Laminitis prevention

[Square]

My friend has just took on a sec A pony that nearly died of laminitis last year.

The pony is severely overweight at the moment and hes keeping her in most of the time, shes let out for an hour a day to graze in a tiny paddock with old grass.

She has a flake of soaked hay in the morning and at tea time. As the pony doesn't really eat when shes in.

She is being lunged (15mins) or ridden for half an hour a day at the moment so she is having daily exercise. She gets a small handful of happy hoof for breakfast when the other neds are fed.

Is he doing the right thing?

All opinions/advice appreciated as he has never had a laminitic horse/pony before, so has asked me to post this.

 

[BigRed]

If that pony only gets a small section of hay and 1 hours grazing a day plus a small handful of happy hoof and is still severely overweight, then someone is not telling the entire truth about how much food she is getting.

The problem with overweight ponies is nearly always too much grass. Your friend needs to speak to her vet to get proper advice. And tell them to buy some weigh scales and weigh what they feed her.

My shetland has lost a lot of weight because now I weigh what he gets and it is amazing how much a section of hay can weigh. These small ponies really don't need much grub, but they do need something, so you cannot starve them.

 

[harleyandcopper]

My friend also took on a laminitic mare on loan a couple of years ago. She is field companion to my retired horse, who had a mild bout of laminitis 4 years ago. They are perfect field companions as we can treat and manage them both the same. They share a paddock which is separated into two halves with electric fencing. They both have their own field shelters they can go into at any time. The most important thing we've found is the electric fence can be moved to restrict their grazing at any time. If they look as though they're putting on weight, we reduce the area of paddock on their side. It's such a flexible and manageable method, it means we never have to shut them in a stable. We weigh tape them every week, we feed them ad lib soaked hay morning and night, and feed them a scoop of Happy Hoof which is perfect for laminitics. Touch wood, they haven't had lami on this method of management, and it means they don't have to be shut in. If you're worried about the amount of grass the Section A is on, you can also put a grazing muzzle on the pony until the weight is dropped.
One important thing is to try not to starve the pony too long as this may cause stomach ulcers. Always have soaked hay for it to nibble on. We call soaked hay their 'porridge'. They fill up on it but it doesn't put on weight!
Soak it for about 12 hours+ to be sure that most of the sugar and nutrients have been taken out.
Good luck and hope this helps, you soon get into a routine.

 

[Nailed]

Ok, if i were your friend I would completely cut out the Grazing, instead I would turn out on to a surface (an arena) for an hour or so.

HI FI light has less cals than Happyhoof so he could switch her over to this, All other food stuffs.. polo's, treats, need to be completely cut out.

15MINS lunging or half hour ridign may not be enough to shift the weight, if the horse isnt sweating then it isnt working enough to drop weight.

He also needs to work closely with his farrier, getting the farrier to explain hoof changes as the occur as this is also a good starting sign of laminitis.

Lou x

 

[amandaco2]

can she turn out on a sand pen all day/night or both?moving about will help move weight.
give her some soaked hay-half a section at lunchtime to keep her gut moving then half section morning and night.try to get last years late cut hay as its more fibrous and less calories.
soak hay in fresh water for 12hours to get rid of sugars then rinse with the hose.
owkring longer in walk and trot will move fat better-try to avoid strenuous lunging which shes still huge as it puts more stress on the feet and legs.work everyday or twice a day with lots of hill work and walk trot will be good for losing weight.
and 6 weekly trims to keep the feet in balance as long toes put the laminiae under more stress.

 

[Square]

[ QUOTE ]
If that pony only gets a small section of hay and 1 hours grazing a day plus a small handful of happy hoof and is still severely overweight, then someone is not telling the entire truth about how much food she is getting.

[/ QUOTE ]

As said in the post above he has just had the pony he hasn't even had her a week yet.


amandaco2
He just rents a field with a few stables. He has a small concrete yard though that is post and railed fencing and that the pony couldn't get to the grass with.

Thanks

 

[AmyMay]

I would want the horse out 24/7 on bare, bare padock. Much better for it to be moving about.

I would probably want it to have a minimum of 3 / 4 sections of poor quality hay or even part hay part straw through day. So a section at breakfast, lunch time, tea time, night time.

It would not be being lunged, but would be walked out in hand every day for a minimum of 30 mins.

It's also going to need a vitamin suppliment.

 

[Square]

AmyMay

Thanks for the advice

Will pass it on to him.

 

[vicksey]

Hi, my horse is not laminitic but was very overweight and at serious risk. It has taken nearly 6 months to finally feel happy about his weight. I put him on a grazzing muzzle, broke my heart but had to do it. Also started working him harder, found that lots of cardio work and cantering helped. Road walking, not a lot of trotting though. Turned out from 8pm till 10am then stabled with small amount of soaked hay and on 3 mugs bailys low cal. The only thing I can honestly say helped was the increase in work load and the grazzing muzzle. Good luck!

 

[harleyandcopper]

Square - aren't your gorgeous neds well-named!

Tell your friend to invest in some electric fencing - Rutland do a great all-in-one kit. He can order it on the web.

He can turn the pony in a tiny, tiny section of his paddock, and move the sticks to enlarge the grazing once the pony has lost the weight. This is what we did with our laminitics when they were overweight.

Put a grazing muzzle on if he's got lush grass. If the grass is shortish, then give the pony lots of soaked hay.

The weight loss should take a couple of weeks this way.

My horse is lame due to arthritis so I couldn't exercise the weight off him.

 

[harleyandcopper]

The 'Rutland' Horse and Pony electric fence starter kit is on special offer at Countrywide.
It is £114 reduced from £152

This is the one I use.

 

[Square]

NanaHarley

Thank you

I will tell him to go buy some!

 

[kellyeaton]

keep out on a bare paddock all the time to keep circulation going around the feet. give a small amount of hi fi lite in the morning with half a section of soaked high then a soaked section afternoon and night then give an hour riding one day then 30mins on a lunge the next and so on and give one day rest. good luck!

 

[kerilli]

bare paddock is the answer, or stabled for a month if a bare paddock's not possible. no grass at all really. soak the hay for about 12 hours, leech out all the goodness, this is essential. the weight will come off fairly quickly with this regime.
when she's lost the weight, out overnight is safer than during the daytime, the fructan (fruit sugars that cause laminitis) levels are much lower then.