Weight gain for a laminitic

S

superpony

Well-Known Member
Joined
19 October 2009
Messages
1,211
Location
Derbyshire
Visit site
I have a 14.1hh welsh x 13 year old, hes had laminitis in the past and was last year diagnosed with equine metabolic syndrome so he has to be carefully watched as he is even more prone to lami! He is in small paddock with not much grass but enough.. however he is now being worked regularly and I think is struggling for energy and this has caused him to lose alot of weight.

He is currently worked 5 x a week with
2/3 x schooling (30-40 mins)
2/3 x hacking (1 hour - 1 1/2)
As well as doing a dressage comp approximately one a month and having regular lessons.

He was fine before with even less grass (when he wasn't doing much work) but I think he is now struggling due to his work load. He lives out 24/7 in winter but comes in everyday and has a haynet whilst I'm getting him ready.

He has lost his *sparkle*, his coat is dull and he has got very lazy! I think he really needs a boost and some energy to help him with his increased work load.

I darn't give him anymore grass so was wondering if anyone had any good suggestions? He is currently fed 2 x scoops of Happy Hoof morning and night as well as a vit min supplement.

He is also prone to going abit stupid if given heating feeds, so looking for something with slow release energy!

Thank you. :)
 
Your best bet would be to google Metabolic Horse -there's a yahoo group which deals with all things for laminitics, IR, EMS etc and there's a nutritionist on there who is good at giving advice.

I had an underweight lami years ago that had concussive laminitis. I had been advised to feed sugar beet (this was in the US, and it was either before the days of speedi beet or perhaps it's wasn't available ther). Anyway, speedi beet is approved for laminitics and can be fed to assist in bulking up, and I do believe certain oils can be good too...so get in touch with the Metabolic Horse group and ask away. :)
 
PucciNPoni said:
Your best bet would be to google Metabolic Horse -there's a yahoo group which deals with all things for laminitics, IR, EMS etc and there's a nutritionist on there who is good at giving advice.

I had an underweight lami years ago that had concussive laminitis. I had been advised to feed sugar beet (this was in the US, and it was either before the days of speedi beet or perhaps it's wasn't available ther). Anyway, speedi beet is approved for laminitics and can be fed to assist in bulking up, and I do believe certain oils can be good too...so get in touch with the Metabolic Horse group and ask away. :)
Click to expand...

Thank you very much will do that. :)
 
I would consider having the vet give him a check up. Even skinny horses often have shiny coats and tbh that isn't a hard workload. Has he been tested for Cushings?
 
fatpiggy said:
I would consider having the vet give him a check up. Even skinny horses often have shiny coats and tbh that isn't a hard workload. Has he been tested for Cushings?
Click to expand...

Thanks for your reply. :) Yes he was tested last November as he had a thick coat and sweated up very easily and wasn't *happy and right* as such. He tested negative for cushing but they found he does have metabolic syndrome. He is on 10 x metaformin a day which seems to help him. But alot of his winter coat has already come through!
 
Hi I also agree with having a read up on the Metabolic Horse group. The key is to keep the insulin level low as with diabetics (just how I understand it from my EMS horse) So, my horse has a bald fied with hay during the day so he can still eat as nature intended ... he then has 3 feeds of Healthy / Happy Hoof with double rinsed speedy beet and anti lam. I have his hay tested but I do feed plenty of it. He is worked every day for at least 40 mins. going into winter I am happy he is a bit lean as with winter I won't possibly be able to do as much with him or for as long and the reduction in weight will give me a bit of a margin for error. (frozen grass etc etc)

It would be worth just ringing your vet for advice and perhaps a few of the more reputable feed companies - I find personally top spec and Dengie to be the most helpful. Also have a look on Simple systems and Forrage plus web sites - perhaps your grass needs analysis ? I strip graze my boy so he has a bit every day, but he is in of a night and has about 12lb of hay during the day as well (I estimate about 1hrs worth of grass is what I give him per day)

There is lots of advise about vits and minerals for EMS too,

Good luck I know how hard it is having a horse with EMS!! Winter is coming and I am so dreading it as it is actually harder than Summer when you cannot work off the insulin with snow frost ice etc.

Hey ho!
 
p.s it may be his dose of metformin needs to be re-evaluated. My horse was on it last winter coz I couldn't do as much work for him but came off it when it got warmer and I could work him enough ... just a thought that perhaps you vet needs to re-think his dose.

Best wishes
S x
 
Hi same breed as you with same probs due to laminitus 5 ish yrs ago Jackie taylor of the metabolic horse website is fantastic and replies very quickly, but when i fed happy hoof other people advised me not to even though its approved it has more sugar in than you think so i do stick to hi fi lite, i have the same energy probs and have tried many, so difficult when soaking hay and restricting grass but i fed any cube form in particular most conditioning cubes did the job i dont need them now but when hes in work he gets staypower cubesfor energy.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top