What do you feed your laminitics?

T

Toast

Well-Known Member
Joined
7 June 2008
Messages
4,516
Location
Lancaster, Lancashire
Visit site
Hiya,
Went and bought a bag of A&P L Mix for our Welsh D x Exmoor, whos never had lami but has been atrociously fat over summmer, we've managed to get it off and shes at a good weight now, we need something to keep her weight maintained but she doesnt like the L mix at all!

What do you guys feed?
xx
 
My little Dartmoor type mare had laminitis 5 years ago. She also has COPD and cannot tolerate hay at all.

I now feed Blue Horsehage..double netted.
A & P Fast Fibre....Speedibeet...and Happy Hoof. I also give her a Snak-a-ball with High Fibre Nuts in the day when she is in her small paddock. I read on here that fibre is a horses best friend...I totally agree with that! Her weight now is perfect, long may it continue. Having seen her with Laminitis its something I never, ever, want to witness again.
 
Last edited:
I wouldn't give her any hard feed at all, bar perhaps a vit/min supplement of some sort. If she really does get to the point where she needs some extra food to stop her ribs showing, then I would just give her hay (preferably soaked).
 
Shes already on soaked hay, which is why im asking for something a little extra now shes just right. She wasnt on any hard feed at all until we got all the weight off and i dont think it'll stay on with just the hay. Im loathe to give her haylage too as she gorges it even when double netted in small holed haynets! She wont eat fast fibre which is why shes not eating the L mix, perhaps i could give her a little bit of happy hoof?
x
 
Toast said:
She wasnt on any hard feed at all until we got all the weight off and i dont think it'll stay on with just the hay.
Click to expand...

She is obviously a good doer if she got 'atrociously fat' in the summer, and the majority of good doers can hold their weight well in the winter on just hay alone (assuming sufficient hay is fed). One exception might be if the horse has poor teeth which means they can eat grass easily but find chewing hay harder.

I wouldn't just assume that she needs extra feed, until she actually looks like she really needs it. If she is losing weight to the point that her ribs are starting to be clearly visible, then I would firstly ensure that she is on ad lib soaked hay, and then I would start to introduce some Speedibeet with a vit/min supplement added. The advantage of this over things like L Mix, Happy Hoof etc., is that firstly Speedibeet is lower in sugar/starch than most of the feeds you mention, and secondly, you can ensure the vit/min needs are met even if you are giving a small amount of feed. (With L Mix, Happy Hoof etc., you have to feed the recommended amount to get the full amount of vit/mins).

However, do remember that ponies that get obese in summer are best to winter a little on the lean side if you want to stand half a chance of controlling their weight when spring comes round again.
 
Alfa A oil, Baileys Lo-cal, Fibrebeet.

Feed measurements are cupfuls and handfuls. 3kg hay (unsoaked). restricted grazing/part stabled too. They have plenty of energy on this. 400kg approx NF ponies. We aim for high protein, high fibre, low starch, as low sugar as we can manage. It seems to work very well for them, but they do absolutely love it when they get a few pony nuts (the equine equivalent of McDonalds perhaps?)
 
My skinny laminitic is on Alpha A Lite, Top Spec Anti Lam & Speedibeet. I will change to Alph A Oil when the weather gets cold.

Plus of course hay!
 
My native boy came down with lami 2 months ago and has been on box rest since with an hour a day in a wood chip pen. He is having 3kg of hay and 3kg of Dengie HiFi Lite (supported by the Laminitis trust) with BeneVit and ExtraFlex HA added. He was not particularly overweight but the vet recommends not putting him out again yet even in restricted grazing as the grass is so rich. He has lost about 35kgs and is now looking very lean - possibly a bit too much so I'm thinking of adding Speedibeet or similar. He started eating his bedding (sundown yellow chopped rape straw) and is quite lethargic so I feel he needs something else.
 
My 13.2hh is on the lean side atm and is fed 1 stubbs scoop Happy Hoof, 1 stubbs scoop of Fibrebeet, one mug of Baileys Lo-cal and a mug of Outshine, alongside 12 hour soaked hay and 8 hours of grazing in a muzzle.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top