Laminitis for the ignorant !!

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Amo

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Hi guys,

After some more advice please. My TB has been lame on and off now for 6 weeks in his off fore. We are convinced it is in his hoof as along with the lameness he has bouts of the hoof being hot and a pulse, and when hacking on stony ground he is very foot sore. The problem we have is that it can come and go within a few days so we seem to be chasing our tails. To make matters more confusing when I trot him up for the vet/farrier, the more we do the sounder he becomes.

Vet was out last week and made a passing comment which stuck in my head regarding laminitics getting sounder the more they are trotted up. Added to another thread on here at the moment re Arab with laminitis it has made me think (Sorry for stealing)

Do you think my TB could have laminitis but more pronounced in one foot? I thought if you got it, you got it equally in all 4? Or am I just clutching at straws looking for an answer

PS - I am completely ignorant as never had a horse with it and naively had/have the impression chances of a 17yo 16.3 TB getting it as slim to zero so please be nice.
 
It is a possibility I'm afraid.

Lower grade laminitis is common and I believe many tb's seem to suffer from it. The flat, pancaked,long toed, under run tb hooves are a sign of dietary problems not normal TB hooves.

Google Pete Ramey and have a look at his articles, not just the laminitis one.
 
Sadly I lost my 16.3hh ISH mare to laminitis last summer. She was not fat nor fed high sugar feeds. She had rotation and sinkage in just her fores. It is quite common for the hind feet to be unaffected.
My mare had stress laminitis, although she outwardly never showed signs of stress. A new mare had joined the herd and I believe that my mare took on her stress which resulted in her severe laminitis.

Laminitis can also be caused through concussion and pain or a metabolic problem, as well as sugar in the diet through grass or feed and obesity (which is often the first sign).
It is often not until it touches us that we become versed in the causes of laminitis. Laminitis in a horse is far more serious than in a pony.
 
Just a point. Horses get the majority of starch and sugars from their forage not the bucket. The bucket can be a tipping point of course but so many don't consider sugar/starch content of grass and hay to be a problem. It can be a huge problem.
 
Get the vet to block out the lame foot, if the horse goes hopping lame on the opposite foot, you're a bit clearer about what the problem is likely to be.

It could be laminitis and it could also be plenty of other things. Laminitis is rarely as simplistic and straightforward as getting the diet right and the horse is right, but the same can be said for whatever it is you're dealing with.
 
Amo said:
Added to another thread on here at the moment re Arab with laminitis it has made me think (Sorry for stealing)
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Forgiven :) I dearly hope that in your case it isn't. Although if my thread has raised awareness of laminitis in traditionally non-lami-type horses then that can only be a good thing.
 
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Working at the Lami Clinic showed me that just as many big fit TB's and Warmblood's got lami as much as ponies. Also that it was equally as common to have just one foot affected more than others, and for hinds to be totally unaffected.

It's not all textbook unfortunately :(
 
Crackerz said:
Working at the Lami Clinic showed me that just as many big fit TB's and Warmblood's got lami as much as ponies. Also that it was equally as common to have just one foot affected more than others, and for hinds to be totally unaffected.

It's not all textbook unfortunately :(
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I'm so glad you posted your experience. :) Raising awareness is so important so good on all of you for sharing.
 
My mare a Dutch warmblood x welsh d 16.1hh had laminitis 3 years ago and was on complete ox rest for 8 months, she has been fine since but her management is very strict.

The first thing I noticed with her was she was quiet, not her cheeky self - I knew something was not right. I had 2 separate farriers look at her, she trotted up fine and didn't react to hoof testers, also had a normal pulse. I kept her stabled to be on the safe side and 2 days later when I arrived at the yard she had that horrible stance, she had laminitis in her near fore. After 3months of treatment from vet & farrier (Sedalin, Bute, x-rays every 3weeks & imprints), she got laminitis in her off fore. Vet said this was because she was weight bearing on that leg too much.

I hope your lad is ok.
 
My horse had lami worse in one front than the other and the hinds were ok, I would seriously consider it could be, I hope not for your sake its a real fear of mine with the horses I have now having previously had one with lami, good luck hooe you get to the bottom of it, I would say the easiest way to tell is xray the hooves.
 
Crackerz said:
Working at the Lami Clinic showed me that just as many big fit TB's and Warmblood's got lami as much as ponies. Also that it was equally as common to have just one foot affected more than others, and for hinds to be totally unaffected.

It's not all textbook unfortunately :(
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That's so true. At the yard I'm on in the last year 2 horses have been pts and 2 more have been diagnosed with lami and they are tb x
 
Another thing to think of is, if you have even the tiniest thought that your horse has lami, then it should be treated as it does have it. Box rest on a deep shavings bed that reaches the door, and vet out to do xrays. Xrays are the kay part - how can a good farrier dress a foot correctly to aid the recovery if they can't see what's going on inside?
 
My 17hh Irish Draught got it back in June..He was not overweight for his build of a tank (620kg's) and was on restricted grazing but he was Insulin resistant.So sadly no shape or size of horse/pony is immune to the dreaded Lami..


He started off with the slightest of head nods and slight raised digital pulse..He was x-rayed and had 3% rotation in near fore and no rotation in any of the other three feet.
He was on box rest for 3 months and has been out on the winter grass by day but the grass is still growing.
 
Thanks everyone for the replies, really hoping that it is not laminitis but at least if it is, I will then know what we are dealing with and can form a plan of attack, I hate not knowing more than anything. Luckily he is not sore enough to be making him miserable, he is still able to buck and jump around like any other plonker TB.

Couple more questions if you don't mind, sure there will be more to come (maybe a couple of daft ones sorry)

Can laminitis be more severe one day to the next?
Also, would he improve the longer we have been out on a hack? ie Starts quite sore but gets better the longer we are out?
How do you actually diagnose laminitis?

