Golden01
New User
My new horse is prone to laminitis, I was just wondering whether along with keeping him on restricted grazing, do I need to restrict his hay intake also?
Laminitis advise please
- Thread starter Golden01
- Start date
*hic*
village idiot :D
It depends how fat he is at the moment. If he's overweight then yes, restrict his hay or preferably make sure you soak it at least overnight to get rid of some of the goodness from it.
daniloveshorses
New User
As well as keeping your horse on restricted grazing you will also need to soak the hay/hayledge in order to soak all the nutrients out of it. This way your horse isnt recieving sugars which can affect the laminitis in various ways. Hope this helps 
Moggy in Manolos
Well-Known Member
If you can feed lower quality hay, in terms of nutrition that's ideal, as mentioned soaking it will help. Only feed simple chaff based feeds/high fibre feeds with the laminitis approved mark on them. I feed for example hi fi lite and spillers high fibre nuts
spotty_pony
...
It really depends just how prone to Laminitis he is. One of my boys had a very mild case of Laminitis a few years ago and so now he is classed as being 'prone to Laminitis'. He is fed hay rather than haylage as haylage tends to be richer and his grazing is restricted in the spring and autumn. I do feed him a Feed Balancer though to make sure he is still receiving all of the correct vitamins and minerals. I feed Baileys Lo-Cal as it is improved by the Laminitis Trust. I also keep him really fit, as this means I can keep his weight down easily. We tend to do lots of long, steady hacks with plenty of hill work as this is the best kind of work for burning calories.
Hope this helps.
Hope this helps.
Golden01
New User
Thanks for the advice. He had a case of laminitis once when he was a youngster (I dont know how severe it was) he is 12 now and has never had a case since, but I've only had him since October so want to make sure it stays that way! He's not over weight, he has happy hoof with high fibre cubes and a small amount of speedy beet and he is still quite lean. He's having one haynet at night and I'm riding around 4 times a week at the moment which will increase as the lighter evenings come. He's turned out for most of the day but doesn't have much grass and I will make his paddock even smaller come March.
Kallibear
Well-Known Member
If he's managed for years without another episiode then he's probably not that sensitive. Keeping him lean, and off rich grass, will more than likely be enough.
Work also makes a huge difference. I've found even quite sensitive laminitic can get away with eating naughty things if they're working hard enough.
Work also makes a huge difference. I've found even quite sensitive laminitic can get away with eating naughty things if they're working hard enough.
bensababy
Well-Known Member
Apparently reports suggest now that hay needs to be soaked for 30mins, any longer and its soaking in all the goodness still and turning mouldy.
bensababy
Well-Known Member
Also - dont be too deceived by the lack of grass - stressed grass is just as dangerous as the lush stuff. I personally swear by grazing muzzles.
joeanne
Well-Known Member
Do you have a link for that info? Would be VERY interested in reading that!
Personally I wouldn't be able to do it! 24 hours soaking with a water change after 12 hours.
bensababy
Well-Known Member
I saw it on a few websites - one; http://www.safergrass.org/articles/sugarinhay.html
To me it makes sense - unless rinsed off afterwards, the hay is effectively still soaking in the goodness you are trying to extract from it..
ponypops
Well-Known Member
had 2 ponies who had previously been laminitic and needed careful management. problem was both had been kept as skinny as rakes and were not fit to do the work we required. we therefore had to juggle avoiding another laminitic outbreak with getting some condition and energy about them. we avoided rich grazing and situations like frosty grass and other known triggers. we made diet changes very gradual when we got them and stuck to routine carefully. it took longer than with "normal" ponies to get them the way we wanted (almost a whole season) but neither had a wiff of laminitus which shows that careful management will pay off. one of the ponies previous owners actually says could not believe it was the same pony.
i believe too many people still think the answer is to just starve laminitics.
i believe too many people still think the answer is to just starve laminitics.
*hic*
village idiot :D
The conclusion reads:
or soaking for 60 minutes does some good work in reducing sugars, soaking for longer will reduce a greater amount of sugar.
I'm also slightly concerned that anyone would even consider soaking batches of hay in the same batch of water for several days as the text of the link you quote says!
bensababy
Well-Known Member
This is why i question the purpose of soaking the hay for any longer - the soaked hay is officially still sitting in all the sugar extracted from hay - so unless rinsed again - what is the point?
To me there is a point to argue on each way, i guess its a case of "if it aint broke"..