Hind end lami...

HiPo'sHuman

HiPo'sHuman

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Bit of a **** weekend ☹️ Had the vet out last night and she’s fairly sure that my boy has hind end lami. He *could* have pulled or tweaked something but its unlikely. Treating as lami either way.

I’m gutted - he’s in work, wears a grazing muzzle and vet said he isn’t seriously overweight. He’s a Highland so naturally porky and could lose some but he’s relatively trim for his breed. We moved yards a couple of weeks ago and he’s now out 24/7 on very rich grass, I can only think it’s that that’s caused it?

Total novice when it comes to lami, never had one with it. Trying to manage him as well as I can and will continue to do so but I’m panicking now and feel so guilty that it’s my fault. Bit of a pointless post really, just feeling ****** and needed to vent 😞
 
So sorry to hear this :( it sounded like you are doing all you can

My vet always said hind leg lami is rare so it maybe a tweak/strain, Are you able to bring in off the grass at all?
 
Thanks, yeah he’s on box rest and bute before we reassess on Friday. Will come up with some other turnout option for when he’s allowed out, we go have private paddocks but they’re all rented...I might be able to share one until his field has been eaten down and even then I very much doubt he’d be out 24/7 again.

Totally bummed out, I love this yard, just got a new trailer...had a whole summer of fun planned for the pair of us!
 
My nine year old gelding came down with hind end lami last year, which ended up being misdiagnosed for a prolonged period of time and causing him a whole world of problems. Like yours, he was never really overweight, although in hindsight, I think he carried it well and was bigger than I realised (he's an ISH type so is never going to look fat in the same way as a cob or native).

However... don't beat yourself up about it! I did that for a very long time, but it doesn't get you anywhere. It sounds like you've caught it early, so use this as a lesson to help you refine his management in the future, and do your utmost to keep him comfortable in the here and now.
 
Oh no, has he come right now? I think it’s so easy to beat yourself up about it, these animals are 100% reliant on us and I hate feeling like I’ve failed him.

I’d seen him at 4:30 before I went to work then got a text off YO at about 7 saying he’d been brought in (as no others were staying out) and he looked lame. So it’s come on within a matter of hours then the vet arrived at 9:30 ish. We’ve got another on the yard who came down with lami last week, he’s not overweight either and is used to the grazing. Went to our local feed store earlier and it came up in conversation, the lady said absolutely tonnes of people have been caught out with it this year. Colic too.
 
I had a big, rangy ISH who was very prone to lami. Like yours, JJS, he wasn’t the ‘type’ and it was only the skill of his excellent farrier that spotted the source of the lameness with his first bout. Management for him consisted of restricted grass turnout, combined with plenty of work and longer periods of turnout in a sand paddock. What I would have preferred would have been to turn him out in any paddocks already grazed by other horses, but this wasn’t an option at the time due to the field management system. Could this be an option for you, OP, do you think?
 
Check his digital pulses. My boy (connie) had it in all four last year and I learnt a lot about lami very quickly! My boy is EMS, he’s basically like a type 2 diabetic; manage the weigh and he’s sound and happy. He looks a different pony to my pre-lami pony, he’s trim and much more forward. I hadn’t realised the slow increase in weight was really affecting him. He wasn’t hugely overweight either, but it’s such a fine line. With lami, ind/fronts both affected, just people tend to notice it in front and test the fronts for pulses. I never knew this til my boy went down with it. Soaked hay and off the grass, feed something like fast fibre with mag/salt and a probiotic to keep his gut healthy. Be really careful regarding turning out on grazed fields - short grass is more stressed and higher in sugar than long grass. Turn out at night, off grass during day. Weigh hay and feed 2% if not overweight, 1.5% if he is overweight. Is he cresty? Even if he isn’t seriously overweight, extra weight will still be a problem. Good luck, it’s horrible but don’t beat your self up - if you have taken him off the grass then you are heading in the right direction.
 
Is it one or both feet? My horse had lami before so when he went lame in one hind foot I treated it as lami again. It turned out to be an abscess.
 
Thanks for the input guys. He's on box rest and bute 'til Friday when we reassess, 10kg soaked hay and the tiniest amount of lite balancer. Need to speak to YO about turnout options when he's allowed back out, initially I might give him an hour in the lunge paddock with some hay, will make a plan with the vet. He isn't cresty, no fat pads but could lose some, I think most natives can always lose some! Like I say, the vet isn't concerned about his weight but would like him trimmer, as would I.

I only felt a pulse in his off hind but vet got in in both hinds and very faintly in his fronts too. Checked for abscess but she doesn't think it is. There's no heat/swelling/cuts, no obvious pain through his back. It does all point to lami which is unfortunate, I don't have a huge amount of experience with it but know it'll be a long road until he's back in full work. Of course I won't rush it and will do everything I possibly can for him, doesn't stop it being disappointing that I won't have a pony to ride over summer. That sounds incredibly selfish doesn't it? Ultimately I'm just glad it isn't an acute attack and the prognosis is good.
 
mustardsmum said:
Check his digital pulses. My boy (connie) had it in all four last year and I learnt a lot about lami very quickly! My boy is EMS, he’s basically like a type 2 diabetic; manage the weigh and he’s sound and happy. He looks a different pony to my pre-lami pony, he’s trim and much more forward. I hadn’t realised the slow increase in weight was really affecting him. He wasn’t hugely overweight either, but it’s such a fine line. With lami, ind/fronts both affected, just people tend to notice it in front and test the fronts for pulses. I never knew this til my boy went down with it. Soaked hay and off the grass, feed something like fast fibre with mag/salt and a probiotic to keep his gut healthy. Be really careful regarding turning out on grazed fields - short grass is more stressed and higher in sugar than long grass. Turn out at night, off grass during day. Weigh hay and feed 2% if not overweight, 1.5% if he is overweight. Is he cresty? Even if he isn’t seriously overweight, extra weight will still be a problem. Good luck, it’s horrible but don’t beat your self up - if you have taken him off the grass then you are heading in the right direction.
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Is yours on medication for EMS? My vet said she prefers to try and treat with careful management if possible, she doesn't think it's worth testing him at the moment. He's only 6 so we're not testing for cushings either. What probiotic do you use? I had a half bag of balancer so using that to get his bute in and he's obviously not on grass so it'll benefit him anyway but a larger bucket feed would be good for him boredom wise!!
 
