Buying a horse that has had Laminitis

tallyho! said:
Would rather buy a laminitic and a than a horse with other defects - at least you know it is reversible.
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That does depend on what caused the laminitis in the first place. If it was just one incident and was perhaps because the horse broke into the feedroom and scoffed a whole bag of barley, then will probably be a one-off. However, a lot of laminitics (particularly when it is recurrent) actually turn out to have Cushings or insulin resistance and then it can be a much harder task to keep the laminitis at bay and can be heart-breaking for the owner. Having gone through the experience myself, I wouldn't want to repeat it, so no, I wouldn't buy a known laminitic personally.

That doesn't mean that I am writing off laminitics and I know there are lots of laminitics that lead useful and successful working lives, but I still wouldn't want to buy one!
 
Polo*Pony said:
Oh, I should add - in my experience a good farrier is essential. Even - dare I say it? - more so than a good vet, when it comes to laminitis. As they see your horse's hooves regularly they will tell you if the slightest thing has changed, so that you can stay ahead of any changes.

Times to look out for are end of April/May and September - what does the Welsh D look like now, is he a reasonable size? What's his crest like? (I know there are other signs, but these ones can be useful indicators).
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Very interested in your remark about your Welsh D and the crest. A friend of mine has been involved in a lot of laminitis recovery work, and she feels that she is dealing with a lot of Sec D cobs with insulin resistance, and corresponding laminitis. We were pondering the connection between breeding for a crest and therefore breeding from insulin resistant horses within the breed.

I don't know enough about the breeding of Sec D cobs and the desired confirmation, though a lot do seem to have a pronounced crest.
 
I wonder how many people who said that they would have one have actually had one...
I've had 3 laminitics over the years (First due to steroid use, second due to acute cushings in a 4 y.o. mare and third was just 'laminitis'. )

None of these horses had a lot of grass. None of them were over weight.. (The cushing's mare was almost skeletal) All were agressively managed with huge amounts of vet intervention. All died horribly.

Having been thru my soulmate having foot sections and 6 months of box rest and all the rest, I would not and could not do it again. It is a load of bull that it can be 'managed' if you know what you are doing. SOmetimes it can - sometimes it can't and I defy anyone to tell the difference. I had a horse with laminitis again I would put it to sleep day 1 and save the poor animal the enormous amount of pain that I have watched my best friend ever go thru'... and 2 other ponies who deserved better from me.

I am crying writing this and If you are willing to risk this amount of pain for your friend and heart ache for yourself then go for it... But don't buy it cos it's cheap cos, trust me, it isn't and whats more your vets bills will not be covered by insurance.

Yes there are cases where ponies are well but there are more where they suffer for years and more where the horse is given the kindness of being PTS.

Please remember that there is no such thing as 'a bit of laminitis.'

BnBx
 
blitznbobs said:
I wonder how many people who said that they would have one have actually had one...
I've had 3 laminitics over the years (First due to steroid use, second due to acute cushings in a 4 y.o. mare and third was just 'laminitis'. )

None of these horses had a lot of grass. None of them were over weight.. (The cushing's mare was almost skeletal) All were agressively managed with huge amounts of vet intervention. All died horribly.

Having been thru my soulmate having foot sections and 6 months of box rest and all the rest, I would not and could not do it again. It is a load of bull that it can be 'managed' if you know what you are doing. SOmetimes it can - sometimes it can't and I defy anyone to tell the difference. I had a horse with laminitis again I would put it to sleep day 1 and save the poor animal the enormous amount of pain that I have watched my best friend ever go thru'... and 2 other ponies who deserved better from me.

I am crying writing this and If you are willing to risk this amount of pain for your friend and heart ache for yourself then go for it... But don't buy it cos it's cheap cos, trust me, it isn't and whats more your vets bills will not be covered by insurance.

Yes there are cases where ponies are well but there are more where they suffer for years and more where the horse is given the kindness of being PTS.

Please remember that there is no such thing as 'a bit of laminitis.'

BnBx
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totally agree with you here about not all can be managed. Sorry for your loss <<Hugs>> and I wish that some people on here would actually speak from experience rather than twaddle to make an argument.
 
blitznbobs said:
I wonder how many people who said that they would have one have actually had one...
I've had 3 laminitics over the years (First due to steroid use, second due to acute cushings in a 4 y.o. mare and third was just 'laminitis'. )

None of these horses had a lot of grass. None of them were over weight.. (The cushing's mare was almost skeletal) All were agressively managed with huge amounts of vet intervention. All died horribly.

Having been thru my soulmate having foot sections and 6 months of box rest and all the rest, I would not and could not do it again. It is a load of bull that it can be 'managed' if you know what you are doing. SOmetimes it can - sometimes it can't and I defy anyone to tell the difference. I had a horse with laminitis again I would put it to sleep day 1 and save the poor animal the enormous amount of pain that I have watched my best friend ever go thru'... and 2 other ponies who deserved better from me.

