Apples - Lameness = Laminitis?

T

Taigh

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Any views would be welcome please......

Last year we had 3 horses grazing a field with a dozen apple trees. At some point they all went lame. We spoke to the farrier about the lameness and connection with apples and he thought we were a bunch of mad women and dismissed it. When they went out of this field they became sound almost instantly. I searched the internet for a connection between apples and laminitis and couldnt find any direct connection.

This year my two have been in this field with the trees and they are now both lame. They do not have hot feet and they are not hobbling. They are uncomfortable on all their feet. They are now in a starvation paddock with plenty of old hay and i am hoping for a quick recovery. I will never let them go back in this field but......is this laminitis? And is this caused by the apples?
 
How many apples are on the ground?

In my orchard there are several hundredweight on the ground and I take all steps to prevent the horses getting to them.
 
There are a few windfalls each day that they eat but not like masses on the ground. They have been in this field for a few months so the apples were only just growing and not falling then.
 
It could well be laminitis. Look at the The Laminitis Clinic website for more help and management of laminitics. The excess sugar in the apples could be enough to bring on laminitis - I'm sure there are more apples than just a few - they could be eating them stright of the trees.
 
If they are really only eating a few then it's not likely to be apples causing laminitis. However mine are perfectlyhappy to eat apples straight from the tree and if you've not got your eye on them then I'd suspect that's what they've been doing.

What does your vet say?
 
Also meant to say that heat in their feet is no indication of laminitis - you need to check their digital pulses to see if they are 'bounding'. If you don't know how to check them or don't know what normal is get your vet or farrier to show you where they are so you can keep a check on them in future.
 
The vet is saying as they are not hobbling and there is not any heat in the feet, take the apples away and keep them on soaked hay for a week and check for improvements.

I am sure they are eating them off the trees as well as the few (or some, just not bucket fulls) windfalls so the actual amount they are eating i really dont know.

But the fact i really trust our farrier and his knowledge and last year he made me feel a bit stupid for suggesting it, made me think it was me being just a bit mad. I am now convinced and know really that the apples have caused lameness.

What my question is .....Is this sort of lameness laminitis?
 
apples are waaay too sugary for horses to eat as many as they like. i limit mine to 1 or 2 a day, no way would i let them into an orchard, because of laminitis and also colic.
carrots too - i know of a kid who managed to give her pony so many carrots that despite her parents' very careful management of him (in barn, rubbish hay, no grass) his chronic laminitis returned.
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Thank you for the replies......i have looked at the websites and all the symptoms, stiffness, how they stand etc mine dont have.
They only appear lame when i rope them on a small circle when asked to trot and when they are tied standing on concrete one of them is just lifting each back foot as if trying to get comfortable. When walking around the field they look fine.
 
Ignoring the apples, is the ground in that field particularly hard/lumpy/stoney? Could they be making themselves sore from the ground.
 
A horse does not necessarily have to stand in a certain way to be suffering from Laminitis.

The digital pulse will give an indication but if the horse is footy or lame then Laminitis could be the cause.

The sugars from apples could easily set off Laminitis as could a number of other things.

Keep you horse well away from the apples and feed them well soaked hay (1 hour at least).
 
If horses eat too many NSCs (Non Structural Carbohydrates such as sugar, starch or fructan) then a chain of processes within their digestive systems can result in a build up of endotoxins and exotoxins in the bloodstream. The endotoxaemia results in impaired circulation, particularly in the feet. This is a fundamental cause of laminitus.

I don't think your seeing laminitus just yet but you are seeing the results of a sugar rich diet.

Horses + A dozen apples trees = Bad news
 
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