Close-Up Shot of Hey Houston

Hey Houston

Sex, Age: Stallion, 1997
Breed: Quarter Horse
Discipline: Reining, Working Cow Horse, Roping
Stabled In: Scottsdale, Arizona
Owner: Tom Chambers
Trainer / Rider: Al Dunning
Veterinarian: Dr. Daniel F. Madia

A horseman, author and industry leader for over 30 years, Al Dunning has seen his share of change and innovation in the horse world. But the former AQHA Professional Horseman of the Year thinks the most important changes have been advancements in equine health care and veterinary medicine.

"When we opened Almosta Ranch in 1970, horse health care was really quite primitive compared to what it is today," said Dunning. "And even as recently as five years ago, nobody on the reining, cutting or working cow horse circuits thought that stomach ulcers might be causing their horse's performance and conditioning problems. Now, most of us are very mindful of ulcers and the devastating effects they can have on a horse."

Today, improved diagnostics and treatments, especially those relating to equine sports medicine, have provided horsemen with solutions to common problems that have previously gone unanswered, like ulcers.

Dunning, like many professional trainers and competitors, discovered that Equine Gastric Ulcer Syndrome (EGUS) actually affects the majority of all performance horses and several of his horses have been diagnosed with EGUS.

"Until you have that first horse diagnosed, it's kind of a mystery," Dunning said. "And every horse will probably have different symptoms and the severity of symptoms will be different. In some horses, the effects are barely noticeable, in others, you know something's definitely wrong."

Dunning learned about the damaging effects of equine ulcers first hand, after his promising stallion, Hey Houston, struggled through a baffling array of ailments, which were ultimately traced to ulcers.

"This stallion is a full brother to a World Champion and he had the potential to go out and win everything," said Dunning. "He was training like a champ too, working strong and coming along great. But then, for no apparent reason, he started dropping some weight and losing a step here and there."

According to Dunning, Hey Houston has a great disposition and loves to work, but somewhere along the line his enthusiasm began to wane and his performance continued to decline.

"You could tell he wasn't feeling like himself," Dunning said. "He wasn't as excited about his work and he would grunt on every hard stop or hard turn. It got to the point where he didn't have the energy level or stamina to work proficiently for any length of time."

At first, Dunning and his veterinarian, Daniel Madia, DVM, struggled to diagnose Hey Houston's physical and behavioral changes.

"We thought it might be a stone or that he was tying-up a little, but everything checked out OK," Dunning said. "It was frustrating because we work very hard to keep our horses healthy and in great condition."

After ruling out a handful of potential causes, Dr. Madia decided the problems might be the result of stress and suggested using an endoscope to check the stallion's stomach for ulcers. "That's when we found our answer," Dunning said. "He had an awful case of ulcers and some of them had obviously been bleeding." Dr. Madia prescribed treatment with GastroGard® (omeprazole) and they began administrating the treatment immediately.

"After 30 days of GastroGard, we scoped him again and it was like he had a brand new stomach," said Dunning. "It was really quite remarkable. His eye got brighter, he gained the weight back, his hair coat got slick again, and he didn't have any more symptoms of tying up or colic."

"Obviously he had been in a lot pain and after the treatment, he really freed himself up and wanted to work again. We kept him on a maintenance dose of GastroGard for another 30 days and after that it was like a revolution. He regained the strength and confidence and was performing like we knew he could."

Following the successful diagnosis and treatment, Dunning has guided Hey Houston to All Around Champion titles on several different quarter horse show circuits. In 2002, the stallion earned AQHA World Show qualification in Junior Reining, Junior Working Cow Horse and Team Roping. He has now won NRHA Open, NRCHA Hackamore and AQHA competitions in six different events.

Since his experience with Hey Houston, Dunning has discovered ulcers in a few of his other horses and in all cases, relies on GastroGard for effective treatment.

"We've done the research and learned that GastroGard is the only product that does the job," Dunning said. "It actually shuts down acid production, which is the only way you're going to heal ulcers. There are other products that provide a little buffer, which might make a horse feel better for an hour or two, but they're not going to cure anything, or actually heal the ulcers. GastroGard fixes the problem, and that's what we're looking for."