Influence of Exercise in the Occurrence of Gastric Ulcers in Horses

Abstract

IntroductionThe most frequently reported causes of gastric ulcers in horses are fasting, type of feed and management, and the administration of some drugs. More recently, physical exercise has also been pointed out as an important factor in the development of gastric lesions in athletic horses. The aim of this study was to evaluate whether treadmill exercise predisposes to the occurrence of gastric ulcers in horses.MethodsFive Arabian horses were exercised on a high‐speed treadmill during twelve weeks. The animals were submitted to gastroscopy before the beginning and the end of the training period. The lesions were classified according to the method proposed by Macallister [1] that assigns scores for number and severity of injuries, with modifications to give a total score for the stomach, considering not only the presence and severity of ulcers, but also other findings as gastritis, hyperkeratosis, desquamation of the mucosa. The results obtained in the two periods were compared using the Wilcoxon test, with significance at P<0.05.ResultsIn the first gastroscopy two animals had very low scores for lesion number and severity and three horses had no injury. In contrast, in the second evaluation, all animals had higher scores. A significant difference was observed between the two periods (before and after training) considering both methods of gastric lesion classification.ConclusionsWe concluded that Arabian horses exercised on a treadmill may develop gastric lesions. The possible influence of these lesions on athletic performance and other parameters should be considered by researchers who study equine exercise physiology.Ethical Animal ResearchThis study was approved by the Ethics Committee on Animal Use (protocol number 1741). Sources of funding: FAPESP 2012/10886‐3. Competing interests: none.