Laminitis advice

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SamanthaG

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Hi. I've never owned a pony with this before. I possibly have the opportunity to take on a 12 year old who has suffered with it in the past. The pony suffered more at a pervious home to this one. She was on a bare tiny paddock, stabled at night 4pm until 8am - 9am, and keep in 24/7 on wet days, fed haylage and hard feed, was very fat and (in my opinion) over rugged. With me she would be out 24/7 in a large area with long grass. It's not lush green grass but very old grazing land that hasn't seen fertilisers for years, the grass is a real mix of everything, from grasses, herbs, nettle and thistle, to name only a few. Its not just fields but contains a moor land type area and a small woodland with a shelter. I do have a stable if needed but tend not to use them. I guess im hoping the complete change of lifestyle may benefit her? Or am I dreaming?

Any advice or tips greatly received.
 
It sounds like pony heaven and could be ideal for a laminitic, constantly moving about with access to herbs, unfertilised grass and living a fairly natural life will give her a real chance to stay laminitis free, it may not work but if the pony is suited to you in other ways and you have the option of keeping her restricted if essential then I would take her on, not all laminitics will get it again and the new lifestyle will certainly be beneficial, often people just do not have the correct set up to allow them to be outside living a natural life and have no choice but to keep them in more and more restricted paddocks which can be detrimental and perpetuate the issue.
 
If you suspect the pony might be prone to laminitis limit its grazing. The previous bare paddock sounds cruel but is a godsend. Our elderly pony who has previously had laminitis and suffers with cushings had been OK on her medication( Prascend) but had slightly richer new hay and wouldn't eat her medication had an attack this year and got three weeks box rest. The vet commented there had been a number of laminitis cases this year with the amount of grass available this year.
 
Small bare paddocks are not always the the answer. It encourages the pony to gorge when it does get fed, or, as they often do, escapes onto lush grass. I am with Be Positive here, large area to keep moving, steadily grazing on old, coarse grass with herbs & thistles can be just as good.
 
Thanks. So there seems to be hope. I was always told bare paddocks were the only choice. But from my limited research it seems these are the worst for high sugar levels.
 
Mine has just come off a bare paddock, fed with chopped straw and high fibre haylage. He lost about 80kgs on that regime and had constant ad lib forage. Hes now out on poor grazing from 4pm until 6pm and in the rest of the time with chopped straw and a tiny feed with a mineral balancer. He gained weight but it was only a small amount and I'm monitoring him. Hes about to go out 24/7. The field is huge and relatively hilly and lots of other horses to keep him moving so I'm hoping hes ok. However if he isnt he will be straight back in and into a bare paddock.

Hes never been a proper laminitic, he got a dose of very low grade lammi that if he was shod would never have been picked up or an issue and he was being stuffed full of haylage and pony nuts. If he had been restricted when that happened or had actual lammi then no way in hell would he be out 24/7 on grass. I feel a bit twitchy about it now, but I have the option to restrict him again if its an issue.

I wouldnt take on this horse if you are aiming to keep it out 24/7. You might be able to, but there is a strong possibility you wont be able to do that, so factor that in
 
SamanthaG said:
Hi. I've never owned a pony with this before. I possibly have the opportunity to take on a 12 year old who has suffered with it in the past. The pony suffered more at a pervious home to this one. She was on a bare tiny paddock, stabled at night 4pm until 8am - 9am, and keep in 24/7 on wet days, fed haylage and hard feed, was very fat and (in my opinion) over rugged. With me she would be out 24/7 in a large area with long grass. It's not lush green grass but very old grazing land that hasn't seen fertilisers for years, the grass is a real mix of everything, from grasses, herbs, nettle and thistle, to name only a few. Its not just fields but contains a moor land type area and a small woodland with a shelter. I do have a stable if needed but tend not to use them. I guess im hoping the complete change of lifestyle may benefit her? Or am I dreaming?

Any advice or tips greatly received.
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Sounds like the ideal feild for a laminitis , wish we had this as my daughters pony who is very fat at the mo ,with all this good grass we have , we have the pony on a strip grazing fence line so they don't get too much.
 
One of mine is a laminitic and I have the same type of setup as you mix of grass weed and other stuff she loves it always on the move grazing and bucking around 😂😂 I hate seeing them in 24/7 all mine are out all day everyday even in winter they love the freedom
 
There may well be an underlying issue such as EMS or PPID (Cushings) with Insulin Resistance - a relatively high percentage of laminitics are due to something like that. The Laminitis site is a mine of scientific information such as those underlying conditions, as well as how to manage and rehab sufferers http://www.thelaminitissite.org/
You've got lots of reading!
 
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