Since a lot of people have been asking me about the omeprazole and are curious about how it’s working for me, I figured I would start a little series of update posts about it and chronicle what I’m seeing in Henry as we go along.
Days 1-9 of the omeprazole experiment were basically a wash as far as noting any changes. It was too cold and wet to ride and all I really did was go out to give him his paste and handgraze him, so there was no analysis on my part to judge any behavioral differences. So, we’ll start with Day 10, which was the first day I really had a good opportunity to evaluate his behavior on the ground and under saddle. Also worth noting – he got his teeth done and sheath cleaned on day 6. His sheath wasn’t bad but his teeth had some fairly significant issues (as they did last year as well). So, it’s possible that some changes could be due to that… take it for what you will.
Day 10 – Groomed and rode.
Grooming: I noticed that he was much less pissy about his right side. Typically he doesn’t want me to brush that side, sometimes to the point of raising a hoof, but all he really did was swish his tail once. Much less protest than normal.
Riding: While riding I thought that he felt a little bit more free/loose in his walk, although that could be because he hadn’t been ridden in so long. Seemed less “jumpy” to my leg.
Dosing: No problem with him taking and swallowing the paste (which is a beige color), still on the 10mL treatment dose which I tend to do generously, more like 11-12mL.
Day 11 – Groomed, rode, bathed
Grooming: This time while grooming he didn’t even swish his tail – I brushed and toweled him all over with no protest (well, he gave me the stink eye when I wiped all the bedding off his sheath. He says that’s a no-fly zone, lady). Was less grumpy about girthing than normal.
Riding: I switched him back to his french link eggbutt from the nathe, since the dentist recommended a very thin diameter bit due to his mouth conformation and the eggbutt is currently the thinnest I have. He was very chompy but did not do the “I stick my nose up and walk in place” thing when I took up contact. If anything he was going behind the contact too much in the beginning and I had to work him up into my hand. Was very well-behaved under saddle and gave me a real, honest-to-god free walk for what is really the first time ever. He was reactive but not overreactive to my leg.
Bathing: Did not mind the sweat scraper after his bath. Sometimes he used to dislike it, but not always.
Dosing: No problem with him taking and swallowing the paste, still on the 10mL treatment dose.
Day 12 – Groomed, rode, bathed
Grooming: One tail swish while brushing the lower part of his belly. No ugly face accompanied it. Nothing of note while tacking up.
Riding: Since it was 80 degrees and I was riding in the ring instead of the field, I really should have grabbed my spurs. I had a less forward horse than Day 11, and he was a bit dead to my right leg (not unusual for him). Otherwise pretty good, stayed pretty relaxed and did offer some good free walk again. Two different people said he looked really good, for whatever that’s worth.
Bathing: Did not mind the sweat scraper after his bath.
Dosing: No problem with him taking and swallowing the paste, still on the 10mL treatment dose.
Day 13 – Groomed and rode
Grooming: Some tail swishing when I was brushing the bottom of his belly.
Riding: Let’s just say that I should never ride Henry in the rain without a bonnet to prevent water from going in his precious ears. Oh my guh, the angst.
Dosing: No problem with him taking and swallowing the paste, still on the 10mL treatment dose.
Day 14 – clipped
Clipping: He’s not really a fan of clipping but always tries to be tolerant. He behaved pretty much like he usually does, although he had a few minutes of dancing when it was feeding time because OMG I’M GONNA STARVE TO DEATH. I let him eat before doing the other side.
Dosing: Very good. I gave him a little extra tonight since it rained 3″ and he’s gonna end up spending probably at least 3-4 days in his stall. He’s gotten to where I can just dose him and he swallows it himself with no fuss and no complaints.
I also think he’s put a little bit of weight back on since he’s consistently been getting “extra” hay. We move to the new barn on Sunday, so I’m hoping once he gets into a normal hay ration it’ll start coming back quickly.
To be continued next week!
breedrideevent.com 
That little hollowed-out heart is adorable! Love it!
