Treats/tasty chaff type feeds for a laminitic horse...

[Bronya]

Are there any?

Would sugarfree polos be ok? Is there too much sugar in a swede? Could I sprinkle dried mint on her forage?

Every time I see her she's desperate for food, despite having ad-lib forage, and I'd love to be able to give her something nice-tasting occasionally. I know there are several 'safe for laminitic' feeds out there - happy hoof, the new horsehagey one, etc - are any of them tasty?

[coss]

i use happy hoof but my ponies (touch wood) are not laminitic. i give them swedes and boy do they love them!!! i DON'T cut up a swede, i either bung it in the bucket with the rest of the feed or just bung it in the feed.
i've previously added spearmint (fresh) and both horses like it. happy hoof has added mint and garlic. i add a bit more garlic because the midges are starting to appear. my horses prefer happy hoof to dengie hi-fi lite.

[Bebe]

Celery is meant to be good for laminitics, though my mare turned her nose up at it when I presented her with some.

My mare adores Spillers Happy Dieter & Happy Hoof, the latter is definitely ok for laminitis and the former should be but I'd check to be on the safe side.

Unmolassed sugarbeet usually goes down well and is a safe feed. If her weight isn't a worry alfalfa pellets make good treats to keep in your pocket, Dengie and Simple Systems both do them.

[capalldubh]

I use swedes, celery and black oil sunflower seeds for treats - my horse is definitely sensitive to something although no full-on laminitis so far, so I like to keep the sugar out of his diet. He also gets occasional bits of cabbage and I chop up the stems of broccoli for him too - not too much because they have a lot of sulphur which is not great for horses in general, but fine as an occasional treat. I would guess turnip would be OK too (but swede is cheaper ;-)). He also likes the peel of satsumas etc, and it is not too sugary so he gets tiny bits as occasional treats too.

His main dinner is speedibeet and fibergy, which he seems to like a lot (although it looks like tasteless mush to me :rolleyes:). The Fibergy has mint flavour, and sometimes I add a bit of chopped parsley stalks left over from dinner which he likes too. Fibergy has no added molasses so is safe for laminitis. ETA - we damp down Fibergy for the other horses in the field as well - that's all they get and they seem to like it on its own...

Hope there are some ideas for you there :)

[coss]

i found out via a BHS mag thing that speedi beet and fibrebeet (the new one that i can't think of the proper name) are both approved by the laminitics trust.

[Jessey]

Just to note, Happy hoof though approved by the lami trust still has alot of molasses (sugar) in/on it, less than say Molichaff but still quite a bit.

Fruit and veg is OK in tiny ammount but it does have alot of natural sugars in it so don't feed tonnes :o

You could try something like HiFi Lite (has very little molasses) with a little mint sprinkled on it, or perhaps get some unsweetened apple juice and dilute it right down (1:10) or even dilute some honey then just add a cup full over the chaff :p

You could also try making your own treats, maybe some peppermint essence over a chunck of plain wheetabix will make a tasty nibble :D

[LokiSofi]

loki has lami at present and my vet said the only thing he is allowed is sugar free polos

[puzzles]

fruit and vegetables are ideal as they are high in sugar yet this is the 'healthiest' sugar availiable and is easily utilised.
i think it unwise to feed any form of sugar, as every little counts and you may be surprised at the amoutn of sugar in otherwise labelled 'healthy' fruit and vegetables.
if anything, you can feed carrots (containing half the calories compared to apples) and lower-sugar substitutes, such as turnips, suedes and parsnips.
sugar-free polos sound good.