Laminitis

[rvpeary]

Hi,

My mare developed Laminitis in May 2012, she has since recovered and has been in normal shoes and sound since October 2012! She was on Laminitis Prone supplement (by global herbs) but i weaned her off it for this winter. Where she has been out all day every day unmuzzled and on no supplement. She is stabled at night and is fed unsoaked haylage.

However as summer is approaching I am wondering whether to put her back on her supplement just in case, my thoughts where either:
-wean her back on it through spring, keep on full until mid summer then wean off again.
or
-wean back on through spring and keep on full until winter
or
-leave her as she is, see how she goes and put back on supplement if she shows any early warning signs?

She is not overweight, is worked everyday and is fed only Blue Chip Lami Light. She also suffers from occasional Azoturia if not turned out, gets cold or not exercised!!

Thanks for any help!

 

[Carlosmum]

I've been thinking about using NAF Laminaze again as the spring is approaching but have decided to wait a bit.
As soon as the grass starts to grow properly Carlo will be going into his muzzle and limited to only 2 -4 hrs of turnout. He is fed Dengie molasses free hi-fi and speedibeet and pink powder unfortunately I cant exercise every day. I do check his feet every day for signs of pulses & if they are present he is not turned out for a few days at that point I would probably go back onto the Laminaze.

 

[catkin]

There are definite signs of spring growth already in many parts of the country - it may be knocked back, it may not. Most supplements take a few weeks to get to work so it's worth 'getting ahead' of the weather if your horse is susceptable. Frosted grass has high sugar so if we do have a cold snap you may need to swing into 'spring mode' for that possibility too

PS for an example: my EMS pony stays on a restricted grass/added supplement/lots of work regime all year round to allow for both these possibilities.