HiPo'sHuman said:
Is yours on medication for EMS? My vet said she prefers to try and treat with careful management if possible, she doesn't think it's worth testing him at the moment. He's only 6 so we're not testing for cushings either. What probiotic do you use? I had a half bag of balancer so using that to get his bute in and he's obviously not on grass so it'll benefit him anyway but a larger bucket feed would be good for him boredom wise!!
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Don't be lulled into a false sense of security! I lost a lovely 6 yr old Shire mare to undiagnosed laminitis (after 3 months of vet visits) I now believe that she had Cushings but this was never tested for. It was over 15 yrs ago.
 
There seems to be lots of horses going down with laminitis at the moment. I posted a thread a couple days ago saying mine had been diagnosed with it this week - and I thought I'd been so careful with him, strip grazing the field. I've owned him 10 years and nothing much had changed in the way I look after him. Understand how you're feeling right now.
 
HiPo'sHuman said:
Is yours on medication for EMS? My vet said she prefers to try and treat with careful management if possible, she doesn't think it's worth testing him at the moment. He's only 6 so we're not testing for cushings either. What probiotic do you use? I had a half bag of balancer so using that to get his bute in and he's obviously not on grass so it'll benefit him anyway but a larger bucket feed would be good for him boredom wise!!
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No I don’t medicate him for the EMS, just have a very strict diet and plenty of exercise. It’s is a similar approach to the one they take with people with type 2 Diabetes, whereby they get them to lose weight which in turn reverses the diabetes. We tested him for Cushing’s and he had one test came back slightly high, but not high enough to medicate, so we did two further tests, one in autumn one in spring. This spring it came back normal so we did the new(ish) adiponectin test that Liphook do for EMS which came back low, indicating he is EMS and basically a fat boy!! Ponio is off the grass for most of the day, he’s shut in a yard where he can go inside or stay outside, so he can move around. The probiotic is Protexin (honestly everyone, I am not a sales person for Protexin, I did reply to another thread to say how great it is but I am nothing to do with the company!!). I give it to my stressy mare and then read somewhere that it is useful for ponies with lami or EMS. So, he gets it too. Be careful of balancers, you will be shocked to see how many of these things are stuffed full of sugar etc which you need to cut right out if you can. I was shocked how even chaffs can be coated in molasses. I feed a bit of fast fibre with some plain oat chaff. How is he today? Remember, check all his pulses every day, you will soon realise what is normal for him. With my boy any slightly pulse and he’s not allowed back out to graze until its gone down.
 
Ah, you guys are fab - thanks so much for your kind words and advice. Poor lad isn't too happy, bored stiff and grumpy. Already losing his bum and is tucked up, such a contrast to his lovely shoulder...almost looks like two different ponies joined together in the middle! Still lame BUT is better than he was, defo some improvement.

Will keep a daily check on pulses, thats a great tip to base turnout on whether they're up or not. Makes perfect sense but I probably wouldn't have thought about it! So much to learn.
 
Topchop zero is good for bulking out a bucket and giving them something to nibble on if they're bored. I mix mint into it.

I think the recent rain is going to give us a grass flush, so sadly more lami cases likely. Hope he's on the mend soon.
 
Please don't beat yourself up about this. All this rain followed by warm sunny weather has caused a flush in the grass. I caused laminitis by turning out in snow. A local vet who was puzzled by the sudden surge of laminitis cases in January put two and two together and wrote an article in the local paper. There had been no correlation that I know of prior to this weather event. I hope your chap makes a speedy recovery as it was caught so quickly. My farrier told me years ago that little ponies that are being ridden every evening after school don't get laminitis so plan your summer campaign and enjoy that new trailer.
 
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Hoping the pic works! He’s pretty much sound on bute, that gets cut down tomorrow before the vet on Friday. I’ve been reading alsorts about how to bring them back into work - some people saying a month, others saying until new laminae have formed 9/12 months! Surely that’s only in acute cases. Hoping for good news off the vet on Friday...
 
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You do have an acute case, the other sort is chronic which is the long term, grumbling on type. Laminitis is blerdy horrible for horses and owners. I know because I have one in recovery from acute laminitis which started last November and one with chronic laminitis which stems from being a career driving pony. The best advice I can give you is to get x-rays of all four feet as soon as possible so the farrier knows what he's dealing with. He will be the one with the most influence on your pony's recovery.
 
Hepsibah said:
You do have an acute case, the other sort is chronic which is the long term, grumbling on type. Laminitis is blerdy horrible for horses and owners. I know because I have one in recovery from acute laminitis which started last November and one with chronic laminitis which stems from being a career driving pony. The best advice I can give you is to get x-rays of all four feet as soon as possible so the farrier knows what he's dealing with. He will be the one with the most influence on your pony's recovery.
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Doh! Will speak to vet re x-rays
 
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