laminitis in minis

[ycbm]

Can people with minis tell me if they are more susceptible to laminitis than other horses?

I have a year old 25 inch Shetland who has come in this morning with pink/red coronet bands on all four feet. She's moving well, but this seems to me to be a very big warning sign and unexpected in a pony so young.

Would you take her off grass immediately, or wait for any more signs of discomfort?

She is not fat, if anything a bit light. However I was told by the previous owner that she can't digest haylage and she gets an event line in her feet quite easily. I'm not sure she has the best digestive system in the world She did go for a gallop and a buck when turned out last night, but it was on grass and at her weight I would not have expected that to be the cause.

All thoughts gratefully received.

 

[amandap]

I don't know if they are more susceptible but their lifestyle is imo a big factor ie. less exercise than bigger horses. I take the view, ignore warning signs at your peril. A move = stress and different grazing may be better or less suitable, only time will tell but be on guard.
I would at least restrict grass (out at night) and feed low (NSC) sugar or soaked hay. I would look at mineral intake and some gut support such as yea sac and possibly a mycotoxin binder such as mycosorb. There are balancers that contain both.

We are in Spring so grass is potentially dangerous for sensitive horses/ponies. Tbh I've never seen pink/red coronet bands so not sure what that might mean. All my mini Shetlands are yarded atm even though only one has a history of laminitis.

25 ins is tiny!

 

[ycbm]

Thanks for this

She really is tiny, and gorgeous too, fine with a tiny head and dainty movement. Do you have any idea how big she will finish? Mother was 29 and father 31. I would like her to stay as small as possible. Supplement wise, she won't eat anything with the minerals and yeast in that my big boys get, which is a bit of an issue as we are high iron, high manganese and low selenium.

Yarding is no problem, she is already on a yard during the day and can live on it full time if needs be. I'd quite like to have her around all the time anyway

The red is gone now, since nine this morning (now three) But I am watching like a hawk for signs of discomfort. There's a tiny suspicion that she's resting her right foreleg and she won't be getting any grass until I'm sure that's not true.

 

[Equi]

Everyone i know says natives are more susceptible but honestly i think it is more a management thing. They get more food than needed, less exercise and more treats cause theyre so cute. I think they are like any horse, they either will have it or they won't. I have three minis (of variying breeds, american, falabella and shetland) and the shetland does at the moment have laminitis which is being managed. She was overweight and on too much grass so totally my own fault and she is 16 now and suspected EMS so that ties in too - she didn't have it last year when she was even fatter and less cresty.

Personally when spring hits i take all mine off the grass and have a rota of two days in (or on the bare paddock weather depending) and one day out which is about 6 hours. The shetland is always muzzled when she goes out.

 

[ycbm]

Thanks equi. I'm expecting to have her on the yard most of the summer when she is older. It's big enough for her to canter up and down if she wants to. She had a little trot earlier and she's moving fine so I've let her out, but I'll be watching her like a hawk.

I must find a way to get copper, magnesium, selenium and yeast into her!

 

[Equi]

Thanks equi. I'm expecting to have her on the yard most of the summer when she is older. It's big enough for her to canter up and down if she wants to. She had a little trot earlier and she's moving fine so I've let her out, but I'll be watching her like a hawk.

I must find a way to get copper, magnesium, selenium and yeast into her!

Get a good low calorie balancer or a supplement with low iron.

 

[amandap]

Mine eat a high spec, iron free powder balancer in speedibeet with extra salt and linseed. Spillers pony nuts soaked to a crumble work for some fussy ones as a carrier. Mine love copra so that's a possibility. Hopefully you can get some various things to try before buying sacks.
They get the same as the horses in appropriate amounts of course! All only get small amount of beet.

I treat mine as horses, they don't bite or kick and are a delight.
I can't say how big she will grow... 30 ins? I thought she was mature at 25 ins! lol My smallest and lightest is 32ins. She has a love/who's the boss relationship with my tb mare 16 hh! They are so comical together. Share nicely one minute, the next heads up, shake heads then back to sharing.

 

[_HP_]

I have four Shetlands...only one gets pulsey if he puts too much weight on and I suspect it may be Cushings related.
My friend has had about 40 over the years and had only one that got laminitis so I would say they are no more likely to get laminitis except for the fact that they are often over fed and under exercised.

 

[ycbm]

I have four Shetlands...only one gets pulsey if he puts too much weight on and I suspect it may be Cushings related.
My friend has had about 40 over the years and had only one that got laminitis so I would say they are no more likely to get laminitis except for the fact that they are often over fed and under exercised.

This is good to know, thank you. I have very steep hills and following two big horses around on them is sorting out the exercise! You can see how much of an effort it is for her tiny legs to climb the hill. She won't ever be over fed.

The red rings turned brown very quickly, so she did have a coronet band bleed, but I now think it was all the jumping around and bucking she did the night before, and concussion. She's had very little movement before she came to me, and her feet have produced a huge event line and obviously aren't that strong. I worked it out that although she's tiny, the amount of weight per square inch on her feet is actually quite a lot higher than my big horses, so concussion is a real likelihood.

We've had hail storms here for two days and she has suddenly decided that supplements in chaff are the nicest thing she's ever tasted, so that's one problem solved