Helpful Hints for your Laminitic

What Is Laminitis?: Laminitis is one of the most common causes of lameness and disability of horses and ponies in the United Kingdom. Laminitis is a painful inflammatory condition of the tissues that bonds the hoof wall to the pedal bone in the horse’s hoof.

Laminitis, commonly called Founder, is an acutely painful inflammation of the foot. It occurs most often in the front feet although it can affect the hind feet as well. Founder is the name given to the resultant tissue damage and complications following one or a series of acute attacks of laminitis.

In the worst case, permanent damage to the laminae can result and the attachment of the coffin bone to the hoof wall breaks down. The whole weight of the horse bears down on the coffin bone, and without the attachment to the hoof wall, the bone rotates down and can actually be pushed right through the sole to the ground.

How To Identify Laminitis:

  • Horse shifts weight from side to side
  • Difficulty walking
  • Hooves warm to touch
  • Strong pounding pulse at digital artery around fetlock
  • Horse rocks back off front feet to keep weight off them

If just the two front feet are affected, the horse will stand in the "founder stance" with his hind legs well up under the body carrying as much weight as possible, and the front legs placed forward with the weight on the heel. He will be reluctant to walk and will turn by leaning back and pivoting around on the rear legs.

If all four feet are affected, the horse will lie down for extended periods and may refuse to get up. If forced to stand, he will pull his hind feet and fore feet in toward each other under the centre of his body.

Other symptoms include heavy breathing and glazed eyes due to pain. The feet will feel hot and the digital artery, located over the fetlock joint, will have a pounding pulse.

Each attack of acute laminitis can leave a ring formation on the hoof. A horse suffering from chronic founder will have multiple rings on his hooves. He might also have seedy toe, a separation of the hoof wall from the sensitive laminae in the toe area. If left untrimmed, the hoof wall also overgrows to form a "slipper foot".

What Causes Laminitis? :

The true cause of laminitis is still unclear, but there are a number of situations that may lead to the condition. Most commonly, these are:

  • Excess of rich grass-Typically this is grass high in soluble carbohydrate in the spring and autumn.
  • Feed overload when a horse breaks into a feed bin for example or when a horse is given very large meals. ·
  • Obesity- Overweight animals will be more susceptible to laminitis.
  • Toxaemia, i.e. toxins circulating in the blood stream-This can be caused by a number of things such as diarrhoea, peritonitis or metritis form a retained placenta after foaling.
  • Trauma- Excess concussion (driving horses are particularly prone) or uneven weight bearing when one limb is immobilised due to an injury can cause an attack.
  • Some drugs-particularly corticosteriods, may result in increased constriction in the arteries of the foot which will restrict blood flow.
  •  Stress may make horses more prone to developing laminitis. When stressed from a long journey for example, a horse will release higher levels of corticosteroid hormones which may have a similar effect to administered steroids
  • Dietary contribution- An excess of lush grass, or an overload of hard feed can lead to laminitis. The path of events that leads to this laminitis is thought to be as follows:
    • Too much food in the stomach- Soluble carbohydrate that should be digested in the small intestine overflows into the hind gut.
    • The bacterial balance in the hind gut is upset and bacteria that prefer soluble carbohydrate proliferate and take over from fibre-digesting bacteria.
    • Death and rupture of the fibre-digesting bacteria due to acid conditions leads to endotoxins (poisons) being released. The acid environment also makes the gut wall more permeable (leaky) and toxins enter the blood stream. Blood circulation and pressure is affected and laminitis will follow.

How To Prevent Laminitis:

Prevention is by far preferable to cure. To prevent Laminitis you must reduce the exposure the horse has to causes.

  1. Do not allow your pony or horse to get too fat.
  2.  Ensure your farrier is called to trim the feet regularly.
  3.  Restrict grazing especially in the spring. Be aware there is often a grass flush in the autumn.
  4.  Use a muzzle for short periods if you are unable to strip graze or manage the pasture. One with a grid on the bottom will allow the pony to drink and nibble.
  5.  Provide hay and/or straw if pony is stabled or in a bare paddock.
  6.  Feed a low carbohydrate, high fibre diet. Consider using a mineral and vitamin supplement to provide a balanced diet if you are feeding below recommended quantities of compound feed
  7.  Avoid feeding excesses and keep the horse at a reasonable weight.
  8.  Watch for and avoid grass blooms on pastures. Pull the horse off the fields and onto a dry lot if necessary. Feed hay in the morning and turn the horse out after dew has evaporated from the grass.
  9.  Keep grain in closed bins and the door to the feed room closed.
  10.  Give the horse unlimited access to fresh, clean water, except immediately after exercise, when the amount should be regulated.
  11.  Make changes to routines slowly and progressively, to avoid stress.
  12.  Feed according to your horse's workload. Adjust the ration if the level of work alters.

What To Do If You Think Your Horse Has Laminitis:

  • 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.
  • Identify and remove the cause of the problem
  • Treatment is given to relieve pain and reduce swelling and the horse is put on a carefully monitored feeding program. X-rays of the feet may be required to monitor progress.
  • Keep the foot in as normal a shape as possible, corrective trimming at regular intervals by a farrier will be necessary. Corrective shoeing might also be indicated.
  • 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 complete box rest and shouldn't be walked until 30 days after he is sound without the use of painkilling drugs.

Long term management of a horse with laminitis requires careful attention to feeding to prevent a recurrence. The horse will probably have to be kept off pasture and fed hay.

Chronic cases can be kept reasonably sound by proper trimming and shoeing and a sensible feeding program. However, if the horse cannot be kept pain-free, euthanasia may be the kindest option.

What To Feed A Horse With Laminitis

Commonly owners are led to believe that they should starve a horse or pony with laminitis, but this is not the case. It is vital that the horse or pony with laminitis receives a fibrous diet supplemented with minerals and vitamins to keep the metabolism working.

  • Do not starve the animal completely or you may risk inducing hyperlipeamia. This occurs when high levels of fat are released into the blood in response to starvation.
  • Reduce hay and bulk out with straw
  • Use an alfalfa or alfalfa/straw chaff to provide available calcium in the diet as it has been suggested that laminitics are calcium deficient
  •  Feed a high fibre diet rather than a high calorie
  • Feed at least 1% of body weight as forage (oat straw +/or hay) split into frequent meals
  • Feed a suitable supplement to provide all the necessary vitamins and minerals
  • Feed frequent small meals