Question about retired 'laminitic' horses

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canteron

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I have a retired 'good doer' who is prone to laminitus. As long as he is happy and can have a good quality of life, then he can stay being a very lovely pet.

For the past 2 months he has been on a restricted diet and is now slim and healthy.

The question is, is there anyone out there with a lami prone horse who can now keep them out 24/7? Would like to pop him out with the other horses for the Summer, but just wondering from other experiences how practical this is!!
 
Can't you put a muzzle on him if you want him out with the others? They are much softer and nicer nowadys than they used to be when they were just a bucket with a hole! I would be very careful otherwise about 24/7 with his history.
 
Mine has been out 24/7 since end of march and no recurrence of laminitis (but endless abscesses..sigh). She's absolutely fine, but on her own in a small well eaten off paddock. She gets soaked hay twice a day and is hungry for it so isn't getting much grass. But she's very happy (and so am I!)
 
Gilby .. good thoughts about a muzzle - duh, how come I didn't think about that. I think I will start popping out onto the grass with a muzzle on for a hour or so a day and then build it up and see how he copes.

I am just searching for a method of keeping him where he has a good life - and which fits in with my life (ie he has to be relatively low maintenance). All suggestions welcome. Thanks.
 
Yes, you can depending on the horse. All are different and some are more sensitive than others. I have 2 who had laminitis many years ago - one had it very severely as a 5yo, on the brink of having to be PTS but he pulled through and touch wood after a lot of rehab (special shoeing etc.) he came right. Since then he was lived out 24/7 with no lami since. He's now about 24 yrs old and been retired for some time, he continues to live out fine. I am very careful though, he's on 2 small paddocks where the grass is always very short. In the winter he goes out onto a bigger field with no ill effects. He's always kept slim. He was diagnosed with cushings a year ago too, so should be more predisposed to it I believe, but he's fine so far.

However, I have a 20yr old shetland who suffered laminitis whilst on loan (gutted!) and has been very sensitive to it ever since. She didnt have it nearly as bad as my other pony, but she remains difficult to maintain. During the day, she lives in the yard (a large hardcored area around the stables) with hay and then goes out into a small paddock at night (with very minimal grass). This seems to work ok, but even on this she can occassionally look slightly pottery in which case she has to stay in the yard for a few days etc.

I've had my ponies so many years that I've pushed the boundaries (very gently) to see what works for them. If possible, I think its mentally healthy for them to go out into a paddock as often as possible but just make sure its very minimal grass! Electric tape off a small bit and take it from there, move it out a little bit each day and see how she goes. Personally I hate muzzles, no horse I've tried in them likes them at all. I also dont find them terribly helpful as if you turn out the horse on lush pasture with one on - its still getting long/lush grass even if in limited quantities.
 
As others have said - a lot depends on individual circumstances, but you are right to question whether this would be possibel if done sensibly - could make life a lot more fun for both of you! :D

My little old pony has had laminitis since he was about five (brought on by a wierd attack of hypocalaemia in the middle of the winter when he was living in a big barn...). He was very bad for several months and then we did manage to 'get him back'. My situation might be slightly different to yours in the fact that grass and feed have never seemed to set him off, but none the less he is prone to laminitis and has to be kept as though food in the wrong proportions could kill him.

He adpated very well to the regime that 'saved him' - ie, periods of time spent in, or even with his own shelter and yard area... but once I was had gotten over being relieved that we could keep him alive and laminitis free I very soon began to fret about his quality of life - because what was the point in him being alive but effectively just hanging around in a rubbish environment until he became old enough for it to be deemed appropriate for him to be 'let go'. So... I experimented with him and his lifestyle and his (many) vets agreed with me. I might get it wrong, I might try something that we couldnt bring him back from, but it was all about his quality of life.

Its not been cheap... but he now has a pair of stables in the middle of a concrete pad which used to be the silage clamp, and about an acre of paddock adjoining it. The stables are 12x12 with a swinging partition in the middle so if he needs box rest he has 12 x 24 to mooch about in, the floors are EVA matting with shavings. If the grass is in stress (frost, etc, etc) he can have the stables and the yard, but mainly he has the run of the place 24/7 and I watch him like a hawk.

He wears a muzzle quite successfully (and believe me, he can eat a lot more that I first thought through it!) and vets and farrier agree that his foot quality is all the better for being allowed the freedom to roam and move.

Of course the next thing I did was source him a friend who was also laminitis prone and would benefit from the exact same regime, whilst letting little 12h boys be great mates and enjoy their time together. I now let him be in the main, I have to poo pick twice a week, tidy the yard once a week and feed and water every day. Takes about twenty minutes a day if you even it out and the huge bonus to me is I can go away and not worry, he is now very simple to look after. Of course he still has his odd set backs, I give him a little time to improve and then evaluate. I can cope with him bordering on chronic, but at his age now his freedom comes first and if and when he next has a bad attack we will cross that bridge when we come to it. If we think we can get him ok and get him out and about again then I will try anything. If on the other hand there is too much doubt, his time will come - becasue I simply wont let him end his life after being stuck in a box for months, given what he has already endured.

Crikey - I think that is my very long winded way of saying that while we have very diff circumstances and your horse probably isnt miserable with his routine as it is, there are ways that can work, you just have to sensible and try one thing at once. You have his best interests at heart and there is no harm in trying to see of something suits him! Just be prepared for a few surprises along the way, and I hope he loves it!! :D
 
My laminitic lives out 24/7 with no problems, I manage the grazing by a combination of strip grazing/track system and muzzling.
 
canteron said:
I have a retired 'good doer' who is prone to laminitus. As long as he is happy and can have a good quality of life, then he can stay being a very lovely pet.

For the past 2 months he has been on a restricted diet and is now slim and healthy.

The question is, is there anyone out there with a lami prone horse who can now keep them out 24/7? Would like to pop him out with the other horses for the Summer, but just wondering from other experiences how practical this is!!
Click to expand...

Yes we do. Obviously you need to take great care and monitor grass levels but it can be done. The slightest sign of fresh young shoots and he is put in the bare paddock with hay, but basically he is now out 24/7/365 and is better than he ever has been with a great quality of life again.
 
You have to be ruthless with laminitics, unfortunately there's no two ways about it and it is important to quash any sympathy for what you think they should be enjoying, i.e. turnout on large fields, even when those fields appear to be well grazed. I learnt this to my cost many years ago. I currently have a friend's retired laminitic, my own laminitic pony who's 20 and a little welshie who has shown signs of becoming laminitic. All three are kept as lightweight as possible (none are ribby, but all are thinner than I like), and all are kept together on a starvation paddock 24/7 with a scoop of pony nuts morning and night. I start off with limiting them to about quarter of an acre in February/March with additional soaked hay and extend their paddock by about a foot, once a month until October, until they get to about two-thirds of an acre, after October I extend a little more (all the while keeping a close eye on them) and haven't had any problems over winter for years. I can spot footsore a mile off and usually bring the victim in to the stable on rubber matting and shavings. At the moment they usually come racing down to the gate bucking and playing - I think having companions helps as it makes them move around more.
 
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