What is Laminitis exactly?

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FlaxenPony05

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Was wondering if anyone could explain the science behind laminitis for me. I understand it's inflammation of the corium- how can this become inflamed in the first place? What are the causes of laminitis (rich feed being one...?)? Would like to know anything about it really as I know practically nothing. Thanks :)
 
The quick answer is that it is a huge subject and that knowledge about it is increasing all the time, understanding of it is changing and treatment depends on why and what stage.

There is an awful lot of rubbish talked about it online and even vets from the same practice disagree!
 
Laminitis is a sympton and there are several theories as to its cause. When there is acute attack some of the attachments within the foot die which allows the inner core to sink, hence another name of "sinker."

A horse can artificially be given laminitis by feeding large amounts of carbohydrate, hence the "classic" of a fat little pony out on spring grass, but there are many different causes, such as concussion on a hard surface, a mare after foaling, some drugs can be a cause, an animal with Cushings is likely to develop laminitis in the autumn. There is also the "leaky gut" theory, which is that toxins in the gut get into the bloodstream which affects the blood vessels in the feet. At the moment no-one knows for certain, but there are lots of theories.

Pete Ramey does a lot of research on the subject.
 
I find the book Feet First is excellent for explanations of anatomy and other feet related subjects, yes they are detailed, but they are clear.

The diet of most horses is not natural: that is to say in their natural environment horses would roam the prairie/steppes, browsing on sparse forage/herbs/scrub, they would be covering 20-30 miles per day in search of food. Their diet would be high in fibre, low in sugars, cereals would not form part of their diet. The modern horse is normally on restricted grazing, the grass species are cultivated for milk and meat production, so are relatively low in fibre and high in sugars.

There are lots of environmental factors affecting grass growth, most particularly the "flush" of grass in spring and autumn which can trigger laminitis, the sugar content of grass will also vary over the course of a day, and be higher in frosty weather.
Ponies are often more susceptible to laminitis, but it is also found in horses fed a high cereal diet, including T.B stallions. Once laminitis has been diagnosed, the horse will probably be more prone to attack in the future.
 
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