Laminitis Alert

Pale Rider

Pale Rider

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I don't suppose anyone will need reminding to keep an eye on the grass, but, the change in the weather over the past day or so will cause a few cases of laminitis I expect.
 
Our grass is growing like crazy, ours come in during the day and go out on a track at night. There is visible growth between poo-picking in the morning and turning out in the evening.
 
I'm petrified, mine is muzzled all the time she is out - around 6-8 hours per day - and inside on haylage the rest of the time.
 
We have muzzled our two already - one is a laminitic and the other has come out of winter too fat despite only having grass and hay. The lami prone mare is a master at removing her muzzle although the fat boy seems to keep his on and just looks mournful! Do you tend to give a feed to your horses before putting them out in a muzzle? Our grass is coming through but is still quite short and I am (rather stupidly) concerned they will not get enough forage?:o
 
Fatonfreshair (love the name by the way!) I worry about this too, that's why she doesn't get as much grazing time as I would like her to. She gets her haylage in the stable first thing in the morning, along with her balancer, so hopefully she has had a chance to get a belly full for a couple of hours or so before she goes out. Then she gets more in the evening.

Otherwise I turn her out in the afternoon when she has had a chance to finish it up, but I worry that if the grass does become longer and she can nibble some of it, that it will contain more sugar in the afternoon so that is a pain too!

If she was younger I would consider turning her out at night and bring in during the day, but she's an oldie and likes to 'go to bed' at night, even in the summer! To be honest, I don't think even at night I'd dare let her have that long without a muzzle on.

She just looks so depressed when she does have it on though...!
 
Fatonfreshair said:
We have muzzled our two already - one is a laminitic and the other has come out of winter too fat despite only having grass and hay. The lami prone mare is a master at removing her muzzle although the fat boy seems to keep his on and just looks mournful! Do you tend to give a feed to your horses before putting them out in a muzzle? Our grass is coming through but is still quite short and I am (rather stupidly) concerned they will not get enough forage?:o
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I put muzzles on 3 beginning of april and take them off sept or later.

unless they remove them in field , so then i make a corral within the field of electric tape :D
 
Orchardbeck said:
Fatonfreshair (love the name by the way!) - the name reflects the fat boy! He is very cheap to run from a feed point of view and currently has no health issues and has super hard hooves (unshod) - but I do not want to be brewing up trouble for later years - he turns 9 this year - so on with the muzzle but I am also now giving him and the lami prone mare some magox at night to help with lami prevention. Fat Boy (not his real name :cool:) wolfs his feed down as he thinks it is a treat - hi-fi lite and only a small scoop at that. Fortunately there is usually someone at home to keep an eye on the mare and pop her muzzle back on but she is in danger of snatching too much spring grass when not being checked. We did originally have the mare coralled off but she stressed all the time even though she could see Fat Boy - we are therefore persevering with the muzzles and I give them hay before turning out so that they are not starving. It is quite amusing albeit frustrating to watch her inventive ways at removing the muzzle though :rolleyes:. What are people's views on muzzling overnight as well if kept out 24/7? They currently come in at night but with the nicer weather and warmer nights we might start leaving them out - but not if that increases the risk.

Sorry the response became like war and peace!
Click to expand...
 
Fatonfreshair said:
We have muzzled our two already - one is a laminitic and the other has come out of winter too fat despite only having grass and hay. The lami prone mare is a master at removing her muzzle although the fat boy seems to keep his on and just looks mournful! Do you tend to give a feed to your horses before putting them out in a muzzle? Our grass is coming through but is still quite short and I am (rather stupidly) concerned they will not get enough forage?:o
Click to expand...

Mine get a small feed with supplements in (yeasacc, magnesium and linseed mixed with a small handful of high fibre cubes and oat straw chaff). Then they're muzzled from 7:30 until about 7 pm, when they come in to a scoop of oat straw chaff only, with a small holed haylage net each. Both of mine go through muzzle removal phases. I have the comfort muzzles on mostly, but Henry is currently borrowing a greenguard to see if this is better. Day 1 was a success (for me, not him...), but Day 2 is in progress... ;)
 
Both of ours managed to keep their muzzles on all day yesterday - I have to virtually clamp an ordinary head collar over the mare's grazing muzzle to keep it in place. They both have the comfort grazing muzzles - Shires or similar; the mare did have a greenguard one but hates the mere sight of it and runs off! She reluctantly accepts the comfort muzzle but only because she is hatching a plan on how to remove it :D.

My husband thinks they look like Hannibal Lecter :p.

I will continue to give them some feed before turning them out with the muzzles - thanks for the reply.
 
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