My Pony Has Laminitis

[ahperryh]

My pony 14.2 cob has laminitis for the first time the vet is not sure of the reason why but she has been on box rest for just over two weeks and is a lot better. I have never owned a horse with laminitis how long is it before you can ride again and what is the correct procedure to getting back to full fitness ?

 

[touchstone]

Hello there, sorry to hear your horse has had laminitis.

The thing with laminitis is that there tends to be a few different schools of thought about it - some prefer to box rest for a month and then bring slowly back in to work, usually with remedial shoeing such as heart bars as needed.

Personally I try to go for a more natural approach with treatment and keep my horse unshod. Once a horse is sound off painkillers and no digital pulse I like to introduce free choice movement by making a turnout area with little or no grazing or using a muzzle to restrict grass intake. If the horse is okay with this with no raised pulses I begin leading out for a short period on surfaces that they are comfortable on and once they are doing this with no problems then I usually saddle up and start gently riding out making sure to avoid unecessary concussion. Each horse is different though and they are your best guide, I find movement helps mine, but have had one who was worse initially for walking about. A lot depends on how severe the laminitis was in the first place and how damaged the lamellar attachments are.

Jaime Jackson has a good book on managing laminitics.

I hope your cob is soon sound and you are able to get back in the saddle!

 

[Lotty]

My mare had laminitis and she was on box rest for 5 months with bute, sedalin, x - rays, imprint shoes then heart bars. It was a horrible time and I'll never forget it.

After the examination by the vet I was told to start walking her in hand. I then rode her in walk for 15minutes and just upped it by 10minutes every week.

All horses vary with the condition and treatment but I hope your pony is well soon.

 

[SavingGrace]

So sorry to hear this Do hope she makes a speedy recovery x

 

[eggs]

Take advice from your vet with respect to bringing your pony back into work.

He has probably already told you but some horses develop laminitis after being turned out on frosty grass. We have a couple of horses on the yard who have had laminitis in the past and now don't turn them out until the frost has lifted.