Not for the squeamish.......

[Bayoffreedom]

but thought some of you may find this interesting.

As many of you know, Bay of Freedom was found to have a recurrence of his ulcer issues when he ran at Fairyhouse. This is a video of the Gastroscope two days after the race. It is over five minutes long but you only need to watch 45 seconds to get the a sense of the issues (watch between meals)

https://vimeo.com/263657192

After that we put him in a field and he existed on grass (not that there was much of it) and hay for the next six weeks. This is the video taken six weeks later:

https://vimeo.com/263657252

Pretty amazing transformation; even the vets were surprised.

[Istabraq]

Wow.
Best of luck with him BoF, hope he returns to full health/fitness and gets you back in the winners enclosure....

[Kevloaf]

Hi BoF.

I think I've read somewhere that it is grass that naturally eases/negates the ulcers?

Does that mean whatever he eats "in training" causes them?

[Bayoffreedom]

Hi BoF.

I think I've read somewhere that it is grass that naturally eases/negates the ulcers?

Does that mean whatever he eats "in training" causes them?

Sort of Kev. Horses produce stomach acid all day long and that allows them to digest grass (which they should be eating all day long). However, racehorses in training typically only have feed twice a day and with the acid constantly being produced it can affect the stomach lining and cause ulcers. Stats show that up to 90% of racehorses get ulcers but only about 10% so badly that they affect performance. BOF has been on Gastrogard all year to offset the stomach acid but it is either ineffective for him or, as very occasionally can be the case, it actually makes the ulcers worse. He is out in a field 24/7 and will stay like that until next winter and, just in case it is nerves (which can exacerbate the ulcers) he will be kept nice and relaxed hanging out with some of his equine pals and Peter's son's pony.