Laminitis in horses

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sammylou1973

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Hello there everyone, and thanks for reading this. I have a 17yr old Shire X Warmblood called Emily who last year came down with laminitis for the first time ever. She is of slim build and is 17.1. It's reoccurred this year, not as bad by far but still put her out of action. She's currently wearing heartbars and is fed a couple of handfuls of Happy Hoof day and night with Global Herbs Laminitis Prone (just started to try that) and her usual glucousamine. I like to keep her out as much as possible so it's muzzle in the day and no muzzle at night. I'd be really interested to hear other people's experiences of non-pony laminitis and how you dealt with it. Has anyone else's horse appeared with laminitis out of the blue, in middle age? She's sound again - would it be OK to ride again now? I'm frightened to "break" her! Any thoughts/opinions/advice would be gratefully received. Thanks.
 
My Welsh D got it back last August and whilst he was given the all clear in Nov time by the vet, over the winter he had a few mild set backs and abscess problems too. He was in heart bars but the vets farrier ended up taking them off 1 shoeing earlier than advised as he thought they were impeding his recovery and he has been fine with normal shoes since. My lads laminitis was more mechanical (farrier leaving feet too long) than diet related but he is a candidate for diet related too so he has slimmed down and needs to be kept that way. How did I cope with it....not very well! It about broke me to be honest as it was such a stress and worry and I got to the stage where I dreaded going to him for fear of the condition and what stage he would be at that night/day. A little bit too late I learnt to take each day separately and deal with those days issues before worrying about what tomorrow might bring.
My lad has been fine for a few months now and I was lucky enough to be able to start bringing him back into proper work over the last 4 weeks. I have been overly cautious with this as I am paranoid of more set backs so I started (all on vets advise) to walk him down the lane for 5 mins in hand and work it up over a period of a few weeks until I was happy that he was coping and sound after each trip. I then got on him one week and rode the distance I had previously done the week before and have gradually increased it over the weeks doing just 2 trips per week and slowly building it up to a 2 mile loop. Once he could do this 2 mile loop I then started to increase the amount of times in the week I took him out and am currently riding 4 times per week, all in walk only and managed a 3 mile loop last Sunday. I will continue this for the next 3 weeks or so before thinking about introducing any trot.
In answer to your question about ridining your horse...take your vets advise and take it slowly and assess as you go as to how your horse is coping...it also depends on how calm and controlled your horse is too...you dont want them jogging down the lanes if possible...aim for a calm walk. I was lucky...after 8 months in the stable/field and some in hand walks I got straight back on and calmly walked down the lane with him.
My lads routine now is that he is on a bare paddock during the day to nibble at the blades of grass as they grow through...so he has to work for everything and then in at night on year old hay...this has kept his weight stable and gives him the chance to lie down at night and rest everything!
Good luck...just take your time with everything and keep checking the feet daily for pulses or resistance to tapping the sole with a hoof pick...if in doubt ring your vet for advise over the phone...really they should see your horse and give you the all clear before commencing any ridden work.
 
sammylou1973 said:
Hello there everyone, and thanks for reading this. I have a 17yr old Shire X Warmblood called Emily who last year came down with laminitis for the first time ever. She is of slim build and is 17.1. It's reoccurred this year, not as bad by far but still put her out of action. She's currently wearing heartbars and is fed a couple of handfuls of Happy Hoof day and night with Global Herbs Laminitis Prone (just started to try that) and her usual glucousamine. I like to keep her out as much as possible so it's muzzle in the day and no muzzle at night. I'd be really interested to hear other people's experiences of non-pony laminitis and how you dealt with it. Has anyone else's horse appeared with laminitis out of the blue, in middle age? She's sound again - would it be OK to ride again now? I'm frightened to "break" her! Any thoughts/opinions/advice would be gratefully received. Thanks.
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At her age and build I would think she may well be a candidate for being Insulin Resistent, which can be made worse when mares come into season... there are many instances of IR mares having recurrent lami attacks that coincide with their seasons. Diet is also always part of it... for IR horses even tiny amounts of grass can be too much for them to cope with. There may also be an issue with glucosamine... there have been studies which show it inhibits the body's ability to break down sugars and for a horse already on the edge it can be that final shove into a lami attack. If you liken Insulin Resitance to type two diabetes in human the sudden occurence of this later in a horses life doesn't seem so unusual. There are also other factors that can make a previously 'safe' horse come down with lami... lami is basically caused by toxins in the blood stream. These toxins are produced by an acid hind gut. The liver and kidneys are there to help expel the toxins from the body before they get to the feet but if the kidneys and/or liver are already compromised e.g. by a virus, or even just becoming less efficient with age, then these toxins that they could cope with last year become a problem this year and onwards.

