Increase in laminitis?

rachm12

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Over the last few weeks I've been hearing of lots of cases of laminitis. There have been two horses at my yard just in this last week to have it. I don't think I've heard of so many cases in such a short space of time. Is anyone finding it to be more common this year? Maybe due to the winter/spring we have had? Or is it just as its always been and I just happen to be hearing more of it this year? Either way it certainly has me watching my boy closely!
 

TwyfordM

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Yep, I've kept my mare laminitis free for six years but I've been caught out this year. Every day I'm hearing of more cases :(
 

Micky

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More n more people are over feeding their horses it seems and the grass is really coming through like stink now, so people are getting caught out....and then there are people who don't think tbs can get laminitis or other breeds...
 

rowan666

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I was discussing the same thing to a friend the other day, it does seem like there has been a sharp rise in cases lately
 

meesha

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Had vet out Thursday (not for lami) and he was saying not only lots of lami and that they are now routinely testing all lami cases for Cushing's but also lots of colic. My mare had gassy colic Monday, luckily she was fine and we avoided vets bill as she recovered quickly (seems to get it every few years) vet had 3 cases of gassy colic in row wed evening when on call, all responded to treatment!
 

TGM

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We've had quite a slow cold Spring with the grass not growing much, then suddenly warmer with plenty of rain which has got the grass surging and caught people by surprise.
 

Goldenstar

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It was wet here and muddy for longer that usual ,then it went hard very quickly and the grass was growing but stressed .
It was now rained and is pleasantly warm the grass is growing as I watch it and I am watching my horses like a hawk .
I have Fatty out in his bare strip for six hours and in on some hay the rest of the time he's losing weight .
His strip is bare really bare that shoes how full of energy spring grass is he was on it 24/7 and gaining weight .
J's in all day with hay out at night and losing weight like this .
Do be careful every one laminitis is one of the most awful things a horse can suffer.
 

SO1

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The grass is definitely coming through. My pony who has spent most of the winter trying to bring himself in and escaping from the field is now happy to stay out till catch in time. The grass is now short and sweet instead of long and dry after being eaten down over the winter.
 

Equi

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Grass is very potent right now. My stables are stinking with the green shits my horses are doing.
 

JenJ

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Yep, 3 cases of lami on my yard in last 6 months, 2 of which were first timers. Plus lots of colic in the last month or so :(
 

bouncing_ball

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Grass has gone mad! Vet said seeing grass colic and grass laminitis.

Weather has been warm and wet, grass really flushing.

I have my smaller horse in a muzzle which I have never needed before. Big horse still okay without, but he had a horrid 6 week foot abscess that has taken it out of him.

Normally I can work the grass off my big competition horses but not this year. I'm liking the Dinky Muzzle.
 

Dazed'n'confused

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Yep, my companion pony has just succumbed to it for the first time...
Ironically, she's spent 4 yrs nannying the foal I bred, out on lots of grass with a muzzle on & only a few hours off the grass, but this year, now the 'foal' is grown up, I've managed her more closely, she's a better weight and has been on restricted grazing with soaked hay all winter....
Typical....
 

Tiarella

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Bought my connie in this morning and wasn't walking well at all. Will be keeping him in on soaked hay for the foreseeable future! This is my first spring with him and judging by his feet has had laminitis before so being extra precautious.
 

exracehorse

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Fellow livery pony was flat out in the field last night. When he
Got up he fell onto his knees. Took forever to get him in. Poor boy. He can't walk. High temperature and heavy flank. He'd gone into a rich field only 4 days previously and I guess it pushed him over. Owner had emergency vet out last night
 

crabbymare

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there does seem to ba a lot more about this year and also a lot more horses that to me are obese before the spring even started. probably a combination of horses generally getting fatter and everyone seeing fat as the norm. a rise in cushings (could this also relate to or be caused by the obesity and sugars in the feeds from foals onwards?). the sudden surge of grass with the sun coming out and horses that have been on very restricted grazing or turnout through the winter suddenly going onto summer fields and gorging. I feel sorry for the horses. their owners and the vets but in some of the obesity cases the owners really do need to have a reality check and manage the horses so that they can lose weight. its far from easy and a shame a lot more do not follow the example of those who are careful and put their horses who are prone to looking at a blade of grass and putting on 20kg on diets or manage them more carefully when the grass comes out
 

Rollin

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Feeding aside, non of our horses would have laminitis, if they still pulled carts and ploughs. In the same way that obesity was not a problem when people walked to work or did manual labour. A school in Scotland stopped childhood obesity in its tracks by getting the children to walk a mile each morning in the playing field.

Our horses have the same problem as we do - a sedentary life style which is not what they were bred for. Anyone who has tried dieting will know the minute the diet is over the weight comes back. My partner was told by doctors to lose at least a stone in weight, he actually gained weight after many diets. He lost 3 stone in a year after retiring to France and the terrible regime he has now - 3 meals a day including a 3 course lunch and as much wine as he wants!!!
 

atlantis

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Feeding aside, non of our horses would have laminitis, if they still pulled carts and ploughs. In the same way that obesity was not a problem when people walked to work or did manual labour. A school in Scotland stopped childhood obesity in its tracks by getting the children to walk a mile each morning in the playing field.

Our horses have the same problem as we do - a sedentary life style which is not what they were bred for. Anyone who has tried dieting will know the minute the diet is over the weight comes back. My partner was told by doctors to lose at least a stone in weight, he actually gained weight after many diets. He lost 3 stone in a year after retiring to France and the terrible regime he has now - 3 meals a day including a 3 course lunch and as much wine as he wants!!!

