Laminitus advice please.

[KrujaaLass]

Had my 8yr old thoroughbred shod yesterday and farrier showed me that the white line was pink on all four feet. He had been put back in his field which had been rested so grass was lush. Had no control of this as it is friends field. Farrier says hed need to half his grass intake. he has no short feed. He's now in a grazing muzzle as there are no stables there. I can move him back to old yard with stable and poor grazing but he was badly kicked there and also had a wire injury. Cant strip graze as its out of my control. Do you think the grazing muzzle will be enough. he is not lame at all and is ridden 5 times a week. I really dont know what to do. Thought I was doing the best for him but now it seems Ive done the wrong thing. Can anybody explain to me about the pink. What stage is the lammi at ? Does he need to come off the grass completely? Thanks for any help and advice.

 

[Nailed]

The 'pink' you see in the white line is bruising caused my the swelling of the laminae in the hoof. If a horse has spreading and bruising it does not mean the horse is suffering at that time, but it has suffered damage in the last few months.

However, in your case i would say that your horse is probably suffering. Is he overweight? With him being a TB it is usually more likely for the laminitis to be caused by a stressful or traumati experience, shock or concussion as apposed to grass.

Another thing that makes me think this is that he is not on hard feed. Which again says to me it may not be the feed (dont get me wrong i could be wrong!!!)

Muzzle wise and such, i would say that if you really are worrid about it being the grazing then i suggest you either sit down and work out a way with your friend of strip grazing or you move your horse. Laminitis is an horrendous condition and needs to be dealt with.

Lou x

 

[KrujaaLass]

Thanks nailed. He is slightly overweight. The other horses in with him are obese and never get ridden. I have been riding on a very stony track to get to hack. Could this have caused it. When you say he is suffering would he not be lame. Went on 1 1/2 hour hack and 1 hour today and he showed no signs of discomfort at all. There was no sign of the pink when he was shod last time about six weeks ago but he has got a couple of rings on his hooves which farrier said was from a couple of months ago which would coincide with him being moved to this better grazing

 

[Nailed]

that being the case he sounds like he is over the worst and you will need to keep an eye on him on the luch grass influxes in spring and september. You also need to watch when he has access to the grass as turning a laminitic out on frosty grass is not a good idea. The frost blocks the fructose in the blade and does not allow it to go down into the root and this means it contains more sugars.

By suffering i meant the condition was present not necessarily the pain. The ring on the hoof will grow aboutin about 9 to 12 months but a close eye need to be kept on his hooves..

Lou x

 

[Kallibear]

It sounds like has whats known commonly as Low Grade Laminitis. The timing sounds perfect and the rings and pink lines conencide.

It's actually hugely common in TB, and often a cause of poor TB feet. Since TB's are generally poor doers , they are stuffed full off food that isn't really good for them (rich grass, cereals etc) and they get LGL. It usually goes unnoticed as they are no more than a little 'footy', it's almost always both front feet evenly and they have shoes on which masks it. Most horses have it yearly at it never progresses to 'proper' laminitis.

If you think he's a 'little overweight' he's probably obese by T|B standards - they just don't get fat like natives do.

You're right to be conserned about his grazing. I am parinoid about laminitis and would NEVER consider putting any horse out on rich grazing, even TBs for that reason. He may never progress to full laminitis but it's not a risk worth taking.

A grazing muzzle would be perfect. They can wear them 24/7, but you need to be careful about rubbing. I would go for a greenguard muzzle if you use one 24/7. If he gets it off, attatching a band of webbing in a ring just about his nostril will stop him getting it off.

 

[brighteyes]

Get Googling laminitis.

www.safergrass.org is a good place to start and a couple of laminitis videos by Robert Eustace - UK's leading vet expert on the condition - can be found on YouTube (or the post below by me there is a link).

Good advice all over this forum, if you care to heed it. At the risk of sounding pedantic and repetitive, laminitIS (not laminitUS) takes many months before the hoof is fully stable after an attack of any degree. Watch also a webinar on www.thehorse.com (register free) It's long winded and a bit technical but in the war on laminitis, there are no shortcuts and you can never know too much. A friend's daughter lost her pony to it yesterday

- R.I.P. Holly

 

[KrujaaLass]

Thanks everyone for your replies

 

[custard]

[ QUOTE ]
www.safergrass.org is a good place to start and a couple of laminitis videos by Robert Eustace - UK's leading vet expert on the condition - can be found on YouTube (or the post below by me there is a link).

[/ QUOTE ]

Many thanks for this link, will have a good read later, lots of new stuff on there.