EN
Equine gastric ulcer syndrome (EGUS) is common in performance horses and in foals. The prevalance of gastric ulcers range from 25-50% in foals, and from 60-90% in adult horses. Diagnosis of EGUS is based on anamnesis, clinical signs, gastroscopic examination and response to treatement. The most important clinical signs are poor performance, chronic colic and loss of appetite. All ages and breeds of horses are susceptible to gastric ulcers, and current therapeutic strategies focus on increasing stomach pH. The aim of this study was to determine the incidence of gastric ulcers in slaughtered cold-blooded horses, as well as in sport and recreational horses. The study was performed on 597 horses divided into two groups. The first group of horses were slaughtered, the second group of horses were sent to the clinic with suspected gastric ulcer for gastroscpic examination. Gastric ulcers were found in the majority of test animals. In group 1, prevalence of gastric ulcers was 64%, while in group 2 the proportion of horses with gastric ulcers was slightly higher and was 68%. The study showed that the incidence of gastric ulcers in horses is very high; in all examined horses it was over 65%, while the percentage was higher in horses used for recreation and sport.