Barefoot laminitis help!!!

[Monkers]

Hi all,
I have a 6 year old warmblood, barefoot mare who is really struggling with the grass. I bought her last autumn and she coped fine on good grass at that point and fine all winter. As far as I know she was out on grass all last summer without issue apart from being overweight.
she is now slim, and in work although is a spooky, hot ride.
until a couple of months ago she coped barefoot on any terrain. Now she can’t cope with gravel. Droppings have been loose for a couple of months and she sometimes just passes a little water. Things improve after a few days without rain but as soon as there is a shower she goes footy and loose droppings again.
there is almost no grass in her paddock and the other lami types she shares with are all fine and coping with changes in the weather and have normal droppings. I appreciate that short stressed grass is more sugary but it is ground level short so she can’t be consuming much.
this morning for the first time she has elevated digital pulses and stained back legs from passing water.
she’s been on Protexin gut balancer for about 6 weeks and it’s not helped at all. She also gets equimins balancer, chaff and salt twice a day. She’s in during the day with hay.
any advice on feed supplements to help bring her gut back under control? Obviously I could stable her 24hrs a day for a while but would be a last resort.
thank you! ?

 

[HappyHollyDays]

Bring her in on a deep shavings bed for 7 days to get it out of her system, soak and rinse all her hay well to reduce sugar content and try something like RonFields Remount which is an emergency detox. I’ve used it on my barefoot WB pony who has EMS when he’s been having a flare up and it’s good stuff. It cleanses the liver to get rid of all the nasties building up in the blood stream. A high percentage Milk thistle once detoxed will carry on keeping the liver healthy and put a muzzle on her. You have my sympathy, it’s a crippling disease and prevention is better than cure. I’ve switched my two over to a track system and it’s worked well for the Connie but the EMS one is still not 100%. No outward signs but the Farrier wasn’t happy with him last week.

Edit to add, ditch the Protexin, it’s got alfalfa in it which can be a trigger for some horses not only with their feet but making them spooky.

 

[Highmileagereindeer]

Being turned out in wet weather will soften the soles and frog, and barefoots in the UK are not the tough rock crushers that hot, dry countries see. Be prepared to use boots after a wet spell, and as above, maybe consider that there may be EMS lurking in the wings. Horses graze like sheep, in that they nip the growing tip off the grass and move on. Is there any way you can give her unstressed grass to see if it makes a difference?

 

[PurBee]

You said she’s worse after rain, which immediately made me consider some type of grass tetany. I’d get a vet in to do a blood test for electrolytes as these can become imbalanced in horses and cattle after downpours - rainy days can wash certain minerals out of the grass, and cause nitrates and potassium to peak. High nitrates in horses can cause runny stools. Grass tetany of cattle is mostly seen and common, but it does occur in horses.

https://wagwalking.com/horse/condition/grass-tetany

Im in ireland and grass tetany is very common in cattle due to the high rainfall climate. I have my horses on salt/magnesium/multi mineral balancer all year round to keep their electrolyte/mineral levels stable, despite the grass changing constantly due to high rainfall.
The symptoms you describe of footiness and loose stools i experienced with BF horses when first on this land/climate, i didnt know about tetany back then and as youve said she’s been on protexin for 6 wks with no change, i’d certainly get electrolytes into your mare very soon.

If she was on this same paddock last year without issue, the other factor could be a change of hay supply. I once had a very high nitrate haylage causing tetany-type symptoms in a youngster. Was she on minerals last summer and not this summer? Any bagged feed changes?

Prolonged diarrhoea is concerning, so i would recommend vet visit to check up and pull blood to check electrolyte levels, liver enzymes.
I wouldnt ride her while in this condition as she’ll be spooky due to muscular discomfort/hypomagnesia possible.

Another thing that can cause the symptoms you describe are gut parasite issues. Is her worming programme adequate? Again, vet needed to assess, as many weeks of the runs and changed behaviour with lami is indicative of a serious disruption in the horses health, needing assessment by a vet. There are other signs and symptoms to differentiate between illness states and you need a set of equine vet eyes on the horse to help you determine the true cause of the problem.

Edit to add: just saw you said she’s on equimins balancer - i used that and i add a desertspoon of magnesium on top,due to its low mag levels.
I’d definitely get a vet to pull bloods for electrolyte levels before changing anything, so you get an idea of where the imbalance is, instead of guessing.
You said other lami horses are fine while she isn’t - are you all on the same hay supply?

 

[Monkers]

Thank you all for the replies. I will ditch the protexin and I have ordered some stuff from trinity consultants and will try that instead. I cant really keep her in overnight on her own but will wire her off a tiny piece of paddock and soak her hay.
I haven’t heard of tetany in horses but will definitely look into that. She has free choice of salt and lo salt at 2:1 to cover electrolytes and she does make use of it.
she Was on a basic feed of pony nuts and sugary chaff when I picked her up so I doubt she had been fed anything more technical than that. No change to bagged feed. Hay can vary a bit from my supplier and it’s obviously now the end of the 2021 crop. Current batch is stalky and will be high lignin so not great. All other horses are on the same and they are all ok.
she wasn’t very well looked after in previous home. She was allowed to get fat and crusty I doubt she saw a wormer. She had Pramox in December. Last worm count was 275epg two weeks ago. She had equest (not pramox) at the same time. Probably not ideal timing but she needed doing.
she’s now slim And not cresty. Feet not particularly warm but I can see her pulses, I don’t need to feel them!
she has loose droppings rather than diarrhoea Some are normal but not every day.