Valley Equine Hospital again today to observe a gastroscope. Fortunately this horse had very little damage to his stomach wall and his trainer has already turned him out for the summer - a rare occurance for flat racing horses in training. Over 90% of racehorses have gastric ulcers caused predominantly by their diet which contains very little and only sporadic fibre. The horse relies on a raft of fibre lying on the top of the acid in his stomach to prevent that acid splashing onto the more vulnerable upper portion of his stomach.
For the rest of the morning, Lindy and I, observed a variety of horses from racing and eventing being trotted up and nerve-blocked to try to identify the cause of their lamenesses. Fascinating and sometimes dangerous work when a relatively unhandled racehorse has to be injected in the hock!
Lunch with Kelly and then off to take more photos for the Listening Post. Gorgeous George was happy to pose.
