The cold winter has been hard on Bud and but he is on the mend again. Chronic horse ulcers like the ones Bud has are tough to heal when stress is ongoing. Between the extreme cold and pain in his TMJ from the original injury Bud has had major stress.

Last year Bud broke several incisor teeth and the pain must have been intense for him to develop horse ulcers bad enough to set him up for food sensitivities. Bud’s stress and subsequent indigestion got so bad that he developed a leaky gut wall which allowed undigested feed proteins to enter his circulation and trigger antibody production. Major problem! Now Bud can’t eat most normal horse foods or hay.

Bud did very well over the fall when I had him on only an extruded food called Kool and Kalm. This food is predigested so it does not trigger antibody product even in a horse with ulcers. As long as Bud ate this food and no hay he did well but when I tried to increase his hay during the cold weather he started having colic pain again and losing major weight.

I think it was prayers that got Bud through the cold weather and I am pleased that he is now handling a bit of grazing which was not possible last fall. All through the winter I have kept Bud on KLPP , daily packets of algae, probiotics and enzymes, Xango juice and eleviv mixed together in Stephanie’s famous Horse Goo . The KLPP and essentials support Bud’s digestion, the Xango keeps down the inflammation in his gut and the Eleviv helps him cope with the ongoing stress so his system can rebalance into a relaxed state where proper digestion can occur.

I also do body work such as network chiropractic or Bowen therapy to keep Bud’s nervous system balanced. I make sure his TMJ joint is moving the way it should so it won’t be sore. When Bud gives a big yawn I know he is feeling good and ready to go out and graze. Bud has perhaps been my most challenging case of horse ulcers but also one of my most rewarding. Madalyn

For more about Bud check out these posts:
Setback for Bud
Bud’s food sensitivity explained
Bud gets a muzzle