LAMINITIS AND FAT PONIES

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poiuytrewq

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Hello everyone- wanting to pick brains again!
We have just taken on loan a 12.2 pony who seems to have ballooned in just a week, she is in a small paddock but the grass is fairly good and she gets a handful of chaff in the evening because she is known to be difficult to catch and i figure if she knows us as providing food will be a little more willing!
I am going to fence off a bit of my horses field by the gate where it was muddy in the winter so the grass is poor and put her in that.
My horse is a TB so i have absolutly no idea what i need to be looking out for- never had a midget before
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I think she has a slight crest coming which i believe is bad but what other signs do i look out for and what do i do to prevent her getting laminitis as right now i am quite worried about this little football on legs!!
Thanks every one xx
 
You just need to remember that these ponies live off fresh air! My NF's will be in medium work and be on a bare paddock and they still put on weight
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It's just how they've evolved, theres no lush grass where these ponies originate from.

Just look out for hard crest, and being pottery on their feet. Def get the pony in a small bare paddock and thats all it needs!

Good Luck
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Ok thanks i will get fencing tonight! I know this is a really sappy question and i should be shot for asking but.......... wont she be hungry?
 
Put a grazing muzzle on her...this way she can eat a little amount but not gorge on the grass.

Make sure the chaff you give her (if you really feel you need to) is unmollassed like hi-fi lite.

Soak the hay you give her overnight so it loses the goodness and double-haynet it so a small amount lasts longer.

Weigh tape her twice a week and write her weight down so you have an idea of how she's doing.

And obviously lots of exercise.

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muzzle her or fence a bit off for her. As an above post said - these ponies can live off fresh air. You need to get the weight off her or it sounds like she could go down with it if the cresty neck has appeared and huge belly.. you need to act before its too late.
Good luck.
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I would be wary of putting them on stressed grass (poor) as this can be higher in sugar content than better grass... counter-productive if you are trying to avoid laminitis. A grazing muzzle will enable them to move around and nibble at grass without being able to pig out or get to the sugary stuff in the bottom of the stem, once she's lost some weight you could take it off at night (sugar levels in the grass drop at night). If you keep her in then make sure she has plenty of 'roughage'; soaked hay or haylage as it's imprtant to keep their guts moving to avoid lami (I read a really good article which you might be able to find on one of my earlier posts about 3-4 weeks ago.. Shilasdair posted a link I think?!)
Oh no, it was Toby_Zaphod, here it is http://www.animed.co.uk/laminitis.htm
 
Do you think we should actually not give her anything at all (feed wise) I dont want the only reason we catch her to be for riding and she dosen't really enjoy being brought in alone just for grooming. How about carrots i am guessing they contain sugers and might be worse than the handful of chaff?
 
Put her in a small paddock and give her some old soaked hay.
It only needs to be soaked for about 2 hours.
She can have some hi-fi lite with a feed balancer in it to give her the minerals.
 
A grazing muzzle is good. My 15.2 boy is in work but not fed anything! Maybe a few carrots just to have his garlic sprinkled on it, so your pony should not need anything. As the others have said, maybe just a little hay to keep guts working, remember some chaff is mollassed. Watch out for leaning back on their heels, a sure sign of lami. Is a difficult issue, that we all have to watch out for. All the horses at my yard have become a bit round, all except the ponies!
 
If you put her in a small bare paddock then you do need to give hay, ideally soaked for a few hours as Thistle suggests, to take out some of the sugar content. She still needs roughage to keep her gut moving.

I put my lami-prone natives in a bare paddock but with several piles of soaked hay and as they eat it all straight away, it means there is not much grass there to interest them. I bring them in during the day and feed hi fi lite with some hi fibre cubes or Happy Hoof, depending on degree of work. This means they are happy to come in and it's a small reward for the hours of boredom that are to follow! Who'd be a fat native pony... Also give as much work as you can - I broke one shetland x to harness so I could get some weight off him and it worked, but luckily I had a neighbour who drove so had lots of help.
 
I have a 8hh Falabella x shetland. He is in a small fenced off paddock withpoor quality grass during the day and in at night with old hay. He has a tiny bit of Happy Hoof when he comes in (just so he thinks he has something). As he is too small to be ridden, we take him for regular walks. I keep a strict eye on his weight. You have various options with your pony - you can either pop a grazing muzzle on her for the majority of the time she is out (ponies soon become used to them), or you can fence off a bit of grotty grazing for her and you should restrict the time she is out. When she is in, she should have hay that is soaked for at least 12 hours as this gets rid of all the nutrients, but will still give her plenty of fibre to keep her hind gut working - on no account should she be starved. A small bit of Happy Hoof or Hi Fi lite is also fine. Carrots are high in sugar and should be avoided. You need to be careful when the new hay is cut and make sure you have a good supply of old hay for her - late cut hay is much lower in nutrients than hay that is cut earlier in the year.
Welcome to the world of fat-pony ownership! Good luck.
 
Carrots are bad for laminitics, loads of sugar. Mine has hi fi lite and speedi beet, but mine is thin. For her to love you I'd just go hi fi lite.
 
