If you own a horse who has gastric ulcers and if you frequent the Chronicle of the Horse forums, you are probably familiar with the Abler enteric coated omeprazole granules, affectionately renamed “blue pop rocks” by a forum contributor.
Many horses eat the harmless, flavorless granules with no problem if they are sprinkled on a serving of grain. But sometimes, there are horses like Wizard, who object to the texture and decide that the pop rocks are poisonous.
For a while, I added a blob of molasses to his feed and dumped the pop rocks on the molasses blob, but then my friend Christie came up with a brilliant, less messy idea:
1) Buy a bucket of Stud Muffins, or similarly delicious, large, and SOFT horse treat.
2) You will need one muffin per sachet of granules. Put the first muffin in a small Dixie cup- the little bathroom ones work great.
3) For added softness, microwave the treat for a few seconds or add a few drops of water.
4) Make a hollow pocket in the muffin with your fingers, pressing the edges of the treat onto the walls of the cup. The deeper a pocket you can make, the better.
5) Pour one sachet of omeprazole granules into the hollowed-out treat.
6) Using the walls of the cup, mold the treat back into its original shape. This will conceal the omeprazole granules and make the treat look normal.
7) Remove the treat from the cup and feed to your horse. Yum!
Rock and Racehorses: Sarah K. Andrew 