Acupressure Points for Behavior and Ulcers?

[twohotponies]

I have a mare that is having serious behavior problems. I cannot afford to have her scoped for ulcers right now, but my new trainer said there was an acupressure point that could give you an idea if ulcers were present. She wasn't sure where it is except for somewhere under her belly. This mare likes to cow kick every now and then so I would like better landmarks.:)

I also read that there were points for calming which would be good to help her stand in the crossties instead of throwing herself about. Does anyone know the locations of these points?

She is 6 years, Tb of the track for 2 years, been passed around some. She gets bermuda and orchard grass, Ultium, orchard/timothy pellets, BOSS, oil, mare magic, ACV, and some supplements. She came to me skinny and is putting on weight. She doesn't like other horses and gets worked 5-6 days a week. Mostly she is getting lunged because she has been unpredictable and I am not ready to ride her. Yes I am a chicken.:yes:

What she does: paces, attacks the fence of the horses living next to her, pins ears a lot, prances when being led, rears when she is really mad, fidgets a lot in the crossties, cowkicks on occasion, flighty and excitable. I think she is going to end up being too much for me and then I am not sure what I am going to do. I have the help of a trainer but currently dont have much money left for training.

[Riley0522]

I've heard that this is total crap and acupressure points are not definitive for ulcers.

[mroades]

hhmm, i have never had it lie to me...and i have had them scoped

[ivy62]

You could try giving her some aloe juice to see if it helps also certain feeds are hrder on the stomach then others...If you cannot afford the scoping, usually is not to expensive, how are you going to treat them?

[Bogie]

There are three places where vets test. I've seen this demonstrated and I can only remember two:

1) down the jugular area
2) under the stomach near the umbilical area

Does it work? It depends who you ask. The vet who showed me reports excellent results. Other vets I've spoken to don't believe it.

My horse is a prime candidate for ulcers. He's got anxiety issues that manifest themselves in cribbing & weaving. I manage him through diet/environment: no grain, lots of forage, small amounts of alfalfa three times/day and 24/7 turnout.

Alfalfa has been proven to both prevent ulcers and help ulcers heal.

[katarine]

why not treat for ulcers (gastrogard, etc) and see what happens?

[ivy62]

Just thinking If the OP cannot afford the scoping how then can they afford GG for 28 days?

[Lieslot]

Also try taking away the ACV, not all horses do well on it.
I was a 'naieve' believer of ACV in the past too, but my horses did much better when "not" on ACV.

Okay, what I've learned so far, but I'm no therapist, so take it with a pinch of salt.

ulcers
CV12, right in the middle of belly midline, alarm point for stomach pain.
UB21 both sides of spine, kind of where the end of the saddle sits, stomach association point, can indicate & treat ulcers
ST36 just below the stifle middle of gaskin, treats any gastric pain
as well as ST41 at outside middle of hocklevel towards the front of hindleg

calming
Yin Tong right in the middle between the eyes
LU5 front leg all the way high up just before leg joins body so to speak - helps with fear, sadness & grief
LU9 at knee level on the inside of front legs, point for behavorial panic and separation anxiety
PC6 inside front leg in the middle between knee & elbow, anxiety
GB36 middle of gaskin just below stifle, gives courage
HT6 at the back of front leg just above knee, general calming


Don't check for acu-points yourself unless you've been shown by a qualified person where to go and find them on your horse. Some of them are pretty damn close to each other and unless you are experienced or been shown, you really don't know what you are checking for.
Also a lot of therapists appear to have their own interpretation of some points, albeit somewhat similar.

I'm doing the acupressure home course and you know what, it's pretty hard to be confident about what you pick up or not and even harder finding the precise points!
So I'm not so sure this is the route to go to diagnose ulcers, but it won't harm playing around with calming points.

As for calming how about just some aromatherapy, rather then acupressure. Cheval International has a great calming oil, does miracles on my spooky critter. I always use it on the crossties right before I ride him. I've noticed a great difference.