My pony is a healthy weight and was in during the day and muzzled and turned out on leafy grass at night. (She gets no hard feed etc) and she still got laminitis
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Low sugars low carbs
Cresty neck suggests magnesium needed in the diet
You must control the weight but do not starve--as above soaked hay
Out at night--sugars lower
No carrots
Hi Fi Lite plus Speedibeet to get in a supplement eg Top Spec Antilam, a couple of teaspoons Magnesium oxide and salt
And exercise is important but not hammer hammer on hard surfaces
Good luck
 
My friend and I both have lamis. They share a paddock split in two by an electric fence. Both get old hay soaked for 12 - 24 hours morning and night, plus a scoop of Happy Hoof twice a day for one in light work, and 2 scoops twice a day for the other horse in medium work. They are different ages so we restrict the area of the grass for the younger horse as he eats a lot faster than the older horse. He is a arab x cob who gets a cresty neck if he puts on too much weight. The electric fence is brilliant then to restrict his grass even more to lose the crest.
I'm a great believer that a horse should always have something to nibble - just to keep its hindgut working, so i always make sure they have a heaped wheelbarrow full of soaked hay between them.
They can get a serious condition called Hyperlipaemia if they are starved.
I always call their soaked hay their 'porridge', its filling but not fattening.
To check for laminitis, feel the hooves for heat, feel the digital pulse on the fetlock - put your 4 fingers round the back - you shouldn't be able to feel it 'pulsing'. Look for signs of 'nodding or lameness, or leaning back on the heels.
Mine had a mild bout of laminitis for 4 weeks over 2 years ago. Luckily the farrier was due that day, spotted it and we both got the vet out WITHIN THE HOUR. That is the most important thing - speed of treatment. If you suspect anything - phone the vet.
Good luck - hope this helps!
 
The most important thing to remember is that ponies are meant to graze on hill tops etc which are covered with tradditionalvegetation which mainly consists of weeds and very little grass etc. This meant that they had to graze vast distances just to get some food. The grass they found was unlike todays modified Rye grass which has a high level of nutrition in it.

Todays grass is made up mainly of concentrated Rye grass with very little weed matter in it. So per munch todays ponies get far more Rye grass intake without having to work for it.

The solution is to keep the pony in a very small paddock from March - October and make sure that it is kept underweight. (There are very few ponies that have become ill due to lack of weight). Try to keep the pony in a stable for at least 14 hours of the day but while in the stable feed on hay that has been completly soaked in fresh water for at least one hour so as to extract the nutrients.

Horses that are underweight have far less chance of getting Laminitis although Laminitis can be triggered off by a number of different things. Make sure that the pony is regularly wormed (at least every 3 months) and that includes a wormer that will treat encysted emerging small red worms which can trigger of an incident of laminitis).

However the most IMPORTANT thing to do is to ride the pony as much as possible (at least 4 hours per day). While the pony is being ridden it is being excercised and can not eat!
 
My pony has nearly finished her four weeks box rest and no longer has frog supports.
She's on 2 ACP twice a day, some bute paste and adlib hay soaked for 18 to 24 hours in a small holed haynet and has a thick shavings bed.
(She's also on ventapulmin as she has a virus/chest infection caught from the new horse opposite).
She has a handful of Happy Hoof twice a day and access to a vitamin and mineral lick.
I've had her ten years and this is her first bout of Laminitis in that time (Her x-rays show she's has had bad laminitis and graining and rotation of the pedal bone in both front feet in the past) even though she has been much fatter than this previously and I have asked for her to be tested for Cushings.
I will be speaking to the vet who advised the above about turnout and workload after she has her remedial trim next week.
 
Ok I am going to take all advice given and am very grateful to you all, however i do struggle with the whole stableing thing, maybe thats from owning a TB who weaves and my whole aim is to get him out with as much space as poss and pump food into him. Do ponies not get stressed and bored- obviously they are nowhere near as highly strung.
As for 4 hrs a day- NOT A CHANCE I never have time as it is and at 23 i dont think she would cope with that- although it would be a sure fire way of putting my daughter off for life and saving me a fortune!!
 
I have 2 natives, both a healthy weight due to using many of the techniques above, however I don't have time to ride for 8 hours per day, as sadly I have to go to work, apart from this they are doing ok, touch wood my laminitic has been stable for 18 months. A grazing muzzle is her saviour.
 
Yes, ponies do get horribly bored. I try to give mine some interest - I leave them in for about 4-5 hours with some hay, then let them out in my yard area (making sure all doors to hay barn etc are shut of course). Then I might turn out for an hour in a small area, bring them back in for a few hours, and hopefully round up some small kids to exercise them. Sadly only usually manage an hour, not four! You could break the day up with some lunging, or long-reining maybe? Or go for the muzzle option, although mine hate them so never gone down that route. One could get it off within minutes even when we tried sewing the headpiece to a plait in his mane, and the other hyperventilated with fear as he is a nervous welshie (although think he must have used up couple of hundred calories being terrified so that was a bonus!).
 
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