Im confused! Help! Lamintus?

lialls

lialls

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Iv got a shetland pony, we got him at the end of last summer, hes never had lamintus and i plan to keep it that way. So summer is aproaching and i need to have a plan in my head of how to manage him. He was on restricted grazing where we got him from, has been out all winter in a paddock though.

I was on the understanding that you should restrict the grazing to a small bare paddock to avoid them putting on too much weight. I was just doing abit of research and i cam across this website http://www.horsemanshipnz.com/articles/preventingLaminitis.pdf

it says that one of the worst grass is short grass as its stressed :S so now im confused as short grass is what you get when you restrict the grazing? So now i dont know what to do for the best?

Can someone tell me how to manage this please? What is the best thing to do? I dont want to be restricting him if it could make him worse :S
 
Hello, yes short stressed grass is higher in sugars than 'normal' grass, but the quantity eaten also has an impact, so you pony might well consume as many sugars by having access to more longer grass than he would the short stressed grass.

There are a few ways to manage the grazing, you could muzzle and turn out on the longer grass, have a bare tunout paddock and feed hay, or set up a track system in your paddock with electric fencing anf feed hay if needed.

My natives are on a track system with additional and minimal grass (short and stressed!) and have been fine.
 
Thanks for that, i did think about doing the track but i dont have enough electric fencing atm to do it. My first plan was to have a bare paddock for him and feed soaked hay, which is what i think i will do.
 
I know dozens on lamis that are managed on the bare paddock system with success. my friend uts her 13.2hh newforrest in a barepaddock every summer and he's not once had a lami attack. **touches wood**.
 
I think it is the general management that is more of a consideration really. My lad is always on short 'stressed' grass but because there is not a lot of it at any one time throughout the year, he is not eating too much for it to be a problem and I also stable him for the night or part of the day, coupled with exercise and weigh taping each week to monitor changes in this.
It is almost impossible to have a horse on short grass that is not stressed...as that is the nature of the beast...but so long as they are not gorging on that and putting weight on then it should be ok. Keep checking the feet each day too to look for that pottery walk, digital pulses raised or reaction to tapping on the sole with a hoof pick...also good indicators of impending laminitis or a problem.
Just keep checking the weight issue really...if they are putting on weight, they are getting more than required for the body to process...so cut down something.
 
With laminitis you need to avoid turning out on a frosty morning when there is frost still in the grass; this is when the fructans (sugars) in the grass are at their highest level and are potentially the most damaging.

Also, apparently "starvation diets" aren't always the most helpful thing; laminitis is now being called "equine metabolic syndrome" and there are a lot more things being researched about it all the time now.

The Laminitus Trust will have a lot of advice, plus you need to look for foodstuffs which are "approved" by them (it will have an easily identifiable mark on the bag).

Laminitis is notoriously tricky to manage. Often there is an underlying condition such as insulin resistance and/or Cushings as well, so what works for one horse might not for another.

Its mega-important to keep feeling the feet, if they're hot you're in trouble, plus you'll need to feel for the digital pulse inside the fetlock joint (ask your farrier or vet to show you if needs be); this is an important indicator and if its strong and bounding, you'll need to act fast.

Also get yourself a good farrier who's got experience in remedial farriery coz you'll need to have someone who knows his stuff as to how to handle a laminitic foot. Likewise your vet - I know X-rays are expensive but they really do help if you get them early on and then you can tell if you get, for e.g. pedal bone rotation or whatever.

All the best.
 
I've got 2 veteran ponies, both have had laminitis in the past. We have kept it at bay to a degree since (although one is cushings so there's only so much we can do - he's on pergolide).

I've found we kept lami away from mine for years by keeping them in a small paddock with very short grass. Yes, it is stressed grass but its not caused mine any problems and is less risky IMO than turning them out on more. Just give them lots of hay and they tend to not bother grazing much anyway. You certainly never want to "starve" any horse, lami or not. They should ALWAYS have access to hay / fibre of some kind.
 
We manage Little Lad, who has had lami attacks, by having him stabled for a day and a night and out for a day and a night. If we put him out in a bare paddock he will just hop out and go walkabout :( He can't get the hang of a grazing muzzle and drops weight at an alarming rate. The in/out system works for him :)
 
Thanks guys. I have looked at the Laminitus Trust website, i have used a few feeds before that have been approved by them too. I will be soaking hay from him to have in his paddock and i think i will also be bringing him in at night too when the spring has really arrived here. He is not rideable and is quite nervous so i may have some difficulty exercising him but i can take him out for walks. The main thing for me is to not let him put too much weight on in the first place. Thanks for the help, i am just so nervous, never really had a pony thats had to be restricted before and it dosnt help that YO likes to feed them for me >:( Hopfuly when they are behind electric fencing she will give up doing that. I hav soaked hay tonight in prepreation for putting up the electrick fencing tomorrow :)
 
OOps!! my post should have said additional HAY not short stressed grass!

