A distinct lack of cribbing....

Kinda interesting... I ordered some omeprazole a few weeks ago and started to give it to Rubi 9 days ago. Omeprazole is an anti ulcer medication that reduces stomach acid production in order to give stomach ulcers a chance to heal. I'd decided to try him on something for ulcers because he has a few signs and symptoms - firstly his cribbing can be associated with ulcers (vets did some research that showed the common factor between cribbing and ulcers was especially acidic stomach acid in some horses), he had a habit of scoffing his food down - he almost 'attacks' his food with an open mouth and stuffs it in as quickly as possible (which is why he's had choke previously), and then he always went to crib afterwards. He's got a bit of a pot belly despite being wormed regularly etc. Plus, he's experienced various things in the course of his life that could give him ulcers - race training, being kept alone, competing, travelling... since there's no real negative side effects with a course of omeprazole, I decided to try him to see if it made a difference.

After 3 days he was no longer bothering to go and crib straight after eating. This is unusual because he was always particularly determined to crib somehow after eating. And I haven't actually seen him go and crib at any time in the last 3 days. When he's not munching on hay, he's been happy to chill out, leg resting, under the barn or, this morning, in the field standing guard over Lutine as she slept.

He may well be cribbing occasionally overnight, though I've not caught him at it even if I've gone out and they've had no hay left. But even if he's still doing it a bit, he's doing it FAR less than I've known him to do since he's been here.

And last night, he didn't attack his food teeth first, but just started picking it up with his lips and eating like the rest of my horses do.

So that's all pretty interesting.... A full course of omeprazole lasts 28 days so he's got almost another 3 weeks before this course finishes.