Preventative management for lami - Shetland mare

catembi

catembi

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Looking for some advice... I'm in my 2nd year of owning a Shetland mare, Florence, who was 2 in April. She is kept at home on 2 1/2 acres of poor grazing with my ex-racer, Trevor. I have to feed Trev all year round twice a day because there is little grass.

I've been using the lami app & putting her grazing muzzle on during the day if the 'risk' is over half, plus monitoring the temperature of her feet. They have stayed cold & she isn't lame. However, the b/f trimmer yesterday said she has raised digital pulses & that we are in the danger zone. Lami app said zero risk yesterday & today, but because of what she said, I've put the grazing muzzle on today. B/f trimmer said that the risk is high because it's rained = lush grass, but the reading I've done re 'stressed grass' implied that the grass *isn't* stressed when it's rained because it's putting all the sugar into growth rather than the sugar sitting pent up in the grass.

So now I'm confused! I thought I knew what I was doing and now I'm not so sure. I also can't find a digital pulse - I've previously looked up where to find it & it seems to be half way down the cannon bone & I've tried & tried but can't find it.

What about lami supplements that 'bind' carbohydrates...any good?

All advice appreciated as I want to do my best for my little girl. I thought I'd done enough reading & research but evidently not!
 
Probably not a lot of help but I am in a similar situation to you. i have an 11hh, 6 year old rescue pony and a just turned 4 year old irish draught. They are kept at home on 3 acres and it's not long grass but very green at the moment! My farrier was out last week and warned me to keep an eye on the little one.... he's now in a fairly small area, probably about 1/4 of an acre, with hardly any grass but he is having a small amount of old hay twice a day so he's getting something going through his gut. I have got a grazing muzzle but the grass is a bit too short at the moment to come through the hole. I am walking him out in hand every day round the village as the trouble with putting them in a small area is that they then don't get the exercise... when he's in with the youngster they play all the time but you have to work out the lesser of two evils I think... and not give in to the 'you're starving me face'.... i don't feed any supplements etc and the little one just has a handful of fast fibre, soaked so i's a bit sloppy just when i feed my youngster. good luck!
 
Not a shetland - she's part draft - but has sugar sensitivity issues and I'm muzzling during the daytime despite what the lami app shows. I put out some well soaked hay that she can get through the muzzle to keep her occupied.

I'm strip grazing my paddock by putting electric fencing around a big square in the middle - so I've made an island of long grass that they can't reach. Its as close to a track system as I could get on a livery yard and the grass on the outside of the square is now eaten down enough that I feel happy-ish with the mare out unmuzzled at night. Although short grass might be higher in sugar they eat a lot less of it than the long grass and they have to move around more to get their tummies full.

Having the bit in the middle separated off also means my horse who needs a bit more can go in there for a while if needed.

I think I have enough electric fencing now to border the whole flippin county, but its made a huge difference.
 
Thank you for the comments so far & for the link...I've tried the link & can't get it to work but it might be because I'm at work, so will try from home this evening.

We really barely have grass as we're on sand which drains too well! Florence gets a small handful of plain Thunderbrooks chaff & about 6 hay cobs to stop her fidgeting when I'm doing her feet & I can't really understand how she stays alive on just that & the amount of grass that we've got! I have to feed Trev the same in summer as I do in winter (and quite a lot) as the fields go from bare/winter to bare/summer and back with about a single week of spring/autumn in between.

Oh gosh, I hate electric fence! I stupidly planted a new hedge all the way round my fields 3 or 4 years ago as part of the council's hedge-planting initiative & it's all electric fenced to keep it safe from busy little mouths. It's the bane of my life trying to keep on top of it all. Gaaaah! I do actually have about a mile of rope & a second charger, so I could maybe do something with it.
 
I have a connie x american riding pony on livery who came on box rest bless him. He's suffered numerous bouts of lami through his life, but he now gets to live out all year round with herd and no muzzle. I do monitor him like a hawk but so far so good.