PS – Called vet, he is coming out tomorrow to revisit what’s going on, possibly block the foot and then I will book him in for x-rays next week.
 
My horse got Laminitis as a result of emerging encysted small red worm. (They only show up on a blood test not a worm count). One needs to purchase a wormer that deals specifically with them.
Also check the digital pulse of your horse daily as this will indicate the onset of an attack of Laminitis.
 
Laminitis can fluctuate from day to day especially if it's not acute.
It is diagnosed by a vet... hoof temperature, digital pulse etc. but I do think it is sometimes missed when lower grade and a search begins for pulled ligaments etc.

I agree with Crackerz, switch to a laminitic diet anyway, it wont do any harm. Here's some info you might find helpful to pass on. http://www.ecirhorse.com/index.php/laminitis
A good mineral balancer will also help. One of the ones recommended by barefooters would be a good start.

Fingers crossed it isn't. However it is manageable. x
 
Mine (who is a native type) gets it worse in one foot. The white one! This hoof has also been weakened by the lami and he smashed it to bits in the summer. Here are some things I have found out about lami:

His last attack was VERY low-grade lami due to new haylage. It's also acidic food, not just sugar, that can cause it. Once on hay he was ok. It takes a while for toxins to build up so they don't get it instantly upon eating something 'bad'. Mine didn't present lame, he was just a bit lazy one day after 3 weeks on the haylage. His back feet weren't affected at all. It doesn't seem to make any difference what his bucket feed is - he has a fibre-based diet anyway. Fast Fibre is very good for laminitics though.
Thankfully my farrier is a bit of a lami 'geek' and has really helped my boy, he was much better than the vet! So it depends how good your farrier is.
Farriers can spot it by finding blood in the white line when they trim. There is also a test my farrier does - he applies pressure with his thumb above coronet band. Any sensitivity there is a sign of slight lami.
Mine now has pads on front feet. I have easyboots for him too in case he loses a shoe, so he doesn't have to stand on bare feet. With these he is sound. He should be able to have the pads removed in February. I haven't gone down the x ray route yet but if I need to I will. Horse was tested for cushings and ems too - both came back negative BUT farrier is suspicious and he will be retested this summer.

In terms of getting sounder the further you hack, I would put that down to endorphins blocking the pain. I wouldn't risk riding with lami without supportive shoes.
 
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My mare had lami in just one foot, her offside fore... it took the vets 6 weeks to diagnose after being convinced it wasnt in her foot initially, then thinking it was an abcess, then box rest and finally x-rays... and it showed lami, her other 3 feet were absolutely fine, couldnt have asked for better x-rays on them... so it can happen!
 
amandap said:
Laminitis can fluctuate from day to day especially if it's not acute.
It is diagnosed by a vet... hoof temperature, digital pulse etc. but I do think it is sometimes missed when lower grade and a search begins for pulled ligaments etc.

I agree with Crackerz, switch to a laminitic diet anyway, it wont do any harm. Here's some info you might find helpful to pass on. http://www.ecirhorse.com/index.php/laminitis
A good mineral balancer will also help. One of the ones recommended by barefooters would be a good start.

Fingers crossed it isn't. However it is manageable. x
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Deffinately good advise!! My mare fooled the vet & farrier. Good luck x
 
Lots of good advice here, but if it is lami I would not be riding your horse as it can cause more damage to the sensitive laminae in the foot.

Our pony had mild lami one year, she came out a bit slow in the mornings but after being in the field and moving about she seemed OK. As she had had back problems we thought it was a recurrance and got the vet out. At first he thought so too, but as a precaution he felt the digiital pulse and it was pounding away like a hammer! She just had it in one foot.

If it is lami. I would get your horse tested for cushings. This is the time of year when cushings sufferers are most likely to have a lami attack
 
Thanks again for the responses, it does sound like a real contender, will have to see what the vet says tomorrow, either way I am sending him for x-rays as there is something going on there.

Oh, and he has had 2 local steroid injections into his hocks, the last one being 10 days before he went lame so sounding even more convincing unfortunately.

If I had thought of it at sooner I wouldn't have ridden him but the vet advised me to as he is in the middle of a Physio programme and he wanted me to continue as we are only doing walk hacks at the moment (lots of other issues going on) Please believe me I would never intentionally do anything to harm him/make him worse, he's my baby.

Depending on the outcome I will probably be back asking for help on his diet, as again I am not sure but have a feeling it is terrible for this scenario :(
 
I feed all three of my horses on the same thing..It is a Laminitic diet but all three are doing really well on it..It is Fast Fibre and Dengie No Molasses chaff..The baby gets a handful of Suregrow in hers..and the lami prone gets Top Spec AntiLam and Magnesium Oxide.

Low sugar,low starch and no molasses..
 
My then 5 yo tb had 2 mild bouts of lami in late summer / autumn along with an ongoing one tenth lameness in one hind and also 2 rounds of sarcoid treatment. When he had the lami he was quite lethargic and quiet, though to anyone else he just appeared to be a quiet horse. He went in the vets for a lameness work-up and x-rays where he was actually found to be mildly lame on all 4 legs on a circle.

He had tests for EMS which were negative and x-rays showed negative coffin bone angle in hinds and he has PSD in all 4 legs. He's likely to be able to lightly hack only.

Back to the lami - I put him on a low sugar diet with pro-hoof added to his fast fibre and he was on limited turn out for some time ( 2 hours ) now he's out for 4/5 hours same as the rest of the yard. He's pretty much perfect weight wise now too.

Spring / summer - he will be stabled part of the time and in much the same routine though I may turn out overnight, will see what weather does and how much grass as we weren't on this yard last summer.
 
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