition season or in horses with a history of recurrence.

Look beyond the trade name to the ingredients and purpose. Some formulas focus on protection, others on buffering, and others combine several mechanisms. In Polish shops and veterinary practices, you encounter individual products and combined formulas. This is where the practical decision begins. Not “should I buy a supplement?”, but “which problem do I want to address, and for how long?”.

Probiotics and prebiotics

In a horse with ulcers, the stomach does not work independently of the rest of the digestive tract. If intestinal function is unstable, your horse uses feed less effectively, may become more sensitive and finds calm eating harder to maintain. Probiotics and prebiotics therefore make sense as support for the whole digestive system, particularly after treatment, during ration changes or in horses that cope poorly with stress.

Material about diet and probiotics in gastric ulcer disease reported that horses with EGUS receiving Saccharomyces cerevisiae had a 50% lower rate of ulcer recurrence after 6 months on the Institute of Microecology website. This result does not mean yeast “cures ulcers” on its own. Rather, it suggests that microbiome support may be one element of a plan to reduce recurrence.

This is good news if you feel lost between theory and the shop shelf. The Polish market offers yeast-only products, mixes with added prebiotics and products combining intestinal support with a stomach-protective component. A choice makes sense only when it is simple and can be assessed after several weeks.

Products supporting stress reduction

For your horse's stomach, stress is like a door constantly left ajar for trouble. It does not explain everything on its own, but it very often sustains the problem. Your horse may receive a suitable feed yet deteriorate during frequent travel, isolation from other horses, changes of carer or competition during shared feeding.

In such cases, supplements supporting more excitable horses can sensibly complement the plan. They will not correct poor daily organisation and should not mask it. They may, however, help a horse that reacts with its whole body. A less settled nervous system often also means less settled eating, poorer chewing and greater tension in everyday life.

Choose a supplement for a specific purpose. A horse that has just finished treatment needs different support from one that eats well but clearly deteriorates under stress.

Choosing sensibly

The safest approach is to think of supplements as tools in a toolbox. A hammer is useful but cannot fix everything. Likewise, a stomach supplement cannot replace ration adjustments, appropriately timed hay or calm stable conditions.

Before buying, answer a few questions:

• Do I want to support the lining, microflora or response to stress
• Do I have one main purpose for using this product
• Is my horse recovering from treatment, facing a heavier workload or in a stable period
• Can I assess the effect without introducing several new products simultaneously
• Are the ingredients clear, and is daily feeding practical to maintain

In Poland, you will find products from various brands, including TRM, NAF, Equine America and AniVero. This offers choice but also makes it easy to fall into the trap of buying several products at once. A measured strategy works much better. One goal, one product, time to observe and record changes in appetite, behaviour, comfort under saddle and droppings.

The key rule is simple. The supplement should suit your horse, its symptoms and its stable conditions. Not advertising or fashion.

Example feeding plans and yard management

It is estimated that problems may return in some patients after symptoms settle. Recurrence may affect up to 40% of cases NFZ on diet in gastric ulcer disease. For your horse, this means one simple thing. An ulcer-management plan must work for many months, not just a few days.

In practice, you need more than general advice such as “feed more fibre”. You need a ready-to-use daily routine that can be introduced in a Polish yard, with specific feed, chaff, feeding times and handling rules. This is why you should view diet as a whole system. The feed bowl is only one part. Daily rhythm, hay access, work organisation and stress levels form the other.

Scenario one: A leisure horse

A leisure horse usually does not need a high-energy ration. The main issue is usually not too few calories, but overly long gaps between meals, rapid eating and casually adding hard feed “just in case”.

A good daily plan might look like this:

• Morning. Hay or high-fibre chaff first. Only then a small portion of hard feed or balancer, if your horse genuinely needs it.
• During the day. Constant hay access or several portions spaced to avoid long hours with an empty stomach.
• Before work. A handful or small portion of chaff. This acts as a protective layer because fibre and saliva partly shield the stomach during movement.
• After work and in the evening. Allow breathing to settle, offer water and hay, and if your horse receives hard feed, provide a small portion. Leave enough forage overnight so it does not run out after two hours.

