laminitic feeding

Dancing Queen said:
whatever you decide the vet and farrier both advised me to soak hay overnight to remove the excess starch in the hay.
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I second soaking for a minimum of one hour in clean (NOT pre used for soaking) water and rinsing for a horse in an acute attack or a sensitive horse, IR or Cushings for eg.
Giving un soaked hay is too unreliable if you do not know the non structural carbohydrate (NSC = Sugars and starch) content by having your hay tested. Below 10% NSC is what is recommended and widely successful.
If the horse isn't responding it is possible the hay is very high in sugars (soaking only removes about 30% max) I have had success with obtaining hay from another source in the absence of testing which is the only way to know how much NSC's are in the hay.

If the horse has to go in a paddock, even with minimal grass access I would make a track or smaller area with electric tape to restrict grass further. Short over grazed grass can be very high in sugars due to being stressed and it's surprizing how much they can consume even in a 'bare' paddock.

Stopping all hard feeds (and grass access) except a small amount of un mollassed beet to carry the basic salt and magnesium is my emergency action.
 
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Thank you all very helpful but my question was about whether one should feed ad/lib hay or rationed?
There has been conflicting advice given with some saying there should be 24 hour access to hay and others with opinion that rationed hay (based on body weight %) is adequate.
 
If you give ad lib ,the average greedy /laminitic will probably spend most of its time eating!
I would give hay rationed and if possible twice daily in doubled up haynets this slows down intake and means they have almost adlib access but have to work a bit harder for it.
Even in a bare paddock there will be some grass so take that into account when working out the ration.
 
Definitely rationed. If he is laminitic you need to know how much he is consuming and if you feed it ad lib its hard to tell if they are eating too much, which most horses would take the opportunity to do! Horses are inherently greedy and happily eat themselves into trouble sadly. Depending on how good a doer your horse is, and if he needs to lose weight, or maintain condition as he is, then you should weigh him and then feed accordingly anything from 1-2.5% of his bodyweight.
In an ideal world the hay should then be split into as many small feeds as you can manage but for the average person this is impossible and 2 haynets a day is the best most of us can provide.
Good luck.
 
I'd say it depends very much on what's causing the laminitis. Not all laminitis is caused by horses being overweight. It is the amount of sugar and starch, not simply calories, that will make the difference to a laminitic. At least, that's my understanding of it.
 
Out pony is not, everything crossed, laminitic, but just in case I have been feeding high fibre hayledge and a small token feed of safe and sound , hayledge is rationed as he would just stuff his face all day , so one net for the day and one at night, also on restricted grazing.

Btw he us defiantly not happy about it but it has to be done :D
 
I think you need to be absolutely certain of the carbohydrate/starch content of whatever it is you are feeding and feed within the recommended limits! So, if you can determine how much grass will be eaten over the 24 hours and its sugar content and that's within the limits, then go for that. Analyse the hay (as fed) and feed that likewise. I know which is likely to be easier to a) quantify and b) administer accurately :)
 
duchessdobbin said:
Thank you all very helpful but my question was about whether one should feed ad/lib hay or rationed?
There has been conflicting advice given with some saying there should be 24 hour access to hay and others with opinion that rationed hay (based on body weight %) is adequate.
Click to expand...
There should be 24hr access to hay or other forage. If the horse is overweight then hay should be weighed before soaking and given at I think 1 and 1/2% of body weight in 24 hours. The trick is to find ways to slow the intake down so that the horse isn't left for long periods with no hay. Hence double netting with small holed nets, sprinkle feeding, dispensers that slow intake of all manner can be deployed/invented as required for obese horses where weight loss is critical.

Starving a horse is counter productive as it ads yet another stress to a horse already in severe stress due to laminitis. Risk of colic, ulcers etc. is also much increased when too little hay is fed and the horse eats it in an hour and then has nothing for 8 hours...
 
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