Laminitis – Symptoms
How we can recognize acute laminitis!
Acute laminitis is extremely painful for the affected horse. If laminitis is suspected, a veterinarian should be called immediately! In addition to providing pain relief, the vet can also offer information about the possible causes of the condition. Besides laminitis caused by overfeeding, which is a common cause, there are also types of laminitis related to stress, foaling, and illness. A thorough medical history taken by a veterinarian is essential for further treatment.
The following symptoms can be signs of acute laminitis:
- Warm, pulsating hooves
- Heavy sweating and muscle trembling
- Increased pulse and respiratory rate; in some cases also fever.
- Painful face – tense nostrils, ears half laid back, horse's mouth is tightly tensed
- Protective posture – lameness, relieving posture; horse lies down to relieve and protect painful feet.
- Weight shift to the hind legs, while the front legs are stretched out to relieve pressure on the hooves (horse arches its back upwards)
- Lifting the limbs is not possible, as shifting weight leads to increased pain.
- Colic symptoms
Laminitis – Relief
What immediate measures can we take in case of acute laminitis!
After calling the vet, we naturally want to do everything in our power to make the waiting time as bearable as possible for the sick animal. The following immediate measures can alleviate the acute pain of the sick horse and help us to use the time until the vet arrives effectively.
- Cooling the hooves in a cold water bath (place bucket and hooves in one after the other), using a water hose or cooling elements
- Place horse on soft ground
- Avoid movement as much as possible.
- Check PAT values
Laminitis – Prevention
What we as horse owners can do to preventively!
In my last blog post, I already mentioned the glucose and starch content of spring grass as a possible cause of laminitis. Especially now, after the long winter break, it's crucial to pay attention to the time of day when you let your horses graze. Since temperature significantly influences the concentration of glucose and starch in the plant, cooler temperatures can cause your horse's insulin levels to spike due to the overly rich grass, overloading its sugar metabolism and thus promoting the development or recurrence of laminitis.
★ Generally, grazing should be structured to suit the individual diet of your horse. This is especially important if a veterinarian has diagnosed a feed-related laminitis in a horse with a pre-existing condition. We also want to avoid obesity in our horses and ensure that exercise and feed intake are balanced! The risk of developing laminitis increases significantly in overweight horses and ponies.
Important tip: Walk through the pasture and check for any potentially poisonous plants! If you find any, remove them before you start grazing. Our pasture, for example, unfortunately produced a lot of ragwort every year alongside the lush green grass. Toxic substances in the feed can also cause laminitis!
Once laminitis develops, it unfortunately often becomes a permanent condition, requiring particularly careful attention to the overall well-being and general fitness of the affected horse. This can be quite demanding, especially if your horse or pony is part of a herd where each animal naturally has its own individual, very specific needs that must be met. From personal experience, I can say that we had to provide significantly more intensive care for two of our ponies with chronic laminitis than for the rest of the herd, particularly regarding their diet.
★ If possible, we should manage the grazing times of horses with laminitis independently of those of the other horses. One option, for example, is to let them out for shorter periods, but perhaps more frequently – depending on the season, of course (be careful with spring grass, you know...). Dividing the pasture into smaller sections can also make it easier to organize the grazing time of horses with laminitis separately from the rest of the herd. This division can also establish a sort of "move-up" system, so that the horses with pre-existing conditions graze a little longer in the already grazed areas before moving on to a slightly lusher section. Grazing muzzles and hay nets can also be a worthwhile investment to monitor the food intake of a horse with pre-existing conditions.
Are ponies more prone to laminitis than horses?
It's often said that ponies are more prone to laminitis than larger horses. This is certainly due, at least in part, to their tendency to gain weight more quickly, their perceived robustness due to their anatomy, and consequently, their different diets than their actual needs would dictate. Both of our ponies had already suffered from acute laminitis when we bought them. Unfortunately, we were very naive (first pony of our own & head over heels in love) and trusted the seller too much. In retrospect, a complete examination by a veterinarian – from head to toe, including X-rays – would have been absolutely essential to be informed about any pre-existing conditions. Not necessarily to try and change our minds about the purchase, but primarily to assess the animal's current and acute health status and to know exactly what we were getting ourselves into. Based on the expert's assessment, the owner could then take appropriate measures and prepare for what lay ahead.
Being well-informed about the health and pre-existing conditions of our horses and ponies is incredibly important! Laminitis, in particular, which can quickly develop into a chronic condition, requires our close attention. This also applies to our ponies and their diet. We shouldn't be negligent with them and should adapt their nutrition to their health, breed, and activity level.
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