pony lameness

[Scooby-Doo]

Where to start! Two and a half years ago I bought Gizmo an 11.3hh pony for my children. I asked the previous owner whether he had ever had laminitis and the answer was no, I could see no obvious evidence of it in the hoof myself. The first spring he went lame, first thought laminitis, got him over what would have been a very mild attack, at next shoeing there was no sign that he had had it. He was lame again later in summer, same thing again, and again last spring and later in the summer, he also seemed the same when the snow came this winter. I am completely neurotic about starvation paddocks and he has one with escape proof fencing, when he is sound I exercise him 3 to 4 times a week, leading him from my horses if the children arnt riding, I feed him cider vinegar in small amount of mollichaff. He went lame again at the end of March, at first I thought he had strained himself he was out with the others - no grass anywhere, but had been playing in a boggy area, but dispite rest and bute has still did not become sound again. The thing that is consistant is that it seems to affect 1 front leg, this time it has been very obviously better in the field than on the road, he cantered down the field to his stable last night. He doesnt stand like a laminitic/pedal rotated pony, even now his legs are straight underneath him. My farrier came last week, used his hoof testers, no pain and shod his fronts again with no obvious discomfort. Have discussed getting nerve blocks and xrays done with my vet, but just wanted to see if there was anyone out there who could maybe shed some light on this mystery.

 

[teddyt]

Laminitics dont always stand in the classic leaning back stance. They can also have different legs affected by different amounts- its not always equal.

I would get the vet to do a thorough assessment asap, including x rays of the feet. Otherwise you are just guessing as to what may or may not be the problem and horses dont always follow the text books!

Just another point- mollichaff is very high in sugar, which isnt really suitable for ponies, even in small amounts. I would suggest swapping to a different chaff with less mollasses, such as hi fi light.

 

[Scooby-Doo]

Thanks for that, still cant understand why is there no evidence of laminitis in the hoof? You get distortion of the laminae which go all wavy. I would expect a pony with rotation to adopt the "laminitic stance" due to trying take the pressure off the toes or is this not the case? Surely the pony, if laminitic would have found having the hoof testers applied very painful? I am fairly confident that he hasnt had a further bout of laminitis since I have had him, but it could be damage from previous attacks, but why is he not lame all the time?

 

[brucea]

I have a laminitic pony - several attacks, one major.

He's sound as a pound normally, but the slightest thing can put him footy on one of his feet (always been the worst foot) for several days.

I would get rid of the millichaff. Also you may be seeing a response to the small amount of stressed grass he is getting. Cold can affect them, as well as being too warm.

You don;t always get wavy lines in the hoof - my badly laminitic pony has only ever had very faint event lines.

There is something tht happens to some very sensitive laminitcs -tied in around the times the clocks change - when there is a change in the ACTH levels and coats grow or shed. Our little lad has no grass, but always has a couple of bad weeks at those times in the year - every year.