Horse looks 'stuffy' in his stride

holeymoley

holeymoley

Well-Known Member
Joined
18 November 2012
Messages
4,821
Visit site
I will try and keep this as short as possible.

My gelding has had 2 bouts of laminitis in the last 5years, I've had him for 12years. Thankfully both times were caught early and turns out he has ems so he can be managed on a very strict diet. He recovered fully from each time and has been back out doing riding club and area level shows but mainly he is a hacker . With one thing and another the fields have been a bit topsy turvy this year at the yard . They were in with no turnout for 7 weeks during Feb/march . This then progressed to being out for half a day on previously grazed grass , then out for a full day in a very small field with hardly anything at all . They have then swapped onto field which as been grazed by the 'leaner' types but has a substantial amount of grass . I have noticed since he's been out for the full days that he is somewhat 'stiff' on turning in hand and coming out his stable . On walking back from the field yesterday , he was very 'stuffy' in his stride which immediately made me cautious of laminitis , which has been in the back of my mind for ages as I'm not entirely happy with the swapping and constant changes of fields , however he did t seem particularly bothered about placing his hooves down with each stride which he would be if it was laminitis. I checked pulse and for heat , there was no heat and his pulse was normal. There's been no running about to my
Knowledge as they're all just happy to be out to eat . His weight has been perfect if anything he's getting a bit of a gut now just when he comes in . He will be getting checked over this morning and if there's any signs of the same I'll get the vet and keep him in .

Don't really know why I'm posting , it just looks like an 'all over' soreness ? I have put him back on msm with his dinner as he is now 15 so I appreciate he will be getting stiffer . It will be so defeating if it turns out to be a bit of lami as I do everything to prevent it :( . Here's hoping it's not .
 
Sorry for the rather rambling on paragraph, phone is not complying with the page setup particularly well!
 
Has he been tested for PPID or IR? If there is an underlying cause which responds to treatment the management of the laminitis risk will be much easier.
TBH if I had a laminitic that was "stuffy" I'd get him off grass and into a box with supportive bedding (or boots and pads) just in case - sub clinical or low grade laminitis can very quickly become full blown
 
The simplest thing would seem to me to put him back on that very small paddock, feed hay and see if he improves, if he does you know the grass was the problem.
Alternatively stable him and ditto, and if he doesn't you know it is something else causing him to get stiff in the stable.

I certainly wouldn't ignore and keep turning him out in the field, it depends where you are but even on a paddock that looks bare the grass could be growing significantly (ours is!)
 
JillA said:
Has he been tested for PPID or IR? If there is an underlying cause which responds to treatment the management of the laminitis risk will be much easier.
TBH if I had a laminitic that was "stuffy" I'd get him off grass and into a box with supportive bedding (or boots and pads) just in case - sub clinical or low grade laminitis can very quickly become full blown
Click to expand...

agree with this get him off the grass it's better to be safe than sorry and in my experience if a horse is not turning properly chances are there is pain in the feet.
 
Thanks guys , he was absolutely fine this morning , spooked on the way to the field ,really walked out and then had a bit of a hooley once he got in . I will be limiting his time out , I think everyone thinks I'm some paranoid maniac but I know how quickly laminitis can come on . His field is on a very steep hill so I can only imagine that they've had a bit of a run around and he was feeling a bit sore from that . I really don't think it is lami, he's really keen to walk out and 'go' this morning . Previously when he had the lami he placed his hooves down totoally differently. We're up north and we're approximately a month behind everywhere else , fields have been waterlogged and horrific , it's only now temperatures are rising and we're getting some sun which of course is another worry!
 
It's better to be paranoid and wrong IMO.

Mine spent all day stood on his patch of soft pea gravel once, I was very worried about him then my sister pipped up they had woken her up galloping round the field that night (it wasn't long after his shoes had come off).

It's so variable I went back to horses in somerset the other weekend and grass in full flow, across to wiltshire and because the soil depth is so less once it is dry the grass just stops so nothing happening!
 
Just had to take mine off the grass too after he was tested for ppid which came back normal.

I'm struggling with my turnout and logistics due to having a new baby, it's a pain taking him off the grass atm.

Taking off the grass is the easiest way to tell of its lami.
 
I'd still be cautious. They can stride out nicely when the adrenaline takes hold if something is exciting. I'd be surprised if a hill would cause all over stiffness like that. We are up north too, and high, and the grass has still been growing well for a month now. If they're eating it you won't see it. You can't be too careful with laminitics.
 
There's only one way to deal with horses who have had laminitis and that's with complete paranoia.
What you describe could be LGL and I would deal with the horse as if it is .
 
id treat as a mild lami flare, remove from grass. I have a mare whos had lami once confirmed via xray. I had the vet check her twice a year for similar symptoms as your lad, they said there is no clinical laminitis but to get her off the grass and on hay, restrict movement and then start working her once she was back to normal and reintroduce grass with great caution.
I now pen her every day with hay ad let her on grass muzzled over night from spring to autumn.
 
Goldenstar said:
There's only one way to deal with horses who have had laminitis and that's with complete paranoia.
What you describe could be LGL and I would deal with the horse as if it is .
Click to expand...

Agree 100%. Last summer was a real learning curve for me with a very good doer who had his shoes off for his summer holiday who got laminitis despite 2 vets telling me it wasn't and that he wasn't a candidate for any metabolic issues. He had boiling hot feet, raging pulses and red in his white line not to mention being pretty footy. This year because I've been so paranoid about it, there is an enormous difference - cool feet, happy stomping about, no pulses etc. And I've only achieved this (so far) by being as paranoid as I possibly can. He is still going out for 12/15 hours a day but with a muzzle on (and he has 2 different ones depending on which field he's in!), sheep out in his field, soaked hay when he's in etc. And as soon as I've felt a mild pulse in the morning (I check them when he first comes in) I've changed his muzzle or changed his field and its working.

It has made me realise quite how grass sensitive some horses are and how on the ball you have to be. I have never worried about a horse in the summer like I do this one!!
 
Thanks everyone , that's been 4 days after I posted and he's absolutely fine thankfully , bar the two insect bites on his side haha. He's even taken towaiting at the gate in the evening so I think he knows himself when he's had just enough ! Definetly won't be relaxing anytime soon which I suppose is a good thing , there's another two who have gone straight out to being out night and day and were both fat beforehand, one was obese , so I think they're taking quite a lot of risks . Time will tell with them , however I will continue to be the paranoid nutter !
 
Last edited:
Good news :) people do it because they don't like mucking out ;). Mine had cellulite when I bought him :p so has always been managed carefully. He is proving a bit tricky this year though partly change in location, and not being able to do much work so Mummyester has had a crash course on neck squishing as she is in charge.
 
ester said:
Good news :) people do it because they don't like mucking out ;). Mine had cellulite when I bought him :p so has always been managed carefully. He is proving a bit tricky this year though partly change in location, and not being able to do much work so Mummyester has had a crash course on neck squishing as she is in charge.
Click to expand...

One of the other liveries told me she admired the 'topline' on the fat appaloosa the other day. I thought she was being sarcastic but, no - she really did think that our not-exactly-wobbly crest was a good thing!
 
Due to no rain and no grass coming through our trashed bits from winter are still completely bare earth. I've created a pen around our field shelter on this area as my fatty pen. My mum commented that I couldn't put him on there as there was no grass in there. Yes, that's the point! I give him hay obviously ;)
 
Mum sent me update pics after a couple of weeks in the new regime as he has tended to need a bit more grub than he used to in is old age but no, he definitely isn't wasting away ;) pooing plenty too by all counts so it continues ;).
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top