Ad lib hay and laminitis risk - sorry, long!

[RPM]

Posting to see if anyone has experienced anything similar and has any suggestions for next winter.

My three horses (all barefoot) live out all year on poor grazing and have some hay all year round. I have a regular supplier of "coarser" meadow hay and all three of them seem to manage very well on it - even the one with previous foot problems who I treat very much as a potential laminitic. I haven't had to soak the hay (although I haven't had it tested).

This winter for the first time I changed from putting hay out twice a day (plus two feeds of Fast Fibre) to putting large round bales in the field so they could have ad lib hay. I gradually cut down the amount of Fast Fibre per day, although they still have .75kg each a day. This seemed to work well, the horses looked well and happy and I was happy, too - particularly in the snowy weather. My retired boy with previous foot problems (caudal heel pain diagnosis at 7, barefoot since and now 16) showed no signs of footiness (he is always very sensitive to dietary and other changes) although he did put on weight. I took his rug off and he's gradually slimmed down a little.

My other two are in work - hacking over the winter and some schooling/light jumping in the summer when field conditions permit as we don't have a school. They've had less work this winter because the weather has been so awful and we have had a lot of mud to contend with.

Both are at an ideal weight with no other health problems. They have gone longer between trims as I have no hardstanding for the farrier, and they have had their first trim since Christmas today. Neither of their feet looked terrible, as to a certain extent they self trim, although I was aware of some "old" bruising on one's front feet.

One weekend in mid February, my Welsh D seemed a bit lethargic on a hack, so aware he might be feeling his feet from weeks standing in mud and snow, I cut it short and went home. He wasn't lame and I am very aware of laminitis risks. I kept a close eye on him - no sign of lameness either in the field, on tight turns on the drive or on the tarmac. The next weekend there were signs of bruising on his front feet, no obvious pulse or warmness, no lameness (I got a friend to help trot him up etc.)

He had a couple of weeks off because of the dreadful weather. Whilst the "old" bruising was still apparent, he was sound and foward going on hacks, so I haven't been too concerned. He is a real wimp and will always let me know if something is wrong!

Fast forward to his trim today. I mentioned the bruising to the farrier. His opinion was that he had actually suffered a laminitis attack in all four feet and showed me some small holes he'd found in the sole of one hind he'd found when tidying them up. He said these holes were typical of small abcesses that had resulted from a laminitis attack that had burst on their own. He shows no sign of tenderness now and has no white line stretch. The farrier describes his hoof quality as "excellent" and his feet are seeming as concave as ever and his soles are nice and thick.

I know my horse well and I know how badly he reacts to pain of any kind. Even on days he doesn't come out of the field (we have no stables, only a make shift indoor tie up point suitable only under supervision to tack up or check over), I always spend time watching them move and I am sure he has not been lame at any stage.

Farrier's advice is to keep an eye on him and make sure he works hard! Farrier is convinced that the change to ad lib hay and a reduction in work level from hacking four times a week to occasional hacks weather permitting may have been enough to tip him into a laminitis attack.

I am aware of Cushings risk etc as he is now 15 and will obviously monitor him closely, but I just wanted to find out if anyone else had experienced anything similar and what I could have done differently to avoid the problem.

 

[samlf]

Dont beat yourself up, it's happened now and you sound conscientous enough to learn from it.
I dont feed ad lib hay in the field like that, purely for the reason they eat it so quickly!
If I were you, I'd still feed ad lib but put it out in small holed nets and probably soak it too.

You can get a free cushings lab fees voucher at talkaboutlaminitis.co.uk

 

[Aarrghimpossiblepony]

Re the ad lib hay.

We put hay out twice a day they eat it up and then go wandering around looking for something to eat. And there's always something.

I've noticed in the field across from ours, where they feed ad lib hay, you rarely see the ponies anywhere except round the hay place (big round bale feeder). The field looks like the Somme around the feeder, but elsewhere it has had a covering of grass all winter so they would have found something to forage.

 

[DawnR]

ad lib hay is fine for a laminitic as long as its not too rich and soaked etc, like mentioned above its better to spread the hay around so they have to walk around to get it instead of standing in one spot, my mare is overweight and on a diet but my vet said don't starve her of hay, just cut the sugar out.

 

[RPM]

Hi,

Thanks for the replies.

If my horse was overweight, I would consider it necessary to soak the hay or slow down his eating rate, but he isn't! He is around 498kg on the weight tape at a full up 15.3hh with no shoes, has no fat deposits and his neck is not cresty. There were times during the worst of the winter I was considering giving him some haylage as I was worried he was getting a little too much on the slim side. In the summer when he is in full work, he is the one that needs most feeding and I often have to add to his basic diet (I've used Ride and Relax with success).

At other yards I have soaked hay when necessary, but the hay from this supplier seems to suit all of them without soaking and for many reasons I would prefer not to soak it that is unnecessary.

The horses are often away from the hay in another area of the field and the water is a good walk so I know they have to move around. Their favoured resting area is at the far end of the field even though there is natural shelter all round.

I've always used my retired possible laminitic as an early warning indicator (obviously never putting him at risk!). He is very sensitive to small changes in his diet and in the sugar content/availabity of grass. Oddly, although he did put on some weight, he has been fine throughout with no laminitis signs. I took his rug off whilst it was still quite cold to help him loose the excess weight and he has slimmed down a bit.

The Welsh D who has been affected has never had laminitis before, which is why I am surprised by what has happened, particularly as he is most definitely not overweight.

There is nowhere safe to hang nets whilst the horses are unattended and the land is rented so there are limitations to what I can do. By the amount of time the large round bales last, I've worked out that on average they're eating the equivalent of just over one and a half regular small bales a day, a bit more in cold weather. So they seem to be self-regulating at pretty much what I'd have given them any way.

I'm wondering if the most relevant factor is the reduction in his work load or maybe even stress caused by the constant bad weather, as he is a bit of a worrier.

 

[TGM]

If he is 15, not overweight and never had laminitis before then I think my first approach would be a Cushings test.

 

[noblesteed]

Could be cushings or ems, the tests can be done.

Could it be a toxic episode that caused it? My lami-risk had a mild case similar to what you described in November, he was reluctant on a hack one day, but after a few days off was fine, on next farrier visit he found signs of a lami attack. Turns out it was haylage that had caused it. He's been fine since he's been on hay.
Could your horse have eaten something unusual? Been stressed? Was there a dodgy patch int he hay?

 

[CBFan]

I think the key with Lami prevention is getting the balance right between feed and exercise, and while your horse doesn't look overweight, the additional forage and reduced exercise have been enough to tip him over the edge - the same happened with my boy last year. It's easily done. My boy was getting pretty much add lib this winter until Christmas when I started restricting it... this has paid off as he is now at an easily manageable ideal weight going into spring, meaning that only the occasional day with a muzzle on is neccesary...Maybe next year, you could do simililar - feed add lib to a point and then cut back well in advance of spring?