[katarine]

Just thinking If the OP cannot afford the scoping how then can they afford GG for 28 days?

go the generic route. A2 provided good data on this thread for doing so:

http://www.chronicleforums.com/Forum/showthread.php?t=196239&highlight=ulcergard&page=3

If one can't afford to treat it, whatever the mode of diagnosis....then why bother with the diagnostics?

[pines4equines]

OP, dig up the dough somewhere and treat with UlcerGard. My horse was acting like a maniac and I was treating with ProCMC. (In fact, if you look at any of my past posts, I was Ms. Pro CMC, well I was wrong.) Just dig up the dough and treat with UlcerGard which you can get at your tack store or there was a thread about getting it from entirelypets.com or something for $29.99 a tube. I was using 1/2 a tube or two doses once a day.

After 19 days on UlcerGard my horse is back. He had gone from a sweet, curious horse into a sulky, preoccupied, incredibly spooking, overly alert, out of control animal. Once I run my course of UG, I will go on U7 from Finish Line. I will also keep some UG on hand to treat prior to outings. It is expensive but well worth it.

No more Pro CMC, I really think it made it worse but not sure. Again, just dig up the dough somewhere and you will see a change in your horse.

Auventura Two's thread, We have Ulcers really opened my eyes to what was wrong with my horse. Good luck and bite the bullet.

I do believe in the accupressure which I do and thank you liesalot for adding more points but you do need to do the drugs too. Again, good luck!

[jn4jenny]

I don't know where the acuPRESSURE point is, but I know there's an acuPUNCTURE point near the sacrum that is very effective. My horse got acupuncture for his hip and was squirelling around, so the chiropractor stuck a single needle in this point on his spine, and the horse stood stock still for nearly 30 minutes until it was removed.

I will PM you re: the treatment issue. GastroGard is not, in my opinion, the only way to skin that cat.

[twohotponies]

Thanks for the replies and PMs.

There is no dough to be scraped up I'm afraid. We can just afford to keep the horses we have and this one wasn't a planned purchase. It was "Live with us or go to auction" situation. I dont plan on keeping her long term and am working on getting her weight up and finding her a good home.

The vet will be out next week, they suggested the acupressure as a gauge, and hopefully some suggestions I got through pm will pan out.

[kiwifruit]

I had my gelding looked at by a vet who also specializes in acupuncture. He did the test where you press underneath his stomach and my horse went nuts! Started spinning in the stall to the right. (He will only work on a horse in the stall) Told me that he had some stomach issues, could be old but had some issues. I really don't take too much stock in Eastern medicine so I had my vet out to look at him. The only signs he was showing were extreme spookiness, nervousness, lack of weight gain, no top line and liked to bend his head/body to the right, especially when being lounged. Vet thought, no...not really ulcers and said behavior. So I worked him more and finally when I sent him off to a trainer for a week he came back a huge mess! At that point I convinced my vet to try GG for a week to see if it made a difference, and it has! I'm on day 20 and he is really great. Granted, he still has his moments but he will spook in place rather than spin/bolt or tremble. I'm sure it will get better once he gets the full treatment. And no, I did not scope since my insurance would treat without the scope so why go through the hassle of shipping to a clinic. So I guess there is something in the back of my mind that says, yes, the Eastern medicine vet was on to something so there is some validity to it. Too bad you can't afford the GG, it really does make the difference! Good luck!

[Lieslot]

could be old but had some issues
There's where I struggle with the idea too often.
They can show pain from unresolved issues in the past, eventhoug the issue is fixed already at present.

Again, it's a complimentary therapy, not a diagnostic thing in my mind.

[ivy62]

I also use a chiro.accupuncturist vet and she has helped not with diagnosis but adjuct therapy. Thought my horse had ulcers it was cheap enough to have him scoped but to no avail no ulcers...sore back? long story...but if you think ulcers and you can treat it with GG it is key...especially if your insurance will pay for it....