lami pony owners and feed

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mrsbloggett

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Bit of a long story, but my pony has been battling lami on & off for more than a year. She was on the chubby side, but now is at a good weight (if anything slightly under). Has anyone had any experience with "laminitis" foods causing problems?

Maisie has been on a diet of Hi-Fi Lite, Top Spec Anti-lam, Spillers Happy Hoof & meadow hay soaked for 12 hrs. She has been fed this at a quantity of 1.5% of her body weight. She is also turned out in a very bare play pen for 12hrs overnight.

Since introducing the Anti-lam & happy hoof a month or so ago she sometimes has had heat in her feet and raised pulses, so I have now put her back on box rest with just Hi-Fi & hay to see if its these which are causing the problems. Has anyone with lami ponies had problems with these feeds?

I have considered the possiblity of a flush of autumn grass, but she really is turned out on nothing. Any thoughts gratefully received

She has recently has recent
 
I'm not sure whether or not the feeds suitable for laminitic would cause heat etc in the feet however my elderly pony had a mild touch of laminitis last month for the first time ever in 16 years!- thats with restricted grazing and feed as she is a good doer. Hers is caused by cushings tho. My vet said to feed her just a handful of Hifi lite and hay and keep it simple- its really hard this year to get older hay so we have been having to do as you are doing, ie soaking the meadow hay! . she's turned out in small fairly bare paddock in the day and in at night . As she was starting to really drop off, We have introduced the smallest amount of Spillers Hi Fibre cubes in her feeds and they are quite safe to feed and she(touch wood!) has been absolutely fine on them.
Guess its trial and error really! what works for one may not necessarily work for another. I think if it were my poiny with heat in the foot after feeding the feeds I would do as you have already done and cut it out to see if it makes a difference/ ask my vets advice. Don't know whether this is useful or not, sorry for the essay!...
 
They can still get in even on a bare paddock. Its a nightmare. I know what its like, you start imagining things and looking for the least thing. I tried everything and three years lami free he got it again. Now I am not so neurotic, he is out all the time now after years of misery shut in a stable most of the time. he does wear a muzzle at night. I think, what the hell!! I tried my best and he still got it! He is happy at the moment. It could be the Autumn flush, not so sure about the feed. I still feel his feet every dy and think.. Oh My God they are warm. Total bag of nerves!!
 
I would agree with the autumn flush. Remember even a bare looking paddock is still growing and the growth is in one place only - your pony's stomach!
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The lami pony I do ( cushings related) Is on happy hoof, topspec anti lam, high fibre cubes, overnight soaked hay, half day turn out with a muzzle kept quiet 'light'. She has done really well on that routine for the last year
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have you had her tested for cushings? this os often related to an on-going grumbling laminitis regardless of what is fed. in answer to your question, no, i haven't known any of these feeds to cause heat etc.
 
my welsh has had Lammi since 2 and is now 12, I cannot feed her anything cereal based or supplements, either she gets colic or Lammi, She did well on speedi beet and happyhoof alone plus magnesium and at the minute ive moved her onto Luciebix , beet, and total eclipse balancer. Never had the need or want to feed lammi supplements. Simple is best I feel.
 
I have a pony who's been battling lami on and off for about a year now as well. Everytime she improved and I thought she'd recovered and put her back out on a tiny weeny bit of very minimal grass - she'd come down with it again. So she's now brought in at night (mainly just so other horses can get into the yard to use the other shelter!) and out during the day in our yard which is covered with hardcore. She has improved recently but Im still not planning to put her out on any grass for the time being. She just gets as much hay as she wants (in a small holed net) and 2 feeds a day of Safe & Sound with a high-spec vit & min supplement and her NAF Superflex (she has low grade athritis too). She also gets some high fibre nuts in her feed ball at lunchtime.

She did go through a phase during the summer where even hay seemed to be setting her off so during that month she was on nothing but buckets of Hi-Fi! Luckily she seems to have got over that ultra-sensitive time. We all thought she must have cushings because ANYTHING would set her off - even giving her half a carrot meant she'd be very sore the next day. We didnt have her tested as she seems to have got better and will now eat almost normally (on a strict diet!) now.

It is annoying as lami ponies do get it a different degrees with different things setting them off. My other pony got very serious laminitis about 15 years ago - we almost lost him. However, he pulled through and has been lami-free ever since! He doesn't seem NEARLY as sensitive as others though luckily as he's out on a small paddock all year round with no problems and even gets a bit of course mix and apple chaff (molasses!) with his feed (as he's old now and loses a tiny bit of condition). He's way easier to keep than some.
 
Hi Lilym - I have considered that cushings or insulin resistance could be causing the constant grumblings of lami. The vets at Newmarket say cushings is unlikely as she is only 12 and that there is no point in testing for IR as the treatment would be the same as I am doing now (strict diet) and that most ponies of Maisie's type (native) would show signs of IR at this time of year anyway! If anyone can enlighten me on this reasoning I would be very interested!
 
Got to say we have got good results from laminaze, obviously very restricted grazing, muzzle, and own, good quality but low food value hay.
In the end, lots of exercise seems the only way to keep weight down, and as jockey has got older and more able to ride for longer, lami has got more manageable.
 
I agree with the vets that cushings is unlikely in a 12 yo BUT my cushings mare is now 22 and has had intermittent laminitis since about 11 or 12 years old, despite careful management. I don't know if there is any scientific proof but I am convinced there is a link. She didn't show typical cushings symptoms until about 2 years ago.

I hope your pony doesn't turn out to be cushings - I'm just saying, be aware.
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i know what im about to put will not seem good advise but i can only tell you my experience, i have a 32 year old 12.2 welsh who has lami and now suffers with cushings (age related) i have been advised that grazing him on a bald paddock isnt correct the shorter your grass is the higher the sugar content . my vet and farrier advised that he graze from late morning to early after noon as at this time the sun has burnt the sweetness from the grass we also use a bucket muzzel for him and our shetland, we have cut a slightly bigger hole in the bottom so they can get some grass they just have to work harder at it and they cant take huge mouth fulls. we also give good hay and hi fi lite and hi fi pony nuts.i dont graze them at night as the dew at night increases the sugar content. any sign of puffy eyes or slight cresting or stiffness and they stay in with hay .we didnt get anything this year and my farrier was chuffed.the old boy did good (pony not farrier.)
 
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