Has your horse ever had laminitis?

Question

Has your horse ever had laminitis?

Answer 1

Luckily, the horses in risk of laminitis were found quickly and put onto treatments before the pedal bone could rotate and cause permanent damage.

Laminitis and founder is huge around here- we have extremely lush coastal grasses with high amounts of starch- and for an already overweight horse, it can become a problem.



If the vet has caught the laminitis in the early stages, it is possible that he will make a (mostly) full recovery.

You need to get the best farrier you can find, and work together with your vet to construct a treatment plan- additional methods such as x-ray might be necessary.



Good luck.

Answer 2

My first horse had lots of cases of Laminitis. He would go through the laminitis and then founder. Not fun at all! When my horse was stabled because of his laminitis, or whatever he had going on that I had to keep him in a barn.. I would first make sure that I was out 3 times a day, or the workers at the barn kept his stall nice and clean, he always had some hay, and Kept his water bucket full. The hay thing is a preference, My little guy was hard to keep weight on so it was to his advantage. I also preferred Shavings because they seemed to be softer. I have never bedded with straw so I don't know a whole lot about that, but I prefer the shavings. I would give him lots and lots of shavings. He had rubber mats over the concrete, but either way I wanted to make sure he was comfortable at all times and that he wasn't standing on hard ground all day. I would take him out once a day to let him stretch out a bit. At the time I was at a place where it was all concrete, and so I'd walk him to the arena and not waste any time. He loved getting into the arena after standing in the stall all day. and the big door was open so he could see outside. His biggest problem was missing being outside with his herd.

Answer 3

The prognosis depends on how soon treatment was started and on how well the horse responds. The damage done during an episode of laminitis is caused by enzymes that break down the "glue" that binds the hoof capsule to the inner coffin bone. If these enzymes can be inhibited before extensive damage allows the coffin bone to rotate significantly or sink within the hoof capsule (called founder), the prognosis is good. If the owner has the vet and farrier working closely together to restore proper alignment of the the coffin bone with the hoof capsule, and xrays are taken as needed to confirm this, healing can progress as long as the metabolic issue that precipitated laminitis in the first place is corrected. Laminitis is often caused by ingesting overloads of either soluble starches as in cereal grains, or fructans in lush grasses and the resulting hormones and/or endotoxins released into blood bring about the enzyme elevations. Some cases occur due to mechanical concussion following work performed on hard surfaces or from kicking walls, or other sources. Whatever the cause, that needs to be addressed as part of the treatment. Restrictions on starch intake and time spent grazing are typical, and the horse may need to be evaluated for metabolic disease such as insulin resistance. The degree of medical management provided will be important to the outcome.



It is entirely possible that the horse will return to full function if treatment is successful. Many horses recover fully with only a proneness to laminitis as the residual outcome. So, it is too soon to be assuming anything.

Answer 4

Here's a useful link that clearly explains laminitis and it's difference to founder.



http://www.recoveryeq.com/laminitis_founder.htm



This is a hugely damaging disease that not enough people take seriously. Your best bet is to get him onto a treatment plan and complete rest asap. Good luck with him and I hope he is one of the lucky cases that gets through this ok.

Answer 5

Laminitic horses often recover quite well. Don't let others scare you too much.



Laminitis CAN be kind of scary, and it CAN be the death of a horse. In many cases though, if you catch it before it's too advanced, the horse can become sound again in a few months. It depends on if the coffin bone has rotated, and if so, how far. The coffin bone is the bone in the hoof that begins to separate from the hoof wall, causing the lameness you're seeing. It looks like this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Founder_severe_rotation.JPG



I had a mare back in high school who got laminitis once (oh man, I was ignorant then) because I left her out on pasture too much. X-rays revealed a degree or two of rotation. However, with short-term bute, pads, a diet, a farrier who reduced her toe and rounded it really well to reduce breakover, and a good recovery period, she was rideable again. I wouldn't have liked to put her through a jumping course, but since I just trail rode, she was fine.



Your lease horse may need special shoes, more constant farrier care and a carefully managed diet, and he may not be 100% capable of hard-impact work over longer periods, but he could be just fine for riding fairly soon. Don't give up hope!