There is a massive amount of information and support here:

http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/themetabolichorse/

There are many members on there who have horses with very similar histories to your mare and I highly recommend posting the details you've posted here on there and you'll get some very expert advice.

You may want to get your vet to blood test her for IR or Cushings. Possible solutions to prevent further attacks are drugs like Pergolide (for Cushings) and using Regumate to prevent mares coming into season and having related lami attacks.

As for riding if she's sound and your vet is happy then riding is good as exercise is important but only do as much as she is happy with.
 
Thanks for all the advice and tips so far, all very useful. We went through all the tests last year, liver function, cushings, diabetes, all totally clear. The only thing I can put it down to that was different was that the field owner put chemical fertilizer on the grass for the first time in ages, literally years. Does anyone know how long this sort of stuff stays in the ground for? I must admit that this year I've managed to cope without the vet up until now - I have an excellent farrier and he was happy with her feet when he saw her this morning, saying they were a definite improvement on a month ago. I will take a look at the website you suggested, mrdarcy, thanks, and I'm grateful for all comments.
 
I read Jaime Jackson's book 'Founder' this year after my mare had post-operative laminitis. Although the book is aimed squarely at fat pony type laminitis, it's fascinating and well worth a read.
 
Please be very very careful. Lami in big horses is not nice at all :(

We lost our big 18.3hh to it last autumn after 5 weeks of battling it.

I hope everything works out ok x
 
sammylou1973 said:
Does anyone know how long this sort of stuff stays in the ground for? .
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Unfortunately twenty odd years... depending on what chemicals he used. Sadly this may well have triggered the problem with your mare. You may want to get your mare tested for IR again as unless the blood tests are done properly then they can show a negative when actually the horse really is IR. Many vets insist on the horse being starved before an IR blood test but this is incorrect and will not produce an accurate result. Also if your mares IR is season related unless they did the blood test whilst she was in season again the result may not have reflected the true situation.
 
Binky01, I was so sorry to hear about your loss. There's a warning in there too about autumn, I must be vigilant all the time. Thanks mrdarcy for your advice, that's really useful. As I said, her test results last year were all fine but I have no idea about her being in season at the time. It used to be very evident when she was in season but for the last couple of years, it's not so noticeable. I will definitely drop the glucousamine from her diet, I don't think she needs it in the summer when she's not stabled anyway. I'm trying the muzzle way and see how it goes. Looking in my diary, it appears from the end of June last year she was totally fine, so we'll see where we are in a month! Thank you all for your help xx
 
Laminitus Trust can help loads, plus can recommend a really good specialised farrier who I'd rate 110% should different shoeing help. Andrew Poynter, the guy who made the imprint shoes. He couldn't have helped our big lad anymore than he could have done and definately gave him the best he could, alongside our vets, to give him a fighting chance. His was toxin induced lami, not feed related too for the record.
His pedal bones, without Andrews shoes, in one foot would have been through his sole. The bulge was enormous but luckily remained inside due to the Andrew's miracle footwork [they had to be specially made too due to him being 18.3....he went over the standard sizes!]
Here's his Xrays about 3 weeks into the attack [Warning, extremely scary.]
http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos...1188674111716_1074211092_593796_6145346_n.jpg [bad foot]

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos...1188674151717_1074211092_593797_4178368_n.jpg ['good' foot]

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos...1165684656994_1074211092_513036_7574261_n.jpg [And his lovely self xxx]



It was the amount of drugs our boy was on in the end that we had to call it day at, as his liver and kidneys were shutting down and he'd stopped eating. 5 weeks we had him down, but he was a fighter the whole time which was why we carried on throwing everything at him to try and 'fix' him. 5th week he stopped eating and was just telling us he was spent and had had enough...he walked out the soundest he'd ever been in the 5 weeks when we took him out that final day too :(

I really really hope your mare stays sound and happy. All the best...it sounds like you're already doing everything fab and best for her. Hugs and vibes for you both! It's a horrible disease xx

Also - There's been studies into triggers of laminitus from deer ticks, Nitrate build up in the soil/grass, EMS, etc.

Does your mare have any abnormal musclemass etc?

If it could be EMS related...we tried Metformin tablets in our boy which did seem to help loads compared to everything else we tried. Maybe talk to your vet and enquire about EMS and see. Never hurts to explore everything if there's an underlying cause other than grass.
Sadly though, laminitis isn't just ponies as the common conception is. There's been a large link and increase in big horses and lami over the years and isn't that uncommon. However, it is a lot more serious due to the amount of weight and size etc.
 