It sounds like you are well on top of the situation and shouldn't have any problems if you carry on as you are :)
 
MiJodsR2BlinkinTite said:
With laminitis you need to avoid turning out on a frosty morning when there is frost still in the grass; this is when the fructans (sugars) in the grass are at their highest level and are potentially the most damaging.

Also, apparently "starvation diets" aren't always the most helpful thing; laminitis is now being called "equine metabolic syndrome" and there are a lot more things being researched about it all the time now.

The Laminitis Trust will have a lot of advice, plus you need to look for foodstuffs which are "approved" by them (it will have an easily identifiable mark on the bag).

Laminitis is notoriously tricky to manage. Often there is an underlying condition such as insulin resistance and/or Cushings as well, so what works for one horse might not for another.

Its mega-important to keep feeling the feet, if they're hot you're in trouble, plus you'll need to feel for the digital pulse inside the fetlock joint (ask your farrier or vet to show you if needs be); this is an important indicator and if its strong and bounding, you'll need to act fast.

Also get yourself a good farrier who's got experience in remedial farriery coz you'll need to have someone who knows his stuff as to how to handle a laminitic foot. Likewise your vet - I know X-rays are expensive but they really do help if you get them early on and then you can tell if you get, for e.g. pedal bone rotation or whatever.

All the best.
Click to expand...

No, it isn't
c038.gif
- it's a component often seen in EMS, certainly, but laminitis is the term for the resulting collapse of the hoof support structure as a result of the effects of various outside influences on the lamellar basement membrane.

EMS is roughly the equine equivalent of human diabetes. Fat deposits in the body, usually as a result of overfeeding - accidental or deliberate (for the showring
c004.gif
) secrete deleterious chemicals into the bloodstream ... oh bother it, just read this page

It's the same as a headache inasmuchas the headache is a symptom of something else, maybe trauma to the head, a brain tumour or a hangover. Many causes, one result.

Safergrass.org has many helpful suggestions and much valuable information. There is no easy answer to keeping native types on lowland pasture with little exercise. It's a fine balancing act which requires more than a little ingenious input from you!
 
Feedwise your shetland will likely not need anything but if you nedd something to put supplements in I would recommend Fast Fibre (Allen & page). This is what I feed my shettie and my laminitics with success. It contains no mollasses unlike alot of the 'laminitis approved' feeds.

I have mine on virtually no grass plus soaked hay all year round.
 
MiJodsR2BlinkinTite said:
With laminitis you need to avoid turning out on a frosty morning when there is frost still in the grass; this is when the fructans (sugars) in the grass are at their highest level and are potentially the most damaging.

Also, apparently "starvation diets" aren't always the most helpful thing; laminitis is now being called "equine metabolic syndrome" and there are a lot more things being researched about it all the time now.

The Laminitus Trust will have a lot of advice, plus you need to look for foodstuffs which are "approved" by them (it will have an easily identifiable mark on the bag).

Laminitis is notoriously tricky to manage. Often there is an underlying condition such as insulin resistance and/or Cushings as well, so what works for one horse might not for another.

Its mega-important to keep feeling the feet, if they're hot you're in trouble, plus you'll need to feel for the digital pulse inside the fetlock joint (ask your farrier or vet to show you if needs be); this is an important indicator and if its strong and bounding, you'll need to act fast.

Also get yourself a good farrier who's got experience in remedial farriery coz you'll need to have someone who knows his stuff as to how to handle a laminitic foot. Likewise your vet - I know X-rays are expensive but they really do help if you get them early on and then you can tell if you get, for e.g. pedal bone rotation or whatever.

All the best.
Click to expand...

Second this. I have a mare with rotation in one hoof so you can imagine how much I worry and have to carefully manage her, its a headache.

Short grass can be stressed and problematic but I keep my girl on bare paddocks through summer, I feed hay and also I give her magnesium supplement. Get on the laminitis website, they say many things and also mention magnesium as being a key ingredient in stabilising the gut. I feed it to mine, its so cheap, I found it far superior to using naff 5* laminaze, apple cider vinegar is good for digestion also and is said to have slimming properties too.

Good luck, there are lots of us out here who will be trying to manage it with ours.
 
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