Answer 6

I have dealt with TONS of laminitic and foundered horses. And Laminitis can be fixed, founder cannot. You need a good farrier. not a vet (oh boy here come the TDs now!!!) But i have actually seen vets cause founder & ruin horses. Give them drugs, give them more drugs. Thats there answer to everything, and that a major player in causing founder.



take it from me get a GOOD farrier with exp with these horses and you will be able to keep your horse rideable (if it hasnt progressed to full blown founder) which only xrays can tell you. U also may need to re-evaluate his/her diet. cutting starches, carbs and sugars.



The vet tech is mistaken.... Simply put (not really technical by any means) Laminitis is an inflammation of the laminiae. The Laminaie is what bonds the coffin bone to the horse. Founder is when the laminitis goes untreated/mistreated and the coffin bone actually begins to seperate from the horse, thus resulting in euthanazia. http://www.recoveryeq.com/laminitis_founder_pro.htm

Answer 7

I have a pony who had a severe case of laminitis when he was about 18 years old. He was turned over to a horse rescue, who nearly put him down a few times ("but he just had that look in his eyes"). I think there was a time when he couldn't even stand.



He healed up well, had corrective shoes at first but ended up barefoot. There is some rotation/sinking of the coffin, but not too bad, I guess. I got him about a year after that. I had also owned him when he was younger.



He is now 30 years old. From age 20 or so, I taught first my niece then my son to ride on him (walk, trot, canter). When the pony was 27, my son started learning to jump on him and jumped about a foot. When the pony turned 28 he started refusing jumps so we retired him from jumping. He is now 30 and my son still uses him for Pony Club mounted games and trail rides. He gets ridden about once a week or so. In the 10 years I've had him since he had laminitis, he's never been lame except when he got an abscess once. He also never had laminitis again. Every story will be different, but it is possible that your horse will become sound and rideable again once he gets through this.

Answer 8

Yes, my first pony had laminites. Her favorite thing to do was eat, and since we had never had a horse at our house our pasture was completely ungrazed, sugary, green grass. It was a mess. It was only moderate laminites, but only because we noticed so quickly and called the vet. She was out of work for probably 5 months, and for the first month the vet came out every day, and after that she came out about twice a week. We racked up a heck of a lot of vet bills, but in the end she was fine. Completely rideable, even for jumping, and no pain at all. It just takes a lot of hard work. Good luck!



This is her :) http://s596.photobucket.com/albums/tt47/SierraGal99/Best%20pix/?action=view¤t=n1379717382_30019422_5187.jpg

Answer 9

Laminitis, AKA Founder as I will call it in my answer, is a delicate thing to fix, and you really have to be cautious. Make your feed changes gradual, don't re-start exercise too quickly/suddenly, and be on the ball with your vet & farrier appointments.



Not the horse I own at the moment- but my first pony was foundering for a couple years straight when I owned her, then a couple more years when I gave her away, but now, she isn't!



The magic trick with her was to give her properly fitted shoes that helped her laminae sit better in her hoof for lack of a better term- the reason she was foundering was because of obesity & "equine diabetes", so that alone didn't fix it- but it helped.

The other trick was herbal remedies- that helped calm the pain, so we could exercise her to get the excess weight off. We also needed to get her off of sugary hay, grass, treats, etc. She can be fed a carrot every now and again, that's it for treats, otherwise it throws her into founder again.



It's a horrible experience because if it's caused by obesity, it's very difficult to fix- you can't exercise the horse when it's foundering, but if it doesn't lose this weight, it'll keep foundering, right? So that's the big issue with it. So, that's why you have to work diligently with your vet, farrier, feed schedule, boarding farm owner, etc.



Lots of people will tell you to take him off free choice food if he's on it and put him on a low cal hay- that did NOT work for my mare. It will work for some, if not most, horses. But in some cases, grass that is low in sugar is just what they need. Worked for the mare I used to own, apparently she's doing wonderfully now with the shoes, exercise, and herbal treatments.

Answer 10

I'm very sorry to hear about your horse ;-(



I have a number of ponies and they are all susceptible to laminitis. I have to closely monitor their diet and reduce their intake of grass. I check them daily by feeling their crest and heat in their feet. If they are even just a tiny bit lame or thick in their neck I pull them from grass completely for a few days or week.



The main concern is the sugar content in the grass, hay or other feeds given. I have found it easiest to let them graze during the night, the sugar levels are at their lowest (highest during the afternoon, rising from about 10am).



The sugar levels in the grass literally change by the hour and can be affected by many things. Many people think because the grass is short it is safer, grass that is moisture stressed is higher in sugar and grass that is having new flushes of growth.



