Laminitis and snow

So am I right in thinking that the snow can be a problem directly to the physical hoof which can lead to lami

whereas

turning out on frost can cause an internal problem with sugar levels etc which leads to lami??

Is that right??
 
brucea said:
Hmm...if that was the case then the hooves would die and fall off all the horses, they would have terminal frostbite and be lying on their backs in the morning.
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That is true!
The horse has the ability to divert the blood flow from the arteries directly to the veins avoiding the sensitive blood vessels which is why they don't get frostbite and their feet drop off! I would suspect that in a laminitic prone horse that this mechanism in itself might be sufficient to upset the balance and trigger an attack - my laminitic prone is fine out in the snow at -15, so not all laminitics are affected.
 
Hi,do i assume if a horse / pony has hole in hoof wall so the inside of the hoof is exposed then if turned out in snow that would be an even greater risk????
 
Hi my mare has laminitis, the vets says chrionic we are waiting on the results of blood tests, as she is not responding to anti inflammatories and pain relief, but she was out during all the cold snow and ice. On haylage.
You said you nearly lost your horse, how did your horse respond to treatment and what treatment was she given? I'm very concerned that there has been to much damage done already, and thats why shes not responding! Any suggestions.
 
horserosemary said:
Hi my mare has laminitis, the vets says chrionic we are waiting on the results of blood tests, as she is not responding to anti inflammatories and pain relief, but she was out during all the cold snow and ice. On haylage.
You said you nearly lost your horse, how did your horse respond to treatment and what treatment was she given? I'm very concerned that there has been to much damage done already, and thats why shes not responding! Any suggestions.
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I suggest you stop the haylage and give her hay soaked for minimum of twelve hours and rinsed. In my experience well soaked hay is by far the best feed for acute laminitis.
 
Brucea - that wouldnt happen as the equine digit is well equipped to resist cold temps by mechanisms such as what Touchstone has described. However, constant exposure to serious sub zero temps (remember ground temp is usually colder than air temp) may cause the blood vessels to constrict for long periods - which due to the "protective" mechanisms in the hoof may result in necrosis of the laminae. It would appear that this is as bad as it gets - though actually I do know of one QHx in North America to fall foul of a horrendous case of lami this past week which has resulted in severe bilateral pedal bone rotation (through the sole) combined with the start of sloughing of one hoof. No evidence of selenium toxicity. No previous history of lami, turned out 24/7 in very small bare paddock.

It is all, of course, only a theory, but an increasingly common one and since laminitis is STILL to a great extent unexplained/a mystery then I would be careful until proven otherwise.
 
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My previously non-laminitic mare has been crippled since Christmas with laminitis. Both the emergency vet and my own vet put it down to frosted grass - we were having constant night temperatures of -11C and it never got above zero during the day. I personally think it was compounded by some much richer haylage than we normally have, and too much of it (kindness killing). The emergency vet told me she'd been out 3 times in 48 hours to previously non-laminitic horses over Christmas.
 
Sad but glad to read all these posts re: winter lami. Most people think it is all about grass! Check this and see my other posts: 2 ponies living out on bare turnout (no access to grass - it is woodchip). 1 EMS and chronic laminitic, 1 Cushings (previously 1 lami attack was prob grass). Both laminitic this winter at onset of freezing weather.
I entirely buy the argument about freezing blood vessels BUT they both had digestive upsets too. Chronic really bad Xmas day, other off feed. Both now recovered from lami and digestive upset after probiotic (6 day dose) and prebiotic ongoing.
There must be a common cause for the digestive and the lami as symptoms were together so we are back to the usual cause of lami - toxicity. Does this rule out the freezing blood vessels argument?
What about Seasonal Affective Disorder in equines? Given I have both with hormonal problems and SAD affects hormones we are back to the shortening daylight hours argument (see some other posts on this around this subject).
Theory: shorter daylight = affect on hormones = affect on ability to digest/metabolise = colic/digestive upset = toxicity = laminitis
Anyone help me out with this please? Any research done on SAD on equines.
If this theory is correct how come equines in the Nordic countries aren't dropping like flies in the winter? or could it be that the ones with a predisposition e.g. EMS and Cushings actually are. Anyone with experience of equines in Scandinavia or other cold climes with longer hours of winter darkness?
 
Just found this thread and it makes interesting reading. I have two ponies which are prone to laminitus and are therefore carefully managed. The younger has only ever had an attack of lami during winter months (frosty grass or perhaps combined with extremely hard ground - concussion). Interestingly the older of the two (who has never had full blown lami but only goes footy) had terribly bruised hooves at the end of last winter. With 4 white feet it was easy to see the extensive red bruising which the farrier put down to the extreme cold and restricted blood vessels. Neither of them are fed ad-lib hay but are fed old hay twice a day along with Alfa-Lite and Top Spec balancer. I was tempted to bring them off the grass as soon as the cold weather started in November but I've taken a chance, left them out and strangely enough neither of them have gone footy or shown other signs of the onset of lami. I don't know if this is the connection but the only difference between the regime for last year and this is that I have fed the Alfa-Lite and balancer to pad out their hay ration as opposed to just a field supplement and rationed hay. Fingers crossed I've cracked it but we'll wait and see!
 
Katkin there are a lot of barefoot horses that do not do well on either Top Spec or alfalfa. I would not feed either to a known laminitic. On the other hand I have fed haylage to one severe non-typical (fit eventer) laminitic and one insulin resistant horse with no issues at all. It just goes to show each horse is an individual!
 
I think it's a bit like hay Bruce, there is hay and there is hay. Hay cut at 6pm on a sunny day will be full of sugar, and hay cut at 9am from the same field may be fine. Haylage, really well made, will have a lot of the sugar fermented out of it into alcohol. It's interesting to see just how keen horses can be on a newly opened bale compared to the same bale which has been open 7 days and all the alcohol evaporated away :)

I'm guessing I have been lucky with the haylage that I bought. One lot (the atypical horse) was top class competition horse haylage and very expensive but perfectly made new ley ryegrass haylage. The other (the IR horse) was grown at height, cut in September and unfertilised hill meadow.

I don't doubt that soaked hay is safest, but with the IR horse it simply did not give him enough calories for his work, and it seems, with him, safer to feed him haylage than to feed him straights to give him the calories he needs for a serious workload.

I continue to be amazed at just how individual horses are in their nutritional requirements.
 
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