I started the two mares that I haul on Forco. First, my 5 yo Quarter Horse mare had some pretty significant troubles with ulcers and nervous stomach/increased acid production under stress (as evidenced by behavioral problems, loss in weight, loose stools, etc.) She had been through a series of UlcerGuard and then had been maintained on daily Omeprazole granules for approximately 3 months before starting Forco. She was still having a hard time maintaining weight and had loose stools, particularly when hauling.
Since being of Forco for approximately 30 days, she still has loose stools when hauled, but her stools at home are more solid. I have recently increased her dose to 4 scoops/day to see if that remedies the problem. She exhibits more relaxation when warming up for runs and seems to be maintaining and even gaining a bit of weight.
I don’t know if it’s directly due to Forco, where she’s at in training (since she’s a young colt coming into herself), or a combination of the two, but she has been consistently decreasing her times and has placed at or won most of the last few barrel races we’ve been to. I do believe it is helping with the increased acid production in her stomach when nervous, even though I do still have her on the Omeprazole granules as well. I would love to manage her on Forco only and discontinue using the Omeprazole in the future. I feel like the changes I’ve seen are definitely reason to continue using Forco.
My second horse, a 6 yo Quarter Horse mare, has a considerable physical injury history, but never diagnosed of having stomach concerns and no history of colic. She has always been a “hot” mare and was typically cranky to warm up, but her crankiness had gradually increased over the last few months. I suspected that she may have been starting to have stomach ulcers.
After 30 days of being on Forco, her attitude in the warm-up pen has improved considerably. She is still “hot” most of the time, but that is part of her personality. However, her crankiness has decreased to what I feel is a more typical (and manageable) range for her.
This mare, like my other mare on Forco, has also been getting more consistent in her runs and has also placed at or won most of the last several barrel races I’ve hauled her to since starting Forco. She is significantly calmer in warm-up, and I believe this is likely due to the Forco helping with the stomach ulcers I suspected she was developing. I will definitely continue to use Forco, and will be sending some to my parents to use it on their leading barrel horse sire Smoke N Sparks colts in training.
Kathy
Kathy from Colorado
12 July 2012