Another thing to be mindful of is that your pony/horse does not have to be fat to get laminitis or founder. Laminitis can be caused by stress or even concussion laminitis from working on hard surfaces.



Hay is also something to be wary of, it depends on when the grass was cut as to how much sugar is in it. If it was cut in the afternoon it will be higher in sugars, if it was cut during the night it should be lower. The best way to be safe is to soak your hay to remove the excess sugars. I only do it for 30 minutes, it removes enough and does not leave the hay smelling or tasting yucky (especially in hot weather).



I have a success story you might be interested to hear about ;-)



My daughter has a stunning little welsh pony. Last October we took him to his first ever show. He did very well on the day and won his classes. However 2 days later he went down with stress laminitis. I called the vet immediately.



We bandaged his feet with pads, stabled him on a thick bed of straw, medicated him and monitored him closely. Despite our best efforts Ted kept having mini episodes every 2 days, where he seemed to get worse. After a few weeks I had him out in a day yard and the pads off his feet. He was better than when he first got sick, but still could hardly walk. We trucked in sand so he could dig his feet in and find hoof angles that he felt comfortable on.



We then got x-rays done of his feet. Both front feet had developed founder --- 18% rotation of his pedal bone! They also thought his hind feet had also rotated to some degree but did not x-ray them. Others have explained the different between laminitis and founder, so I wont repeat it, but there is a difference.



You don't trim the feet during an acute episode so once the vet felt he had stabilised we called in a master farrier. He looked at the x-rays with the vet (I was not present) and he arrived at my property grim faced. He said he would trim the pony to make him comfortable for now, but he did not expect to see me again as he recommended I put him down. I did not put shoes on him.



I spoke to the vet after this and she also recommended I put him down. It was heart breaking to know I was running out of options. However he had not given up and still had a bright eye, so I wanted to try more.



I researched every single thing I could and spoke to as many people as I could. Credit must go to gallop and barefoottrimmer from Y!A, who gave me much encouragement.



On Monday I booked Ted in to be put down at 10am on Thursday. I had researched some treatments and decided to try a few things. I discussed them with my vet and she did not think they were a good idea. I told her he was about to be dead, so I had nothing to lose.



Long story shorter (lol) I started the treatments on Mon night and by Wed lunch time he was walking the best he had in weeks. I phoned the vet clinic and cancelled his appointment.. the vet was stunned!



I nursed him carefully for a number of months and he slowly returned to his old self. He was wanting to run and play and I was concerned he would cause more damage. However I allowed him to "play" on a grassed area and he was trotting, cantering and bucking.



Now Ted is attending pony club and is trotting freely with a small rider and even jumping small jumps on soft sand. He has more get up and go than all of the other ponies and I have to hold him back on the lead. In the paddock he canters and even gallops with his mate.



We trim his feet every 3 or 4 weeks, that is very important now as his hoof grows very quickly and if we don't keep them short his feet crack back badly. He had a dent in his hoof from where the pedal bone dropped, now his hoof looks normal to anyone who does not know.

Answer 11

Laminitis can cause you to be unable to ride this horse ever again. It can sometimes be cured, do everything the vet tells you, because if it is not fixed you can end up having to euthanize the horse. Sorry but Laminitis is no joke.

Answer 12

The effect of laminitis can be extremely varied. It can be just a little soreness and inflammation that results in just a small event line on the hoof to a crippling episode with severe consequences. It could be that your horse will heal and be fine so don't get too far ahead of yourself. Try to figure out what caused the episode so that you can try to prevent it in the future.



Laminitis is brought on by a systemic problem in the horse. Without being too technical with terms, because of the systemic problem, blood is shunted away from the feet. The layers of the lamina react to the lack of blood flow and become inflamed and begin to separate bringing about a separation of the hoof wall. Again, it can happen varying degrees, but if a horse has a serious episode, it is likely he will be prone to have repeat episodes in the future.



Hope he continues to improve. Pay attention to what the vet has to say. If he has wall separation, he should not wear shoes if you have had him shod. And try to determine what caused the laminitis.

Answer 13

I own a shetland and she gets laminitis ALL THE TIME! Her hooves grow like crazy. Keep her in a small area with NO GREEN GRASS. And just feed her hay. Its worked for my pony.....

Hope I helped ,

x