Dealing with a lami who refuses box rest!

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Sophstar

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Brought the pony in today and upon walking him out noticed he wasn't too keen on the gravel section but happy as larry on the flat tarmac and grass.

Instantly recognised this dislike with the way he acted when he had a mild lami attack back in November when he got diagnosed with cushings. They moved into their new paddock last night and despite having his muzzle firmly glued to his head, it seems he may have over indulged.

He is not showing any signs of the lami 'stance', and not sore when I picked his feet out, just a bit quiet and his pulses are only slightly stronger in his fronts but not pounding or racing. He is at his ideal weight as he is muzzled nearly 24/7.

He was kept in his stable most of the day with 2 small thoroughly soaked haynets of crap hay and had danilon in some Safe and Sound to make him more comfy. HOWEVER this pony refuses box rest. Happy to come in for a few hours but soon becomes agitated, has severe separation anxiety and will throw himself over the door. From the last episode of '2 weeks' box rest he lasted 3 days before having a true meltdown and this only lasted because we had to completely shut him in and a vet had to come out as an emergency to give him the all clear for a bare paddock.

SO...I've fenced off a crappy strip from their previous paddock...mainly bare and as its next to the stream, its soft under foot. Plus he can see all his herd as they are right next door so he has remained calm. Barely any grass to eat. I've chopped and left him a big pile of nettles to munch through once they have dried and left him some more soaked hay and my cob has gone in with him to babysit him for the night. I'll bring him back in tomorrow with soaked hay and let him out in the bare paddock before he goes into panic mode.

Phone call from the vet said bare paddock was fine and to give him danilon for the next couple of days and re assess. I'm now thinking when he goes back out with the herd in the future, I will have to tape some of his muzzle off to make the holes even smaller.:rolleyes:

Anything else I could be doing? We were doing so well with his weight and keeping him a lot fitter and I now think I may have to get his bloods done again earlier than he is scheduled to see if his pergolide meds are at the right levels. Boo hiss to laminitis.:mad:
 
I think you are doing pretty much everything right, although you could mix some straw with the hay so he gets the same amount but less calories, also search for magnesium on here, some very interesting threads on its use in lamanitics!!
 
Agree you are managing him correctly, sometimes we have to give a little in order to get them to accept a regime that we need to impose and it is far better than him getting completely stressed out being shut in. As mentioned above you could try magnesium, it is vertainly worth feeding anyway but we went on to Lamitox with ours, it can relieve the symptoms within hours. We also used a half dose to prevent another attack until we were well out of the woods. It is expensive for a tub but on the maintenence dose it lasts for ages.
 
Don't worry. You are doing absolutely fine. We have had 2 in the last year (one a Dartmoor, 1 a Welsh cob) who just wouldn't take box rest. In both cases we did what you have did, with vet's blessing. As he pointed out, one of the lami encouragers is stress!!

You sound like us in that you have a stream. Try, if you have them, feeding your boy (?) cow parsley, if like us you have it growing along the stream. they really enjoy it, and now that it's fibrous are quite keen to have it cut for them rather than munch on the tall plants themselves. It kept our two busy, and you can feed quite a bit. I used to feel like Ruth in the Bible, out harvesting it with my sickle! It gives them the green they crave but doesn't seem to be sugary.

Best of luck!
 
I agree you need to do some more research. The barefoot (hoof!) sites have lots of information, including that exercise is good for lami hooves....just what they can deal with though!! Would it be possible to tape off a "track" in the area that the herd grazes? That way he can be right with them but able to move and with limited grazing? Electric fencing is great and easily moveable...
 
http://paddockparadise.com/

Not just for the diehard barefoot taliban, this system actually makes a great deal of sense.

I honestly don't wish to cause offence, but if your pony is at risk why do you put him back on grass? Create a permanent paddock or track where he can still see/be with his herd but where there is minimal grass and feed hay/roughage.
 
...well 3rd day in and brat pony is a lot happier and brighter. He seems quite content having his own little paddock to himself in the afternoon with my cob for company through the night. We have negotiated and he's happy for a morning in his stable with a small net and the chance to have a lie down and nap but is ready to go back out just after lunch:rolleyes:

I've ordered some magnesium so when it arrives he can start having that. Pulses have gone and he is much happier pottering round his paddock and he trotted to the gate upon dinner time showing no signs of discomfort so I'm hoping I caught him incredibly early. He is loving the piles of nettles and he had some cow parsely last night which was gone by this morning. He gets a few nuts thrown around the paddock so he can enjoy his game of sniffer dog pony...keeps him busy for hours!:D

A couple of weeks in this routine and then he will have a vet check and another blood test to check his meds are correct and hopefully more improvement!
 
Enfys said:
http://paddockparadise.com/

Not just for the diehard barefoot taliban, this system actually makes a great deal of sense.

I honestly don't wish to cause offence, but if your pony is at risk why do you put him back on grass? Create a permanent paddock or track where he can still see/be with his herd but where there is minimal grass and feed hay/roughage.
Click to expand...

I do this with my 10hh falabella x. The only time he has grass is on the track in winter. From early spring through to late autumn he is on a really sparse track and I supplement feed a small daily lami friendly feed and hay. It's extremely difficult to maintain a little pony with a perfect weight. Personally I don't like muzzles and I prefer this method for his comfort.
This is my little fella Barney, who as you can see is very fine and petite:

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As soon as you are able ,exercise is what you need to get going if you have no small rider that will be leading him in hand or leading him from another horse and lunging .
 
Goldenstar said:
As soon as you are able ,exercise is what you need to get going if you have no small rider that will be leading him in hand or leading him from another horse and lunging .
Click to expand...

He gets lunged, walked out in hand or led from the cob every other day or so as he likes to keep busy so keeping him occupied whilst on paddock rest is the challenge! Sprinkling nuts round the paddock is keeping him moving pretty much all day as he doesn't give up sniffing around. His nettles and hay are all in little piles spread apart so he is kept moving:)
 
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