Can a ribby youngster get laminitis?

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zoeshiloh

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I will hold my hands up and say I do not understand/know much about laminitis - yes I've read the books/magazine articles, and know the signs and symptoms, but last year was the first time I had dealt with it (broodmare on lush grass). It really knocked me back (16hh TBxID with foal at foot able to get it??), and now everytime something looks footy I instantly think it is laminitis!

Yesterday my youngster looked really sore on her near fore walking across the field. There is no abnormal heat etc in the feet, and no obvious signs of laminitis. There is also no other injuries, and she has no stones etc in her feet. However, she was in a field which was quite flinty, and I wonder if perhaps she has trodden on a stone and bruised her foot. This morning she looked a bit worse on it - vet is coming this afternoon anyway, but I wanted to ask opinions of those more savvy about laminitis. She is ribby (not overweight!) but also not underweight - you can see her ribs but she doesn't look too thin. I have been feeding her a lot though to try and bulk her up a bit, which is why I am thinking it might be laminitis. However, she has been out on lush grass for last two years, and this year is on rather poor grazing... I am hoping that she has just bruised her foot, but I can't get rid of this nagging in the back of my head that it is more sinister! She is due to go to the Suffolk show in 10 days time!
 
Mine was the same last year. He was sore on his fronts, moving the weight from side to side and had warm (all four) feet. I didn't think they could get lami at that age so assumed it was from stony ground.
Annoying neighbour who knows everything there is to know about horses (and youngsters) said 'It's def laminitis, call the vet'
I called the vet. He told me to stop panicking and that I should be more worried about my older mare getting it. Stony ground was the cause, the 'knowing' neighbour now interferes at regular intervals and I've subsequently learned that she spouts a load of bull and that I should trust my own instincts.
My money's on bruising.
 
my money would be on bruising too! They can get laminitis from racing around on hard ground though, I know because we had that with our youngster, and stress, and being lame in another leg so compensating........and the list goes on! The term laminitis basically refers to any inflammation of the laminae. Check for raised pulses, I can always find a pulse in all of ours but now know to look for fast and strong, the pulses can also raise from injury though so still not a sure sign. If you are feeding her up try to use forage based feeds rather than cereal and then at least you are covering things from that angle. In this case I am sure the vet will put your mind at ease when he visits.
 
Laminitis can be brought on by non-nutritional factors, such as stress, post foaling problems, acute renal failure.

It is usual for laminitis to affect both forefeet simultaneously, and some cases affect all four.

I think it's unlikely your youngster has laminitis.

It may be, as you say a trauma to the foot caused by stones, but there is a chance it is the start of an abscess. These can be caused by small pieces of flinty material finding their way between the layers of hoof around the wall of the hoof, particularly in wet conditions.

Heat is normally associated with abscess, but this may take a day or two to build.
 
Thank you everyone - I have to say my gut feeling is a bruised foot as she has a few decent sized stones in her field (and everytime I remove them, new ones appear!) but since my out of the blue lami experience last year, I just get paranoid at every little limp!
 
I'd say bruised soles! My boy was bad around january / february time and since then I have been using keratex hoof hardner on his soles and he has been sooooo much better.

I think they're a little delecate when they're still so young...
 
Yes they can get it, it isn't just brought on my being overweight but your horse could have trod on something causing her to feel bruised.
 
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