An ulcer is a break or erosion of the lining of the stomach. They can be quite painful because they cause the stomach acid to come into contact with flesh. Because of the intense training program and rich diet, up to 90% of racehorses have been found to have ulcers.
Horses are meant to continually eat forage(hay), so their stomach constantly secretes gastric juice. In humans, gastric juice is only secreted when we are hungry or about to eat. Because of this constant suppy of gastric juice, the stomach needs food in it to digest, and keep a balanced pH level. When horses do not have this access to forage, because they get their nutrients from a quick grain meal, the acid erodes the mucous lining of the stomach. This causes the acid to burn stomach flesh and cause an ulcer.
The reason intense training programs causes ulcers has not been determined yet, but is thought to have to do with high stress levels.
Signs that a horse could be suffering from ulcers includes lose of appetite, change in attitude, unthrifty appearance, decreased performance, and weight loss. The best way to cure a horse of ulcers is to modify its training/ showing routine to lower stress and feed more roughage.
The pH of equine gastric juice changes throughout the stomach depending on what the horse has eaten. Forage such as hay, usually buffers(makes it close to neutral) stomach acid to some extent. The pH of equine gastric juice is between pH 1-2.
What exactly is pH?
pH is the measure of the concentration of hydrogen ions p[H] in moles per litre in a solution. The pH scale ranges from 0-14.
Pure water has a pH of 7 and is considered neutral. Anything with a pH below 7 is considered an acid and anything with a pH above 7 is a base. The lower the number, the more acidic the solution. Solutions with a pH of 14 are very basic.
Since the pH scale is logarithmic, each whole pH value below 7 is ten times more acidic than the next higher value.
For example, pH 3 is ten times more acidic than pH 4 and 100 times (10 times 10) more acidic than pH 5.
The opposite is true for pH values above 7, so each value is ten times more
basic than the next lower whole value.
For example, pH 11 is ten times more alkaline than pH 10 and 100 times (10 times 10) more alkaline than pH 9.
Horses are meant to continually eat forage(hay), so their stomach constantly secretes gastric juice. In humans, gastric juice is only secreted when we are hungry or about to eat. Because of this constant suppy of gastric juice, the stomach needs food in it to digest, and keep a balanced pH level. When horses do not have this access to forage, because they get their nutrients from a quick grain meal, the acid erodes the mucous lining of the stomach. This causes the acid to burn stomach flesh and cause an ulcer.
The reason intense training programs causes ulcers has not been determined yet, but is thought to have to do with high stress levels.
Signs that a horse could be suffering from ulcers includes lose of appetite, change in attitude, unthrifty appearance, decreased performance, and weight loss. The best way to cure a horse of ulcers is to modify its training/ showing routine to lower stress and feed more roughage.
The pH of equine gastric juice changes throughout the stomach depending on what the horse has eaten. Forage such as hay, usually buffers(makes it close to neutral) stomach acid to some extent. The pH of equine gastric juice is between pH 1-2.
What exactly is pH?
pH is the measure of the concentration of hydrogen ions p[H] in moles per litre in a solution. The pH scale ranges from 0-14.
Pure water has a pH of 7 and is considered neutral. Anything with a pH below 7 is considered an acid and anything with a pH above 7 is a base. The lower the number, the more acidic the solution. Solutions with a pH of 14 are very basic.
Since the pH scale is logarithmic, each whole pH value below 7 is ten times more acidic than the next higher value.
For example, pH 3 is ten times more acidic than pH 4 and 100 times (10 times 10) more acidic than pH 5.
The opposite is true for pH values above 7, so each value is ten times more
basic than the next lower whole value.
For example, pH 11 is ten times more alkaline than pH 10 and 100 times (10 times 10) more alkaline than pH 9.