The reason I can do this is because of the grass we have here. It's natural, fairly rough grazing with an abundance of wild grasses and herbs. We have one field that was fertilised regularly and is a cattle rye grass mix and it's out of bounds for the ponies. However, we used it as a trash paddock through winter and ruined it (on purpose). Now we are seeding it with the natural grasses and herbs.

I'd recommend it to anyone with lami as a risk factor. Obviously unlikely to be possible on livery, but if the land is yours, it's well worth considering. It's a fair bit of work but it really does work.

Riley is the second bad lami pony we've had here. The first was also a huge risk but...after a day of no muzzle and grazing with the others, they both stopped feeling the need to bolt the grass. They did as the others do and just grazed on and off through the day, never going mad for it like they would when muzzles were removed.

Next time you have your vet out, ask him/her to show you how to check the digital pulse. Xx
 
GG, so you'd re-seed it all with a different mix...? I can do what I like as it's my own land & I do have a compact tractor as well, but doesn't it take a couple of years to re-seed properly? You can't graze it for a year, can you? I only have 2 paddocks so it would mean going down to one for 2 years & the further one doesn't have a plumbed in trough!
 
GG where do you find the seed for natural grasses? We can only ever find either dairy seed (!) or just normal pasture seed. I would prefer a variety of grasses that is less sugary for our fatties.

OP - it sounds like muzzling for the next few days would be wise. Is there any way you can exercise the Shetland too?
 
Catembi and Apercrumbie, I'm just out in the garden with my mum planting our veg patch as she has no room in her garden...then I'll come back on and respond to you both.

It is doable...where there's a will there's a way x
 
There were loads of different grass seed options available online when I looked recently depending on your management and soil type etc, you could even pick and mix your own blend :) and herb mixes. The grass seed store, Cotswolds seeds I got some from the grass seed store as I only wanted a few kilo google is your friend!

Unfortunately our soil is made for growing grass so even though the field was neglected for at least 20 years before we used it and as such has not been fertilised in about 32 :p frank is still muzzled every day and fed hay at night. The change from how he was on Wiltshire grass was quite impressive!
 
ester said:
There were loads of different grass seed options available online when I looked recently depending on your management and soil type etc, you could even pick and mix your own blend :) and herb mixes. The grass seed store, Cotswolds seeds I got some from the grass seed store as I only wanted a few kilo google is your friend!

Unfortunately our soil is made for growing grass so even though the field was neglected for at least 20 years before we used it and as such has not been fertilised in about 32 :p frank is still muzzled every day and fed hay at night. The change from how he was on Wiltshire grass was quite impressive!
Click to expand...

Yep - Cotswold seeds are fab and the other company I've used is Emorsgate Seeds

https://wildseed.co.uk/

They are fab and will really help you if you give them a call. Yes, you can go down the route of completely redoing a pasture area and waiting it out, or you can overseed which is something I did in certain places. I did areas that were heavy on weeds, pulling the weeds and adding the seed. Essentially, you could overseed a paddock year on year until the new grasses take over completely and it saves you losing your pasture, so it really depends on what you feel able to do.

We usually cut some of the fields after seeding as well so I will collect the seed as much as I can and use that, especially from the meadow fields.

If I had a truly dangerous case of lami prone here, a horse that genuinely couldn't cope, I would totally remove all grass and roots, plough and use the BS Triple H mix from the company linked below and mix it with a meadow wild flower seed. I would then only seed certain areas of the paddock and salt the rest, creating a very poor area. Basically scrub land that resembles remote higher altitude grazing areas. You can, instead of salting which prevents any future growth, lay a membrane over parts and top with a sandy soil or even pea gravel. Both are good for hoof health, allow for year round turnout and give the horse safe grazing areas that more naturally represent what our native breeds would be eating if they were out on the moor or mountain.

http://www.bostonseeds.com/products/1/Grass-Seeds/2/Paddock-Grass-Seed/

It's work, but it is doable.
 
Digital pulse is just below the fetlock joint against the pastern bone about 2/3 of the way from front to back (as you look at the leg sideways)

Fiona
 
great that you are so lami aware but also be aware she is only 2 and still growing , if you are on poor grazing i wouldnt restrict her too much ,is she getting a vitamin lick or supplement?
 
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