Laminitis, or 'founder' is a common and painful condition that affects horses' hooves, causing lameness and discomfort. It's essential for horse owners to be aware of the causes, symptoms, and effective management strategies to ensure the well-being of their equine companions.
Even if you are familiar with laminitis and its treatment, share this with friends or family who may have less experience and whose horse may be a candidate for metabolic dysfunction.
Don't wait until your pony is lying down. Check for heat and pulses every day.
Causes of Laminitis
Laminitis can be triggered by various factors such as obesity, overfeeding, excessive carbohydrate intake, hoof concussion ("road founder"), hormonal imbalances, and infections. While it frequently effects overweight horses, thin horses also suffer from laminitis, just as slim humans can have diabetes.
Understanding the root cause is crucial in developing a management plan.
In Spring the cause is frequently the fresh flush of grass that tends to be high in sugars. Many newer horse owners love the idea of their horse turned out in a paddock knee-deep in long grass, but this would be the equivalent to letting your child have all-you-can-eat at McDonalds for every meal.
Symptoms to Watch For
Early signs of laminitis include heat in the hooves, increased digital pulses, reluctance to move, or turn (often misinterpreted as 'laziness'), and standing in a 'sawhorse' or 'box' stance.
Timely recognition of symptoms is key to preventing further damage. If you can start managing the condition as soon as your horse shows minor symptoms it is much easier, and will be a quicker recovery than waiting until they are lying on the ground most of the time.
 At this time of year we would encourage you to take digital pulses every day, irrespective of the weight of your horse.
Here is a video that shows how to take a digital pulse.
Management
If grass is the problem, then eliminating access to grass is the solution. This can be done by putting them in a smaller yard with little or no pasture, or using a grazing muzzle.
You will need to supply all of their calories with a forage that is less than 10% sugar/starch, which in most cases is well-soaked grassy hay.
We currently have a pony who can't eat hay - even soaked. She is in a paddock with very limited pasture, and gets three substantial meals per day of maxisoy, copra meal and her supplements. We have also had an OTTB in the past who was allergic to lucerne. While soaked hay would normally be our go-to, if they are reacting badly to hay, maxisoy (soy hulls) is an alternative, or speedibeet (beet pulp).
Be very wary of bagged feeds that claim to be suitable for laminitis unless you recognise every single ingredient and know that those ingredients are less than 10% sugar/starch, and that it does not have other inflammatory ingredients like seed oils.
You will generally need to shorten your trim cycle to minimise peripheral loading (which means no bearing on the outside wall). A founder horse is generally more comfortable bearing on sole.
Be prepared with our Founder Bundle which includes:
Relief Mix - a natural anti-inflammatory which can be fed long-term without the side effects common when using bute or other NSAIDs.
Biotin Trace - with trace minerals and biotin supporting healthy hoof growth.
Good to Go Hoof Powder a topical treatment to manage thrush and other fungal and bacterial infections common in an unhealthy hoof.
Founder Facts - a helpful booklet that explains more about founder, causes and management.
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