My 19yr old cob (homebred) suddenly developed Lami nearly two weeks ago. I checked at 9.30pm Sunday night, and the second I saw her at 7.30am Monday morning, I knew she had it. The only difference was that she spent 2 nights out, although she often has between 2 and 5 nights out in a row in the summer.

I called the Vet, and the farrier, and by 11am, the Vet had been and the farrier arrived to put on a full set on Imprints (a little sob from me at the cost). She was bedded on a deep shavings bed, on top of mats, and has been fed soaked hay or haylage since. Always soaked for a minimum of 4 hours. She has been fed Dengie Healthy Hoof, and has not left the stable at all. On the first day the Vet gave a bute injection, she then had Danilon for 5 days, and ACP for 3 days.

She has not had any drugs since then and is 100% sound in the box. The farrier came a week later to check her feet, and says there are no changes to be seen. We think we caught it within hours of it developing.

She will continue to stay in for the full 6 weeks that she has the Imprints on, and then we will reasses the situation.

I really have no idea why she came down with it. My grass isn't that good, and hasn't been fertilized for 3 years. She's out with the same 8 horses all year round, and she's not fat. We can only think that the cold/hot/cold/hot in the weather caused the grass to flush with sugars. Two of the other horses out with her are much 'bigger' tummy wise than her and they were fine. I guess I'll never know.

All the best with yours.
 
Hi Britestar - oh how you bring back memories of last year! That's pretty much exactly what happened to mine. And bizarrely enough, this little "blip" we've had this year was triggered by 2 nights worth of grass too. You're doing the right thing, it worked brilliantly for me. What are these Imprint shoes? This is the first I've heard of them. Emily's just got heartbars on and if they didn't work, we were going for gel in the feet. I've just had a quick Google and found them - wow, they look fantastic! How are you doing with them? Are they easy to use? How often do you have to have them changed? I hope all goes well xx
 
Have you checked if the Glucosamine is suitable?

My Mum is diabetic and can't take it so if there is a query over IR it may be important.
 
Sammylou - the Imprints are great. As soon as she had them on she was moving almost sound (ok she had had a massive dose of IV bute too). You need to have a farrier who knows how to fit them. I'm very lucky, I rang my Farrier to say she had gone down with it, and he said he'd be there as soon as he could (lives 40 miles away). I can't praise him enough for dropping everything and coming over. As far as he is concerned, its an emergency. He was actually booked to come the next day, but he said no, he was coming straight away.

She will keep them on for 6 weeks, and because she is doing so well, he reckons she won't need them again (phew!). He say either heart bars, or even normal shoes if I'm really lucky.

She was out of the box today, as I needed to dig out the wet patches, she walked normally and stood tied up as if nothing was wrong. Before I out her back in I walked her 10m down the yard and back, and she was great, not even lame on the turn.

Hope your goes well.
 
Britestar - your story is so familiar.

I have a 16.1 half warmblood, quarter TB, quarter shire mare and on the 29th March I brought her in from the field and noticed she was very quiet. The next morning she was a little footy so I walked her out in hand and she seemed ok - so what did I do......I turned her out. When I brought her in she was lame, there was a farrier (not mine) on the yard at the time and he thought she had bruised her sole. I called my farrier and he came out first thing next morning, he did tests to see if she would react but she seemed fine. He told me to keep her stabled for the next 2days then to call him.

Well, the next morning she was crippled. I broke down in tears and rang the farrier he told me to ring the vet and to bring the x-ray machine. Vet came in the afternoon and said "laminitis" He gave her strong pain killer and acp and put frog supports on. My farrier came 2 days later as he was struggling to get her size and fitted her Imprint Shoes.

We changed her bedding to rubber mats and shavings, she has soaked hay in 2 nets and Happy Hoof morning & night with magnesium. Is still on sedalin but the vet has now asked me to reduce the bute slowly.

She has now had 2 pairs of Imprint Shoes on and is due to be x-rayed this Wed so the farrier can see if she needs another pair. Its only been 8weeks but feels more like 8months and I'm really struggling with her hay as she never seems to stop eating.....I am weighing it now so I know exactly how much she gets.

Because she's such a big horse the vet didn't hold out much hope for her but when he saw her a couple of weeks later he was amazed.
 
Imprints are what our boy had on, they were the only things keeping his pedal bones in...they're the shoes Andrew Poynter developed. He's always researching and developing new rehab and treatment ideas plus does travel a bit, so it is always worth giving him a call, especially if it's a serious case.
 
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