Latest News

Laminitis

Many of the horses and ponies taken into our care suffer from laminitis so SWHP would like to support the Laminitis Trust by reproducing their leaflet on our site. To find out more about laminitis, please click on the Laminitis Trust logo above.

Laminitis Awareness

Most people associate laminitis with fat little ponies going lame after gorging on lush spring grass but laminitis can affect any type of horse or pony, even donkeys. It is a serious and very painful condition.

Spring is the main danger period when new grass contains very high concentrations of carbohydrate. All the experts agree that soluble carbohydrate such as starch or fructan is the main culprit and that it is the total weight of carbohydrate which a horse or pony eats which puts it at risk of laminitis. However, carbohydrate can also be derived from cereal-based compound feed so owners need to be doubly aware.

It always helps to ensure the horse or pony is in the correct bodily condition before you start to turn out in the spring, as you can't diet a horse at grass. You should be able to feel his ribs easily when you run your hand along his side. He shouldn't have fat deposits, particularly along his crest, ribs or quarters. Fat animals are at high risk. You can restrict grass intake of horses at high risk by dividing grazing land into smaller paddocks (but droppings must be collected daily to avoid the animal ingesting large worm burdens). Also, consider the use of a muzzle with a slot cut in the bottom. Your horse will still be able to graze but his grass consumption will be severely restricted. Be sure to check it daily.

You should never overfeed, especially to achieve so-called "show-ring condition". The best advice is to feed according to work - hacking is not hard work! - and in general stick to lower energy fibre feeds, especially those which carry the Laminitis Trust Approval Mark.

How to recognise Laminitis

Laminitis can vary from a mild lameness in one foot to the animal lying sweating and groaning, which often gives rise to the misdiagnosis of colic or azoturia (sometimes know as set-fast).

All cases have increased strength in their digital pulses and tend to stand on their heels. Because laminitis cases have sore feet, they shift weight from one to the other. Bear in mind that heat in the feet is very inconsistent and should not be used to diagnose laminitis.

If the laminitis has progressed to acute founder, there is a depression present around the front part of the coronary band indicating that the laminae at the front of the foot has separated and the pedal bone has dropped. As it does so, it pulls the skin down, creating a depression you can feel with your finger.

If it has progressed to the stage of a sinker, the depression extends all the way round the coronary band right back to both heels and this means all the laminae have separated. In these cases the horse has at best a 20% chance of survival. "Sinkers" are loath to move and often slap their feet down as they can no longer feel where their hooves are. They do not adopt the usual "heel loading" stance

What to do

* Treat laminitis as an emergency! Call your vet. Correct treatment in the first hours will dramatically reduce the likelihood of it developing into the more serious Founder or Sinking.

* The horse is in severe pain. Get him into a deep shavings bed in his stable. If he is a distance from home, trailer him to avoid inflicting more distress.

* Establish the cause. Not all cases are due to overeating. Your vet can take blood and urine samples to help diagnose any systemic problems. He may also test for a pituitary tumour (Cushing's Disease), which can cause laminitis even in the thin horse. In the "easy keeper", he may want to test for thyroid function.

* Do not starve him. This could cause hyperlipaemia, which can be fatal. Offer limited forage and high fibre/low starch chopped feeds with a good supplement, such as Farrier's Formula. Farrier's Formula contains the three nutrients known to help the liver in deactivating toxins - liver dysfunction commonly coincides with laminitis. It also contains the precursor nutrients for thyroxine, the thyroid hormone, since many laminitis cases are hypothyroid. Additionally, it contains yeast which helps to optimise fibre digestion.

* Your vet will prescribe pain killers, usually Equipalazone / Pro-Dynam ("Bute") and acepromazine (ACP), a peripheral vaso-dilator which will help to improve the blood supply to the laminae. ACP also acts as a mild tranquilliser and will encourage the horse to lie down and take the weight off his feet.

* The vet may want to X-ray the feet to ascertain the damage already done (x-rays taken at the onset are useful for comparisons later). He may fit frog supports to take the strain off the laminae structure. Don't fit anything that makes the horse take weight on his soles.

* Do not exercise him. Drugs are the only effective means of improving perfusion of the laminae. Exercise will only cause more pain and increase the chance of foundering. Don't try cold hosing, hot poulticing or standing the horse in streams.

* Your horse should have completed box rest and shouldn't be walked until 30 days after he is sound without the use of painkilling drugs.

* Don't put your faith in over the counter remedies, preventers or cures - none have any proof of efficacy! If you cannnot control his management adequately, ask your vet to contact the Laminitis Clinic for a supply of Founderguard.

Top tips to prevent Laminitis

* Feed according to your horse's workload. Adjust the ration if the level of work alters.

* Feed little and often

* Be consistent

* Feed a high fibre diet rather than a high calorie compound feed. Three feed companies have been successful in obtaining the Laminitis Trust Horse Feed Approval Mark: Dengie Horse Feeds for Hi Fi Lite, Spillers Horse Feeds for Happy Hoof and High Fibre Cubes and Dodson and Horrell for Fibergy, Alfalfa Chaff, Fibre Blend and Unmolassed Sugarbeet Shreds.

* Measure your horse regularly with a weigh tape to check his weight.

* Don't intentionally fatten your horse up to attract the show judge's eye. Leading show judge Robert Oliver says he judges for"fitness not fatness".

* Divide large fields into weight-watchers' paddocks to reduce grass intake, or fit a grazing muzzle. Grass is rich in spring and also in autumn when rain falls after a dry spell.

* Read a copy of Robert Eustace's book "Explaining Laminitis and its Prevention". The easy to follow advice contained in its pages could save a horse at risk from the misery caused by this crippling disease. Robert's book is available by mail order from the Laminitis Clinic at £12.60 inc p&p UK. Tel: 0870 444 0676.

Click on the link below to view the Laminitis Trust website where you can find more information on laminitis as well as details of how to support the Trust, or go to www.equilife.co.uk/laminitis-org.html Advice is also available from the Laminitis Clinic Helpline on 01249 890784.