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Owners of laminitis horses are starting to chew their fingernails
because spring is just around the corner. Despite record cold weather
in parts of the country, green grass and other signs of spring are
popping up regardless. This, of course, makes people who have
laminitis horses quite nervous!
If you are one of those people, don't panic. Luckily for you, there
are a lot of horse health care steps you can take to prevent your
equine buddy from experiencing laminitis symptoms ... or at least keep
them to a minimum. The same is true for horses who are
insulin-resistant, or otherwise on the edge of falling into laminitis.
In this article I cover some basic steps you can take to keep your
laminitis or laminitis-prone horse healthy this spring. If you want to
learn more about this chronic condition in general, check out the
ebook
Understanding and Managing Cushing's Disease, Insulin
Resistance and Laminitis
Horse Health Care: Preparing Laminitis Horses for Spring
Before spring really hits, horse owners can take steps to ensure that
their laminitis horses are healthy and ready for warmer weather and
greener pastures. Assuming that your horse is currently not
experiencing any symptoms of laminitis, here are three steps you can
take to ensure that he's ready for the coming season.
Check Weight and Insulin Levels
Overweight horses and insulin-resistant horses are both prone to
laminitis. Before you turn your laminitis horse out on pasture, make
sure that he is at a healthy weight. Overweight horses tend to develop
mechanical laminitis, meaning their hooves can't stand the weight of
their bodies. If your horse is overweight, you probably need to help
him lose weight before spring. If he still has his winter coat, you
may have to run your fingers through his coat to see if he's fat or
just furry. If he is fat, you can help him lose weight either by
feeding him a more appropriate diet (see the section on diet below) or
exercising him more, or both.
This is also a good time to have some blood work done on your horse to
check on insulin levels. Insulin-resistant horses may or may not be
overweight, but are prone to grass founder or laminitis. Signs of
insulin resistance include a cresty neck and unevenly distributed fat
over the withers and base of the tail. A preventative blood test now
to check insulin levels can save you grief this coming spring.
Double Check Overall Health
Because laminitis horses tend to experience symptoms when they are
generally unhealthy, check for signs of overall health. Signs that
your horse isn't healthy include poor hair coat, eye discharge, change
in temperament, stiffness, sensitivity to hot or cold weather or
weather changes. If your horse shows any of these signs of poor
health, now is the time to increase his nutritional program, and
restore his overall health. The combination of one ounce of XanGo
mangosteen juice plus Simplexity Essentials seems to work well for
most horses.
Avoid Over-Vaccination and Drugs
Vaccination is a normal part of most barn routines, and yet
over-vaccination can be one of the main causes of laminitis. In
addition, laminitis horses are extremely sensitive to drugs or
vaccinations in their bodies, and even one round of "normal"
vaccination can trigger a laminitic episode.
Managing Laminitis Horses During the Spring
Once spring has well and truly arrived, there are more horse health
care steps you can take to protect your equine friend from a laminitis
episode. Laminitis horses have to be carefully managed in terms of
diet and nutritional supplements, hoof care, and pasture turnout.
Diet for Laminitis Horses
The best diet is simple, low in carbohydrates, and high in fiber.
Small amounts of equine senior feed is acceptable for some laminitis
horses, while others do well on a small amount (8 ounces) of oats or
barley. At the same time, some laminitis horses can not tolerate any
grains.
A probiotic/enzyme supplement like FasTrack or Simplexity
Spectrabiotic supports the digestive function and limits the
production of endotoxins. Simplexity blue-green algae provides a
source of food-based vitamins, minerals and antioxidants. Small doses
of antioxidants such as coenzyme Q10 may be indicated. You should not
need to give more than 60-120 mg a day of a good quality Q10 product
like those produced by Simplexity, Nutramax Comal, or Thorne brands.
Generic brands of Q10 may not be active.
Hoof Care for Laminitis Horses
Spring is also the time many people pull their horses up and put shoes
on. However, if possible it is best to keep laminitis horses barefoot
for as long as possible. They must be trimmed regularly. If their toes
are allowed to grow long or their heels are allowed to get too high,
then the normal mechanism of the hoof is impaired. Overly correcting
angles on overdue hooves creates unnecessary discomfort for the horse
and sets back his effort to establish new laminar attachments.
If your horse must have shoes, you might try a heart bar shoe or a
shoe with a Theraflex pad for at least one shoeing period. If
contracted tendons are the main problem then wedge pads are used to
raise the heels. A reverse shoe may suffice if the tendon tightening
is mild. I always shorten the toe to ease breakover. I rarely if ever
lower heels. Shoeing must be done by a competent farrier that has
worked before with foundered horses. These horses have special needs
which may require beveling the inside shoe rim to protect the sole and
clips to take pressure off the nails and hoof wall. The shoeing
interval must be regular and tailored to the horses needs. Amazingly,
owners will spend thousands of dollars to save a foundered horse but
neglect hoof care after the crisis is past.
Pasture Management for Laminitis Horses
Turn-out on lush grass should be approached cautiously. Many horse
laminitis cases have hormone imbalances that affect their sugar
metabolism. Fast-growing, lush grass is high in sugar. In the spring,
laminitis horses should closely-monitored for an increase in digital
pulse if turned out on pasture.
The safest time to turn out laminitis-prone horses on pasture is late
at night or early in the mornings, when the grass is not in a
flowering stage of growth or stressed by drought or frost. It's best
to turn these horses out in pastures that have not been sprayed with
artificial fertilizers, herbicides, or insecticides.
While I prefer horses to be grazed on unfertilized, native grass
pastures, grasses in nutrient-poor soil are often under stress and
produce high levels of sugars. Since steadily growing grasses tend to
deplete their sugar levels (which is a good thing), regular mowing to
encourage this kind of growth can help control sugar levels. Regular
mowing also helps control weeds.
Keeping Laminitis Horses Health
I hope these tips help you keep your laminitis horse healthy this
coming spring. It's been a trying winter for most of the country, so
having a healthy happy spring would be a wonderful blessing for horses
and humans alike. If you need more help with your laminitis horse,
check out the resources in the next section.
2. Resources for Owners of Laminitis Horses
It's not easy caring for laminitis horses. However, vigilant
management can ensure these horses a high quality of life. If you'd
like to know more about this chronic condition, check out these online
resources:
Laminitis Ebook
Laminitis Discussion on the Horse Health Hotline (no cost to read)
Holistic Horsekeeping Article Library (no cost to read)
Products Mentioned in This Article
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