Just bought a pony and worried about laminitis history!

[Jules1]

Just bought a welsh mountain pony for my little boy couple of weeks ago. She seemed perfect in every way... until the farrier came out to trim her feet and said she'd had laminitis. When he trimmed her feet there were pinkish lines in the trimmings, which he said were the laminae coming away from the wall of the hoof (anyone else experienced this?) She does have rings around her hooves, but when she was vetted (she passed with flying colours) the vet said this was the result of 'varied nutrition' and could see no other signs of laminitis such as dropped soles etc. She is perfectly sound, tho a little hobbly on rough ground (she's unshod). There's not much i can do about it anyway (too late to take her back, and don't want to anyway!) but just wondered if other people had had this experience...

 

[spaniel]

It can take years for the signs of laminitis to leave the feet so it may well be that she has been free of symptoms for quite some time however your farrier will be able to tell if she has suffered in the past and IMO he would be the one Id be more likely to trust on the matter rather than the vet.

 

[Jules1]

Thanks... guess there's nothing i can do except watch her weight like a hawk and b careful.. Her previous owner said there'd been no incidence of laminitis while she had her, so damage must have taken place some time ago (2 yrs plus). Do you know, or does anyone else know, is there a theory whether it's better to have shoes on a pony that has/may have had laminitis? Also, can these growth rings occur for any reason other than laminitis?

 

[Spot1]

[ QUOTE ]
the farrier came out to trim her feet and said she'd had laminitis. When he trimmed her feet there were pinkish lines in the trimmings, which he said were the laminae coming away from the wall of the hoof

[/ QUOTE ]

There can be a number of causes of "discolouration" within the hoof wall. Your farrier may be offering a generalised concern and a possible cause. I would however be cautious about assuming that this pony has definitely had laminitis.

Growth rings run parallel to each other. Laminitic rings diverge towards the heel, so if the rings are the same distance apart at the toe as at the heel they are not indicative of laminitis.

[ QUOTE ]
is there a theory whether it's better to have shoes on a pony that has/may have had laminitis?

[/ QUOTE ]

The same criteria should apply when assessing any ponies shoeing requirements.

[ QUOTE ]
She is perfectly sound, tho a little hobbly on rough ground

[/ QUOTE ]

In this case the question is can you avoid rough ground? If you are happy to do this and the pony stays [ QUOTE ]
perfectly sound

[/ QUOTE ] then there should be no need to change the management of the feet

.

 

[Patches]

Agree with Spans

My Shetland had a bad attack of laminitis in 2003. I bought him in July 2004, knowing his full history. The evidence of laminitis was very apparent in his feet back then. He had a crescent shape of white dead laminae on his toes of both front feet when, which appeared every time the hoof wall was rasped.

Fast forward three years and, touch wood, he's never had another attack of laminitis and is perfectly sound. His feet still naturally grow slightly abnormally and he's trimmed to compensate for this. If you were to look at his feet, you'd never know now that he'd ever had it.

Even the white crescent of dead laminae has grown out.

 

[Jules1]

Thanks so much guys for your reassuring words - i feel a lot better. As a further Q, for those of you with post-laminitic ponies, what do you feed them in the winter? I usually use beetpulp... but guess this is not a good idea cause of high sugar content. Any recommendations on this, or for that matter on any other aspect of management??

 

[bensababy]

mine just has a basic feed of happyhoof and that only - his weight stablises and never drops/puts on... depend whether yours does or not.!?

 

[TGM]

Best not to use molassed sugar beet because of the high sugar content (about 21%). Speedibeet is unmolassed, only 5% sugar and endorsed by the Laminitis Trust.

The dietary triggers of laminitis are soluble carbohydrates - ie sugars and starches. Starches are found in cereals such as oats, barley and maize, and also in cubes and mixes which have cereals in their formulation. Sugars can be found in molassed feeds, grass, apples and carrots. From this you well see that it is best to feed a high fibre diet. Best hay for laminitics is non ryegrass and late cut. Soaking hay can reduce the soluble carb content if necessary.

Most manufacturers now produce feeds which they claim to be suitable for laminitics. Examples are Spillers Happy Hoof, Dengie HiFi Lite and Dodson & Horrell Safe & Sound.

Hope that helps.

 

[SpruceRI]

Probably get shot down in flames for this, but I wouldn't feed a Welsh Sec A any hard feed in the winter. Hay should suffice unless it's in really hard work.

Winter is the time for little fat ponies to reduce their weight otherwise summer is hell.

 

[Patches]

I generally just feed a tiny amount (not even a handful) of Dengie Hi Fi Lite as a token feed in winter. I used to feed Top Spec Anti-lam year round though.

Although my shetland is a laminitic, I also have a Section A pony who I treat as though she's a laminitic. She's never had laminitis but she is the type of pony who would be at risk from it, by her type. In the summer they are strictly managed. Grazing muzzles from March - End of October/November. Restricted grazing on very short grass too. I used to feel cruel, but they both seem to hold their weight on this "policy" over summer. I'd go as far to say that I believe Tweenie and Dinker could hold their weight if they were grazing on concrete, so a fatty paddock suits them just fine!

 

[TGM]

[ QUOTE ]
Probably get shot down in flames for this, but I wouldn't feed a Welsh Sec A any hard feed in the winter. Hay should suffice unless it's in really hard work.

[/ QUOTE ] That depends on a couple of factors, IMO. First, what do you term 'hard feed'? Some people use it to describe cereal based feeds, whilst others use it to describe anything feed from a bucket. I agree cereal feeds are best avoided, but fibre based bucket feeds can be useful in particular cases. Our old Cushingoid laminitic Sec A had poor teeth and couldn't eat long forage, so we found Spiller's Happy Hoof to be a very good hay replacer for her.

Additionally some people have problems getting hold of suitable hay for laminitics, as sugar levels vary according to the grass type and time of cutting. By substituting short chop fibre feeds for the hay, then they can monitor the consumption of soluble carbohydrates more effectively.

 

[PrettyPolly]

Simple System feeds are ideal for laminitic ponies and "good doers". Their feeds are forage based, totally natural and sugar-free, so are ideal for your pony. Take a look at their web-site for more info. I have an OAP laminitic welsh pony who is sugar-intolerant and unable to eat hay due to deteriorating teeth. She is now like a new pony on SS feeds and have managed to keep her weight down a lot easier too.