High-fibre feeds, chaff without molasses or with low molasses levels, and balancers supplying vitamins and minerals without adding much starch often work well for this group. Several such options are readily available in Poland, but your choice should follow your horse's needs rather than just an “ulcer-friendly” label.

Scenario two: A competition horse

A competition horse is a more demanding case. It needs fuel for work, but its stomach tolerates large, starchy portions poorly. It is rather like trying to heat a house with paper instead of wood. The fire starts quickly but causes damage just as quickly.

The feeding plan therefore needs more precision:

1. Offer fibre before every larger meal and every training session. Hay or chaff before exercise reduces the risk of working on an empty stomach.
2. Divide hard feed into small portions. One large portion is harder on the stomach than two or three smaller ones.
3. Seek energy sources that are gentler on the digestive system. High-energy feeds with lower starch and sugar levels, based partly on fibre and fat, often work better.
4. Plan for higher-risk days. Competition, transport, yard moves, harder training and periods of reduced work may require more attentive management.
5. Establish a consistent daily routine. For a horse with ulcers, predictability acts as part of therapy. Less chaos usually means better appetite and calmer eating.

In practice, such a horse often benefits from good-quality hay, chaff before work, controlled-starch feed and a carefully chosen vitamin and mineral supplement. If you need to increase energy, do so in stages and observe your horse's response over several days rather than changing half the ration in one evening.

What beyond the feed bowl really changes things

Ulcers do not arise from feed alone. Two horses can receive similar rations while only one experiences continual recurrence. Everyday stable life often makes the difference.

The following elements most often help:

• long periods spent eating forage
• regular exercise and turnout as frequently as possible
• calm feeding without competition at the feed bowl
• contact with other horses, if your horse tolerates it well
• fixed feeding and working times
• careful planning of transport, competitions and stable changes

This is where theory meets practice. You can buy good feed and suitable chaff available in Poland, but if your horse spends half the day without hay and then receives a large hard-feed meal in a rush, the results will fall short of expectations.

A horse treated for ulcers needs good habits to continue. No symptoms means the plan is helping. It does not mean you can return to the old routine.

When you need a vet

Not every reduction in appetite means ulcers, but every persistent problem needs investigation. If your horse fusses over food, loses weight, tenses during saddling, works less well, pins its ears at the girth or fails to improve despite ration changes, it needs veterinary assessment.

Diet and treatment must go together. Your vet assesses whether symptoms genuinely fit EGUS, whether gastroscopy is needed, how long treatment should last and when you can safely move into stabilisation. A nutritionist or nutritionally informed owner then helps translate recommendations into everyday practice: specific portions, specific products and a realistic yard plan that can be maintained without chaos.

Summary: Your path to a healthy equine stomach

A horse with ulcers does not need random experiments. It needs predictability, fibre, small portions and as calm a life as possible. This sounds simple, but that simplicity is exactly what makes it effective.

To remember the key principles, follow this short list:

• Make forage the foundation of the ration
• Limit large cereal portions and high-starch feeds
• Divide feed into smaller portions offered more often
• Avoid long periods without food
• Maintain constant access to clean water
• Reduce environmental stress and daily disruption
• Work with your vet on diagnosis and treatment monitoring
• Treat supplements as support rather than a substitute for a proper diet

Above all, you can genuinely influence your horse's comfort. Ulcers can undermine appetite, peace of mind and willingness to work for a long time, but a well-planned diet for horses with ulcers can reverse this process. It does not always happen immediately. It often takes patience, observation and several adjustments.

The good news is that your horse's stomach usually gives very clear signals when you start doing things right. Your horse eats more calmly, cooperates better, resists less and regains everyday comfort. That is what matters most.

If you are planning a diet for a horse with EGUS and want suitable feed, chaff or a stomach-support supplement, visit VETfactory. You will find equine nutrition and supplementation products, including options used for sensitive digestive systems, and the opportunity to compare different feed and supplement types against your particular horse's needs.