Managing Laminitis Ponies

No horse owner wants to arrive at the barn to find their horse in the classic rocked back laminitic horse stance and unable to move.

Managing laminitis ponies.

Laminitis is quite unlike any other equine disease. Consider that a common cause of laminitis is overfeeding a management factor that is normally within our control. If your horse has foundered first call a vet immediately for pain relief and then read here for managing the foundered horse. Foundering is an extremely painful condition and should never be taken lightly.

Horses prone to laminitis need help when grazing on grass pastures in the spring time and early summer when grasses grow quickly and lush. Recognized for centuries laminitis is an all to frequent and sometimes devastating condition affecting the connections between the horse s hoof wall and the vital structures inside the hoof. Although diagnosis usually isn t difficult laminitis remains a frustrating condition to treat. When your horse progresses from painful laminitis to disabling founder as many do you ll naturally want to educate yourself on the various treatment techniques and management strategies available.

Managing a horse with laminitis on grass pastures. You can also help your horse by limiting how much it grazes since too much grazing can cause laminitis. A horse with acute laminitis is generally exceedingly painful. Laminitis affects so many horses and ponies that it is now the most researched aspect of lameness worldwide.

To manage a laminitis prone horse replace all of your horse s grain based feed with hay since excessive grain can cause laminitis. Save for later print. What works for one horse may not work for another and in many cases only time will tell whether a treatment is effective. Is there a cure for laminitis in horses.

Also feed your horse beet pulp so it s getting enough fiber which helps prevent laminitis flare ups. This research continues to explain why certain horses and ponies do not respond to correct dietary management alone and also tells us more about how we should manage susceptible horses and ponies. This can all occur before any symptoms are apparent and once the process has started it is extremely difficult to stop. However for the horse with endocrine related laminitis diet becomes an important part of managing the disease.

When a horse develops equine metabolic syndrome it is similar to type 2.