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Agree about the heart – totes adorbs. Also, I think he looks like he’s filling out already from when he left the old barn. I’ll be curious to follow this as I’ve been tempted to try horsey omep myself seeing how much human omep it has helped me o.O
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He hasn’t left yet, he leaves on Sunday. But I’ve been throwing him a couple extra flakes every day so he’s getting at least a little bit closer to what would be a normal hay ration. Still skimpy, but not as bad as if I didn’t throw him extra.
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Oh, I gotcha. Well all the better then!
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Haha I wish I could give him some of the weight Fiction has gained on hay. Anyways – looking forward to more updates!
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Are you using UlcerGuard or something else?
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i’m using the generic version.
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1) Love the heart. Love.
2) Yay drugs.
3) Nice boots.
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Heh. Agreed on all 3 counts.
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Having normal access to enough hay will help A TON with the ulcers, too. You know this, but I am a big, big, monster huge fan of slow-feed hay nets. The omeprazole seems to be doing the trick, yay! Where do you buy from again? I need to get some to keep on hand for traveling/showing, but oh my freakin’ word UlcerGard is expensive! Also, is it weird that last night I had a dream that I rode Henry and helped with his free walk?
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He’ll be getting some alfalfa at the new place too, which will also help. I’m basically counting down the hours at this point. I’m buying from Horseprerace. And yes that’s kind of a weird dream LOL!
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Alfalfa, perfecto! Plus, the ponies LOFF alfalfa. Dino has this big drippy alfalfa-mash nose every night now and it’s hilarious.
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Hope the move goes smoothly! My own experience with the omeprazole (I used UlcerGard for three weeks to treat Eli right when I first bought him) is that it makes a huge, desirable difference in ground behavior, within just days. So glad it’s OTC now. He’s on a daily gut supp now and has yet to revert to trying to kill me when I tack up.
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Sounds like some improvement already…should see more in the next few weeks hopefully!
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love the heart!!! glad you’re seeing some improvements – regardless of the cause. i was pleasantly pleased at how easy it was to dose my mare too… anyways hopefully he keeps feeling better!
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Are you planning to taper Henry off the 10 mL dose as the month ends? I’ve read mixed accounts on the value of that (basically preventing the body from going crazy when all the ion gates are suddenly not suppressed any more), so I’d like your expert (and very well thought out) opinion!
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He’ll be going to a 5mL (so more like 6-7 in my “more is more” world) dose for two weeks when the 30 days is over on the 10mL dose. I also have small tubes so that I can dose him with a regular prevention dose (which is more like 2.5mL) during any stressful events. So basically 30 days on the quadruple dose, 14 days on the double dose. I’m looking into daily gut supps now but haven’t made a decision one way or the other on that.
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Me neither on the daily gut supps — ultimately, I decided not to use them and simply do prevention and maintenance. So I never ride when I’m sure Murray’s got an empty stomach (before feeding — so I’ll stuff some hay into him while tacking up) and make sure to always do preventative doses for a day before and after whenever we trailer. I use about 4 mL for my preventative dose — what’s the concentration of your omeprazole paste (mine’s 150 mg/mL)? Trying to get a feel for possible differences in our treatment plans.
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I will have to look on the tube, I don’t remember offhand.
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230mg per mL according to the label and my math skills
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Where do you get the generic omeprazole? I’ve used the “blue pop rocks” omeprazole, but haven’t seen generic paste
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Abler (the blue pop rocks place) actually has a paste version called Abprazole. I went with the horseprerace generic omeprazole though, because Abprazole notoriously takes at least 3 weeks to arrive and I didnt want to wait that long.
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Did the dentist have any recommendations for thinner bits to use?
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just said thin. I have a 10mm french link that should be here any day.
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So you did go with a heart shape! Very cute on his little booty.
I’m excited to hear how the thinner bit will do for him.
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Glad it seems to be working! Thanks for sharing!
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Squee! So glad the heart design won out!
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Def going to check unto getting some, ulcerguard is so expensive (like others have said)… Hopefully it helps work out your kinks 🙂
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