THE INFLUENCE OF THE TYPE OF HUSBANDRY, T HE USAGE AND THE FEEDING TOTHE INCIDENCE OF GASTRIC-MUCOSAL LESIONS IN HORSES

From 1993 until 1994, in the clinic for horses of the veterinary schoo l in Hanover, gastroendoscopy was performed on 139 horses. The gastroe ndoscopy was performed only on sick horses. Most of the patients had s igns of abdominal discomfort. All the patients were examined immediate ly after arriving in the clinic and gastric lesions were found in 75 h orses. The lesions were mostly located in the squamous mucosa near to the margo plicatus, the lesser curvature and in the squamous fundus. i n 101 horses, the influence of the type of husbandry, using, and feedi ng of the horses to the frequency of gastric lesions were evaluated wi th help of a statistical analysis. There were used the ''logistical re gression'' and the ''chi-square-test''. The following results were fou nd: 1. There was no significant relation between the type of husbandry of the horses and the incidence of gastric lesions. 2. There was a si gnificant relation between the usage of the horses an the incidence of gastric lesions. The racehorses and the riding-horses that were frequ ently used on tournaments were significantly more affected by gastric lesions than the standard riding-horses. 3. There was no significant r elation between the feeding and the incidence of gastric lesions,There was also no significant relation between the frequency of feeding and the incidence of gastric lesions. 4. There was a significant relation between the amount of energy supplied with the food and the incidence of gastric lesions. Overfed horses were significantly more affected b y gastric, lesions than horses that were fed with adequate or even ene rgy deficient rations. 5. The influence of a high protein intake on th e frequency of gastric lesions was nearly significant (p = 0,06).