I am crying writing this and If you are willing to risk this amount of pain for your friend and heart ache for yourself then go for it... But don't buy it cos it's cheap cos, trust me, it isn't and whats more your vets bills will not be covered by insurance.

Yes there are cases where ponies are well but there are more where they suffer for years and more where the horse is given the kindness of being PTS.

Please remember that there is no such thing as 'a bit of laminitis.'

BnBx
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I am very moved by your post, I feel deeply for your loss, and understand how it feels to have a horse suffer from this cruel illness. We were lucky and our mare has survived and recovered, and now we are aware of her insulin resistance, we can at least try to stop any re occurance. It is because of what we went through that sparked our interest in laminitis and a determination to understand and manage things.
 
I would consider it seriously if the horse was perfect in every way - however i would want to see x-rays of the feet to see how serious it had been. if there was any rotation i would have to walk away.

I currently have a mare with concussive laminitis in one foot - she was neglected in the past so i can only assume this is something that has happened before due to the level of rotation in that one foot (the other has perfect balance and alignment). She is now able to be turned out again (although in a muzzle - i dont want weight gain to compound the problem) and is ridden lightly - building up to be able to compete at dressage again. Her jumping career is over - that has been decided, and she will need to wear heart bar shoes probably for the rest of her life - which isnt cheap.

Its a heartbreaking condition, and to take it on would be a risky decision to make, but if you felt you could manage it the old addage of each to their own...
 
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blitznbobs said:
I wonder how many people who said that they would have one have actually had one...
I've had 3 laminitics over the years (First due to steroid use, second due to acute cushings in a 4 y.o. mare and third was just 'laminitis'. )

None of these horses had a lot of grass. None of them were over weight.. (The cushing's mare was almost skeletal) All were agressively managed with huge amounts of vet intervention. All died horribly.

Having been thru my soulmate having foot sections and 6 months of box rest and all the rest, I would not and could not do it again. It is a load of bull that it can be 'managed' if you know what you are doing. SOmetimes it can - sometimes it can't and I defy anyone to tell the difference. I had a horse with laminitis again I would put it to sleep day 1 and save the poor animal the enormous amount of pain that I have watched my best friend ever go thru'... and 2 other ponies who deserved better from me.

I am crying writing this and If you are willing to risk this amount of pain for your friend and heart ache for yourself then go for it... But don't buy it cos it's cheap cos, trust me, it isn't and whats more your vets bills will not be covered by insurance.

Yes there are cases where ponies are well but there are more where they suffer for years and more where the horse is given the kindness of being PTS.

Please remember that there is no such thing as 'a bit of laminitis.'

BnBx
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Firstly can I say massive ((((((((((((hugs))))))))))) I'm so sorry for your loss.

I am speaking from masses of expereance when I say not all Lami cases should be given up on. Everyone said I should have given up on Lucy when she had her first attack of Lami. As I said before she had rotation in all four feet (confermed by X-rays) I have seen Lami at it's worst :( While I hope to never see a case that bad again, had I given up on Lucy when she had the attack I would have missed out on another 9 years with her doing all the things she loved. She had a couple of very mild attacks which I caught very early on and afew days on Bute and restricted rations and she was right as rain again. I'm not saying it was easy to manage her condition but it was possable even when she was on steriods.
And my new pony Merryn should he just be PTS due to a mild attack in one foot last June? I took him on knowing full well he had lami and mainly because I knew I could cope with his condition. I will always be aware and cautious and manage him the same as I did Lucy. I hope to have many many happy years with him and he'll teach the OHs children to ride :)
I'm not saying it's easy to manage Lami, It's not it's bloomin hard work and a constant worry, but I don't feel thats a reason to just right a horse off.
Maybe i'm mad but as long as the horse isn't in perminant pain and suffering I would always give it a chance.
 
I would consider it very carefully, as I own two ponies who have had laminitis (unrelated and unrelated causes) one is still whizzing around looking after small children in her early 20s but is managed with care, the other is stiffer and older but is in happy retirement.
It would depend, as others on history, whether you trusted the sellers and whether you wanted to take the risk.
 
I'd consider it. It would depend how serious it was in the first place and how messed up the hooves are as a result. If it had only had mild lami then I wouldn't be quite so bothered but if it was a really bad case then I wouldn't because I wouldn't like to jump a horse like that due to concussion.

Any native is prone to lami so you always have to watch their weight. Obviously one with lami you'd just have to watch a bit closer.
 
The only way to manage a horse that has had an occurance of Lamanitis is if you have your own facilities at home to keep the horse, can take a digital pulse, have a vet who has in depth knowledge of Laminitis and a farrier who will work with your vet and again has an in depth understanding of Laminitis. You need to also be aware that you may need a lot of dedication and spare time to look after your horse if it's gets Laminitis again.

No one completely understands Laminitis but one thing is for sure that you need to keep the horses weight well down (see it's ribs and haunches) and be very careful with grazing (a small area of old traditional pasture grass is a must). Anything can set off laminitis from an infection, stress, steroids, concushion on hard ground, worms etc. so there is always that risk there. It's a bit like an uexploded bomb - you never know when it will go off.
 
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