Hard crest....

[maisie]

My friends 14.2 Sec D has a history of laminitis, and is kept on a bare paddock with hay/formula for feet/chaff diet. He weighs approx 430kgs, and is thinner and fitter than he has ever been. Has no signs of laminitis except his neck has gone hard in the past few days. Friend is going away for the weekend and panicking that he is verging on a laminitic attack - any ideas anyone????

 

[TGM]

I don't know what the weather is like where you are, but here we have had a long spell of dry followed by rain. In my experience it is typical laminitis weather as even a bare paddock will have a growth spurt that can trigger the condition in a susceptible horse.

Do you know how to check the digital pulse?

 

[maisie]

yes - he has no pulse, not footy or lame, happy in himself, no heat in the feet at all or indeed any other sign - just the hard crest!

 

[TGM]

Well that is a good sign then! Is it possible to restrict his grazing anymore? Either reduce the size of the paddock with electric fencing or using a muzzle? Can the hay be soaked to get rid of some more soluble carbohydrates?

Then keep a very careful eye on him and check the digital pulse everyday - and at the slightest sign of a raised pulse or footiness then get him off the grass and onto a deep shavings bed.

 

[maisie]

Plan is to change him onto soaked hay but keep everything else the sale - he's on a mud patch anyway so no need to restrict him any further cos there's nothing really to eat!!!!!

 

[ISHmad]

As well as the great advice given above, one other thing that your friend could also look into is adding Mag Ox to his feed. This has been found to be good for laminitics, helps with crestiness and feet. Apparently in the UK there is a lot of magnesium deficiency in our grazing which affects calcium absorption too. Which in turn can exacerbate metabolic disorders including laminitic, cushings and the like. There is a great website/forum about it, called the metabolic horse.

Hope he is okay and that your friend enjoys her weekend away without panicking.

 

[Louby]

No advice Im afraid but my friends pony is the same. Shes noticed her neck is going harder. She never lost her cresty neck after her mild lami the other year. She is easily the fittest on the yard, is lean and has restricted turnout and small quantities of hay.

 

[Chex]

I noticed Chex crest has firmed up too

but he's actually lost weight (I think). It's like its the first part to be affected by extra fat

 

[Llwyncwn]

I have just noticed tonight that Fred who has been clean for 3 years has started to get cresty. He has lost so much weight recently too with good management. For the last week he has become a playful boy, playing in the field, chasing bunny rabbits and winding the mares up.

Think it could be sugars coming through in the grass after all this rain.

Paranoia sets in

 

[digger2]

I have had my neices pony for 3 1/2 yrs now, 12.2 welsh he came (in October time) with a big crest which was quite soft and "floppy", but it hardens each spring, which it has done just recently.
???

 

[Box_Of_Frogs]

Big crest can be sign of late castration OR is where ponies store their extra fat! A fat store would fit with the symptoms you describe - lots used up by autumn/winter but spring grass builds it back up again. Have you condition scored him just to make sure he isn't a prime candidate for laminitis?

 

[JackieJATaylor]

The point is when ponies are insulin resistant, or have Equine Metabolic Syndrome, they tend to deposit extra fat along the crest, and so this sign is closely related to an increased risk of laminitis. Magnesium can sometimes reduce the crest as a lack of magnesium can prevent good glucose metabolism and insulin function, so correcting that can help.

I can send you a diet sheet which explains some of the background if you email me on 2007@MetabolicHorse.co.uk, and I can supply magnesium if you want it.

Jackie