Laminitis - turnout time

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Annie&Amy

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Once your horses have recovered from laminitis (especially after pedal bones have rotated or sunk) how much turnout can your horses tolerate? And do you have them in normal fields with grazing muzzles, starvation paddocks or in yard??
 
Hi - I have a Cushings laminitic of 29 years old. He had his first major laminitic attack in 2004. He had a phased return to grass once the initial box rest was over. . I was extremely cautious as he not been expected to survive partly due to his size at 16.3 and weighing in at over 650kg and also because it was Cushings induced. He first went out into a small sand pen with shelter attached. He then began very small periods of hand held grazing usually in the morning and again in the evening . This gradually changed into him roaming free in a small paddock first thing in the morning whilst stables were mucked out and other jobs done and again briefly in the evening for around 30 minutes or so. I extended this little by little each day but was very careful with the type of paddock he was turned out on, weather conditions and his general demeanour. I think he may have had the occasional graze at lunchtime as well. I was very fortunate to live and work within a 3 minute drive of his field. Without this I would have struggled. If in doubt I played safe. He is now out for anything up to 14 hours a day on the equivalent of a sheep grazed paddock and stabled at night as even before he was ill he was usually stabled at night to help control his weight. He is occasionally confined to barracks ie sand pen and shelter or the grazing reduced if I have the slightest suspicions of him being footy or hear reports on the grapevine of a sudden batch of laminitics in the area as happened one winter just before Christmas. I think it is important to say that you have to find a routine that suits your horse and watch him like a hawk. In my case it can be how he walks out onto the concrete first thing in the morning , if he trots across the field to get to his breakfast or trots in for his evening tea , how he turns in his stable at night for his good night treat , if he trys to escape back to the field after finishing his tea, if his left knee starts to click - not the classical symptons that you find mentioned in a vet book! I fully appreciate some laminitics would be severely compromised by the length of turnout he currently has and am writing this a little fearfully in case it suggests that a newly recoverd laminitic can be put straight back out in the field .Back in 2004 I would not have dreamed that we would ever have been able to do this. I just very slowly pushed the boundaries. I also have him on pergolide which has been one of the main stays of helping to keep the laminitis at bay and I am very careful with his diet and shoeing. Hope this helps a little.
 
mine lives out un muzzled
started off with 5mins last summer after she had recovered and worked up to daytime turnout over the winter, then full time out in this summer.she had no rotation and one attack due to fertilised grass.
just take it slow see how they tolerate it, keep checking those dig pulses!
 
be guided by your vet, obv, but it also depends on the type of grass you have, i'm convinced.
i have very stalky grass, not lush and green, and can be a bit braver about turning out the 1 horse i have who has had a slight touch of laminitis once. (she had no pedal bone rotation though.)
i believe that turning out at night is safer because the fructan levels are lower. i think they're highest in the mornings, after frost, possibly after rain, would check with vet.
i keep my horse very lean, the moment she starts putting on a tiny bit of weight she's back in a starvation paddock (bare earth, no grass at all) with hay only, until the weight goes again, then back out with the others for a bit.
 
mine (rotation in 1 hoof) is muzzled in spring/summer. Has been going out without muzzle for about a month now, for approx 12 hours a day midweek, and 8 hours a day at the weekend. But he is on about 2-3 acres with 8 other horses, not grazed to the ground, but small amount of weedy, patchy yellowy, not great looking grass.
And worked 5 days a week, schooling/jumping/long fast hacks etc, fed on alphabeet, ultimate balancer, corn oil and haylage.
 
Mine regime is so similar to EllieP .... my boy has a few minutes snatched here and there, however if there is the slightest hint of a flush of grass then I panic .... at the moment, when it is dry, he can have about an hour at grass in the morning or evening and then back confined to his little wood chip paddock with a small dry crispy dry paddock attached (which his mate ate down originally!) of about 15 feet by 30 feet .. and at night back in his woodchip paddock.

He can groom his mate over the fence, whilst they relax in their field shelters (twin ones) and they can see each other all day.

I walk him on tarmac or concrete once a day to check he turns without any reaction and watch him like a HAWK
frown.gif
 
Mine are out 24/7 (dependant on weather!) in a very sparse paddock, I have to feed soaked hay (or hay replacer) or they would be very hungry.

Cassandra
 
Mine is now out at night in a small starvation paddock with his friend. However I also fed founder guard as I turned him out as supposed to stop any toxin build up.

I've no idea whether it was worth the money, but he seems fine now. Although mine was a weird case as steroids caused the laminitis.
 
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