Agreed. They need to move much much more. I'm getting my mare moving as much as possible and would love a track system but there is nowhere like that near me so stuck on a livery yard. We just have to do our best.
 

Spot_the_Risk

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Mine had laminitis last year, all tests came back clear but I'm very cautious now. He's currently 25kgs lighter than he was this time last year, tomorrow I have to move the horses onto summer grass, and Tinner will be wearing his muzzle 24/7 :)
 

Dave's Mam

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Overfeeding is so common "He's in hard work" "What racing? Eventing?" "No hacked for 2 hours a day." "That's not hard work, you noodle."
 

Nativelover

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I firmly believe that much is to do with lack of education and the way many livery yards are run.
The majority of horses are kept at livery but there are few who actually consider the horses health and welfare.
For example. My yard still has no summer turnout, this apparently is due to the lack of grass - total rubbish, the grass is growing. But the YO insists the horses have lush fields. They then go from barely any turnout for 7 months (8 months this winter) to 24/7 turnout. It's so hard to keep horses healthy when they are cooped up, and then she wonders why a full livery got lami last summer after 1 week out!
Horses are going onto summer pasture fat as it can be made so difficult to mimic the natural weightloss in winter, by the regimented way some yards are run.
 

windand rain

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horses are coming out of the winter fatter and are starting from a higher nutrition plain because of the warm wet winter, The grass never stopped growing here, They are also overfed and underworked for that food which in my opinion is a recipe for laminitis
 

peaceandquiet1

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I firmly believe that much is to do with lack of education and the way many livery yards are run.
The majority of horses are kept at livery but there are few who actually consider the horses health and welfare.
For example. My yard still has no summer turnout, this apparently is due to the lack of grass - total rubbish, the grass is growing. But the YO insists the horses have lush fields. They then go from barely any turnout for 7 months (8 months this winter) to 24/7 turnout. It's so hard to keep horses healthy when they are cooped up, and then she wonders why a full livery got lami last summer after 1 week out!
Horses are going onto summer pasture fat as it can be made so difficult to mimic the natural weightloss in winter, by the regimented way some yards are run.

I don't know how people cope on yards. I have six ponies all who need restricted grazing at at this time of year they will get less than two hours then into turnout area on hay. I would never trust a yard to ensure they only had a short time at grass.
 

*hic*

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Overfeeding is so common "He's in hard work" "What racing? Eventing?" "No hacked for 2 hours a day." "That's not hard work, you noodle."

I just saw someone outline the "hard work" routine her horse was on as two x forty minute hacks, two x thirty minute schooling sessions and one x twenty minute jumping session. I asked how many days a week she did that, to be told that was per week, not per day. She was asking whether to use calm and condition as the horse was a bit lively. I was too horrified to be able to answer.
 

eggs

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I don't think the mild winter has helped as many horses seem to have come into spring already carrying far too much weight and there certainly does appear to have been a strong flush of grass just recently.

Marketing is a strong tool with many owners sucked into believing that their horse/pony needs to be fed far more than he/she does and I do agree that peoples' view as to what constitutes hard work would be laughable if were not such a worry with the rise in laminitis.

A lot of cases (certainly not all) of colic and laminitis are due to poor management.
 

Tiddlypom

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I firmly believe that much is to do with lack of education and the way many livery yards are run.
The majority of horses are kept at livery but there are few who actually consider the horses health and welfare.
For example. My yard still has no summer turnout, this apparently is due to the lack of grass - total rubbish, the grass is growing. But the YO insists the horses have lush fields. They then go from barely any turnout for 7 months (8 months this winter) to 24/7 turnout. It's so hard to keep horses healthy when they are cooped up, and then she wonders why a full livery got lami last summer after 1 week out!
Horses are going onto summer pasture fat as it can be made so difficult to mimic the natural weightloss in winter, by the regimented way some yards are run.
I have to agree with this. I inwardly cringe when folk from livery yards talk about having to put their horses out on summer grazing, as it often means suddenly putting them out on lush 'cream cakes' rested grass, at a peak risk period for lami.

I don't actually have summer grazing as such. The neds may get the run of a large area in winter, but around March I get the strip grazing equipment out and section them off in a small area near the yard, which they been grazing all winter. They don't ever get put on a lush rested piece of grazing, bar the rescue foster filly who gets her own piece at night. If I have to open up a new area of grazing, I run over it first with the garden lawnmower set to low and dispose of the cuttings.

Even with my own land, I run a constant tightrope of how far to move the strip grazing (if it gets moved at all), and how much old meadow hay or hi fibre haylage to top up their forage with. It varies day to day according to the weather, and thus how much the grass is growing.

How folk cope on livery yards with rigid rules I don't know.
 

Sukistokes2

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Do people really do that...?....I mean change to summer grazing, just one day up and move their horses on to rich grass and leave them there??? No wonder the poor things get ill!!

I spend ages letting my lads get used to better grazing, slowly introducing them. I'm currently being even more careful then I was a few weeks ago, suddenly my fields look lush.

I despair ......
 

supsup

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Feeding aside, non of our horses would have laminitis, if they still pulled carts and ploughs.

Agree. Though I think actually a big part of that is not only getting much more exercise, but also restricting the time horses could eat. When pulling a cart/plow, the horse didn't get to eat for that period of time. So you had more exercise, but also less time spent eating.
I appreciate that it is better for the digestive track to keep feed moving through, but I think that's a difficult balancing act when the forage comes in supercharged ryegrass form, and IMO some owners tolerate too much weight on their horses in favour of providing 24 hour access to forage. Not sure that is always the optimal choice.
 
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