Staying On Your Toes About Laminitis. How To Keep Your Horse Sound & Healthy.

The most frequent cause of equine laminitis is carbohydrate overload. This means the horse's digestive tract is attempting to process a sudden or excessive surge in grains, high sugar equine feeds or grasses containing a high sugar load. This spurs an upswing in bacteria levels and throws the horse's PH out of whack, triggering an onslaught of toxins into the animal's blood stream. This ultimately inhibits circulation and blood flow to the horse's hooves, which can trigger laminitis. Laminitis is one of the most serious horse health issues an owner can face. Knowing how to prevent it can be critical to your horse's welfare.

While improper horse nutrition is the reason behind most laminitis, there are other catalysts. Barbaro, the revered winner of the 2006 Kentucky Derby, shattered his leg during a career ending run at the Preakness. As happens with many horses who cannot put weight on a leg for long periods, Barbaro ultimately fell prey to laminitis. Horses are designed to place about sixty percent of their weight onto their front legs. Since they don't have the luxury of laying down for long periods of time, in the wild, they're designed to spend most of their time standing, even when injured. Increasing the load by trying to shift it off an injured limb inhibits circulation in the healthy feet. This additional stress inflames the hoof's laminae and ultimately, you've got a laminitis problem. Horses with laminitis who are left untreated can develop a crippling condition known as founder. By comprehending and adjusting your horse feed selections, you can significantly improve your horse's likelihood of evading laminitis. Start by avoiding pasture lands with rich grasses. Highly sugared grasses crop up in the Spring and Autumn. It's their high-soluble carbohydrate ratio that can trigger the kind of attack that leads to laminitis. And, make it a habit to lock tack rooms and feed-bins where specialty feeds, grains and horse treats are housed, securely.

There aren't many horses, who, given the opportunity, wouldn't stuff themselves silly on sweet feed & grain. Unfortunately, all it takes is one incident of a horse breaking into a grain room, for the worst to occur. Regulating the temperature of your horse's water is also very important. A horse will let itself become seriously dehydrated when confronted with water that's too hot or cold. Then, forced by thirst, it may then gulp down large quantities of freezing or heated water. This can easily trigger a bout of laminitis or equine colic, so, be vigilant about both these issues.

The line between a horse turning into a butterball and looking sleek can be pretty fine. But, since fat horses are far more prone to laminitis, it's up to you to keep your horse's weight on the right side of the scale. If your horse gets fat, ask your vet's advice on the best combo of horse grains, horse supplements and hay to bring your horse's weight down. Use the horse products she recommends and keep to the plan.

Peritonitis, (where the thin tissue that lines a horse's abdominal walls gets irritated or inflamed), diarrhea in horses and metritis (where a mare's uterine lining has become inflamed) are all capable of driving toxins into a horse's system, creating a catalyst for laminitis. Call your vet immediately should any of these conditions, arise.

The excessive surface shock creating by trotting and cantering horses on hard trails and pavement can make cart & driving horses particularly vulnerable to laminitis. Try never to go faster than a walk, outside of the ring. Discuss pads with your shoer and never let your horse's feet grow too long.

Stress can trigger health problems in humans. It can also trigger horse health problems like laminitis. You know and love your horse. If he seems to be upset, you may need to consult your veterinarian to understand and fix, the problem.

Is your horse stamping and pawing out of control because of house flies and biting stable flies? Look at upgrading your integrated pest management with things like beneficial insects, fly traps and poison fly bait. Horses who continually stamp and stomp all day can cause damage both to sensitive tendons, cartilage and hooves.

When we watch a horse being difficult about loading onto a horse trailer, we assume that it's something about actually walking onto the trailer, that's the problem. But, it could be that the lack of floor cushioning and trailer noise that the horse remembers and that has him rattled about loading. Check your trailer's flooring and, when there are no horses around, jump around in the trailer to see what kind of noise it makes. That noise is pretty much what your horse listens to as it's being hauled. If the experience is so stressful that your horse dreads it, you may have to look at switching trailers or haulers.

Equine medications for pain and ulcer control can negatively impact the production of digestive enzymes, potentially setting off a cascade of intestinal issues that can trigger a laminitis attack. Make sure your horse is monitored for proper enzyme levels, when being medicated for ulcer issues.

Horse Nutrition & Laminitis: What You've Got To Know.

Many horses who've endured laminitis are kept on virtual starvation diets, to try to discourage another attack. Is this truly necessary? Not in most cases. Knowing how to feed for horses after they've been through a laminitis attack isn't rocket science, but, it must be done right. You'll be utilizing a combination of high-fiber feeds, minerals and vitamins and in many cases, Alfalfa Hay or Straw Chaff, to keep your horse's nutrition met while keeping the sugar load at a minimum.

Every horse owner should consult with their vet about which high-fiber, low carbohydrate, equine supplement enhanced combination of horse products is best for their horse. Many older horses require senior horse feeds, as well. Have your horse routinely checked for horse health issues and make sure you know what he or she is eating, right down to the horse treats you use. Before you try new supplements for horses, run them by your vet, for additional piece of mind.