Can concussion cause LGL? (Barefoot Q)

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Teamo

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I took my horse's back shoes off about 8 weeks ago. 4 weeks ago I started hacking him out. He's been out on four long hacks (over some rough terrain) - the rest just short road hacks. This last time, though, he has come back with sore feet :(.

He trotted home fine on the road - no sign of lameness, but the following morning he was very footy over stones. He also has a (slightly) exaggerated heel first landing, and doesn't seem comfortable on his back feet in general.

I'm worried it's LGL, brought on by concussion (we did some faster work on this hack). He also broke out of his field the night he came back from the hack, and got on to the long grass in the adjoining paddock, so a double whammy!

I've never had a horse with laminitis before, and am starting to panic! He's a TB, not overweight, and not generally that sensitive to feeds/grass. Any advice? Does it sound like laminitis, or could the symptoms be related to bruising of the hoof wall, or something else?

Feeling like a crappy owner :(
 
Trauma can cause laminitis, yes. Otherwise, he might have bruised soles. Both will cause inflammation in the feet. Best take it easy for a few days.
 
Thanks for the reply. His soles don't seem to be sensitive; its more around the hoof wall and a little on the heel. He's off games until he's back to 100%, I just hope its not LGL.
 
If you are worried about LGL keep him in for a couple of days on a soft bed and soaked hay and see if there is an improvement.

Maybe worth investing in some hoof boots so you can combi hacks out barefoot and booted to aid conditioning. :) It's a lot of work to be doing with a freshly out of shoes pony, maybe she/he has just worn down her feet too much?
 
Try not to feel too bad, we are all probably guilty of knowing better with hindsight. :)

I'd treat as a laminitis episode too. Better safe than sorry. Grazing muzzle if he must go out, soaked hay when in on a deep conformable bed. I'd keep off stony surfaces as well. My pony prone to laminitis goes to a strong heel first landing at times and I believe it's due to soreness in the lamina connection at the toe and possible prizing of the connection if the toe is a bit long.

I agree boots and pads may need to be considered as well as advice from Vet and Trimmer. Perhaps the trim and diet need tweaking too?

I'd stop any hard feed and feed magnesium and salt in washed (learned this recently) un mollassed beet. No treats at all.
Minerals can be sorted out later when things stabilize.
 
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Thanks for the reply amandap. Its only just becoming clear how ill equipped I am to deal with laminitis :(. Horse is on haylage, but won't eat it soaked. I don't own a grazing muzzle! But I think my grass is so short that it wouldn't reach through the hole? I'm feeding hay in the field year round.

He's on fast fibre atm... can't really rinse that? And not too sure about abruptly changing his feed? Otherwise he gets happy hoof and mag ox and that's it. He hasn't been on the mag ox for very long, though.

His trim may need tweaking... last time he was done the farrier couldn't find much to take off, though. his toe is a bit long, but I think that will only change once the new hoof angle reaches ground level, as there's no excessive hoof wall to take off.

Will get some hoof boots, though. Have never needed them before - all my others are proper rock crunchers!
 
Have a read of this it might help you get things straight in your head.
http://www.bodrwyn.org/articles/dietforlaminitis.php

I have a TB with grass related (sugar/starch) problems. Her hooves totally crashed (splatted and cracked) early this year after a period of 24/7 turnout. She's had five months now of no grass and soaked hay based diet and the improvements in her hooves are amazing. I'm now trying to get her mineral balance right...

Another article I've found great but there is so much to take in don't forget it's all basically getting a low sugar high forage diet with balanced minerals.
http://www.hoofrehab.com/diet.htm
 
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Thanks for the links, I'll check them out.

I just hope he won't be super sensitive to sugars/starch, or prone to laminitis, from now on. He's been so easy diet-wise so far, and now I might have ruined things for him with one lousy hack :(
 
It may just be that the hack was too much too soon and that's all. ;)
The hack wont have caused any sugar sensitivity, if it wasn't there before then it is more likely his hooves weren't ready (conditioned) for that level of work.
 
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amandap said:
It may just be that the hack was too much too soon and that's all. ;)
The hack wont have caused any sugar sensitivity, if it wasn't there before then it is more likely his hooves weren't ready (conditioned) for that level of work.
Click to expand...

That makes me feel a bit better, thanks. Must try not to get carried away :o

Alma - LGL is Low Grade Laminitis.
 
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