Is Buck Off Suitable for a Horse With Gastric Ulcers?

Yes. Buck Off can be suitable for horses with gastric ulcers.

Buck Off isn't designed to stimulate or irritate the digestive system, and its ingredients are not known to cause the type of gastric irritation that would make us avoid recommending it to a horse with ulcers.

But there's another reason Buck Off may be particularly relevant to some ulcer-prone horses: stress.

What's the connection between stress and gastric ulcers?

Stress and gastric ulcers can be closely connected in horses.

Travelling, competition, intense exercise, restricted turnout, changes in environment and other stressful management factors are all associated with an increased risk of equine gastric ulcer disease.

And unfortunately, it can sometimes become a bit of a cycle.

A naturally tense or anxious horse may find everyday situations more stressful. Gastric discomfort can then make a horse feel even more tense or reactive.

So when managing an ulcer-prone horse, it's important to look beyond the stomach and consider the horse's overall stress levels too.

Can Buck Off help a horse with ulcers?

Potentially — but it's important to understand what we're claiming here.

Buck Off doesn't treat gastric ulcers.

If your horse has gastric ulcers, they need appropriate veterinary treatment and management. Feeding practices, forage availability, turnout, workload and other management factors should also be considered.

Where Buck Off can potentially fit into that wider picture is with the horse that is also naturally anxious, tense, spooky or over-reactive.

Buck Off is designed to support a calmer, more proportionate response to stressful situations.

We're not trying to sedate the horse or make them sleepy. We're trying to help the horse that tends to become overwhelmed or remain in a heightened state for longer than necessary deal with what's happening around them more calmly.

Could reducing stress help an ulcer-prone horse?

Reducing unnecessary stress is an important part of good management for horses with gastric ulcers.

That doesn't mean feeding Buck Off will heal an ulcer — it won't.

But if you have an ulcer-prone horse that is also highly stressed or reactive, it makes sense to consider both sides of the problem: support the stomach appropriately and look at what you can do to reduce the horse's overall stress load.

That might include more turnout, plenty of forage, an appropriate diet, a predictable routine, suitable training and workload — and, where appropriate, nutritional support for a calmer response.

What if my horse has suddenly become spooky or reactive?

This is particularly important.

Behavioural changes can themselves be associated with gastric discomfort.

If a normally relaxed horse suddenly becomes tense, reactive, reluctant to work, sensitive around the girth or generally behaves differently, don't simply assume they need a calmer.

Investigate the reason for the change.

If ulcers are suspected, speak to your vet.

Can I feed Buck Off alongside ulcer treatment?

Buck Off can be used as calming support for an ulcer-prone horse, but if your horse is currently receiving veterinary medication, we'd always recommend checking with your vet before introducing any new supplement.

Buck Off should also be fed consistently and typically takes around 7 days to start working.

Look at the whole horse

With an ulcer-prone horse, we don't want to look at the stomach in isolation.

Diet matters. Forage matters. Turnout matters. Exercise matters. Veterinary treatment matters.

And stress matters too.

If your horse has ulcers and is also naturally tense, anxious or over-reactive, Buck Off may be a useful part of their wider management — not as a treatment for the ulcers themselves, but as support for the horse that's experiencing them.