Laminitis concerns?

[princessmolly]

Hello,
I battled with my NF pony for years with laminitis he sadly had to be PTS. I now have a welsh section D and i am so paranoid about laminitis. As far as i know she has never had it. When i went to view her they had no grazing due to the summer heat but she was on a very high sugar and cereal diet which she was fine on. Shes now at mine and and lives out and has no grazing really as the grass has died, shes on good hay and healthy hooves. However in a few weeks we are getting our whole field fertilised as the grass needs it badly(it hasnt grown in 6mths) and im really worried about what to do. She will have a bit of hay at night but grass in the day. Im not sure weather to continue feeding healthy hooves as i really dont think she will need the calories. I have the opting of bringing her into a small inclosure at night with her hay which i think i will do. Any advice on how to manage her please. As far is i know she has never had laminitis but is that type apparently.
Thanks

[Skippys Mum]

Cant you keep a bit of the field unfertilised for her? Maybe electric fence it off. She would probably be better on no or very little grass with added hay if needed.

[NoviceNic]

As far is i know she has never had laminitis but is that type apparently.
Thanks

What do people mean when they make statements like this. Arent all horses prone ot laminitis. I mean if all horses were left unmanaged in huge grazing fields then all types would end up with laminitis. ;) Well enough of that ponder for the day. :o

If you are fertisilising the field you would really need to keep your horse off it. It will ruin it before it gets a chance to root. I would suggest as Skippys Mum has to section an area off for your horse giving her access to ad lib hay. Then as the months pass move the fencing and strip graze her.

[kawa7]

Hi Princessmolly
I personally agree with Skippysmum.

Fertilised grass is TOO rich for prone laminitic horses.

I would keep part of the paddock free from fertiliser, strip graze and put a muzzle on your horse.
( Shires webbing muzzles are gr8 think they are approx £15 )

I also would bring him onto your inclosure for part of the day / night.
This will keep his weight down and hopefully keep LAMI away.

I would never use fertilised grass , haylege or concentrated foods for my horse- as far too rich.
hope this helps:)

[nosy]

Hi new to the site!
It worries me that you mention the horse had been on a HIGH SUGAR & CEREAL DIET before.:eek::eek:

That is defo recipe for disaster- not good at all if you suspect a chance of Laminitus!!!!!!!!


Old unfertilised grass- muzzle , strip graze as someone else mentioned !

Best to be over cautious.;)

[Pottamus]

Hi I have a Welsh D too and try to manage him all the time so he does not get lami. I would advise that you also weight tape your horse starting now and doing it every 2 weeks to keep an eye on any weight gain as spring appears.
Keep your horse well exercised as this will help boost metabolism and circulation.
I personally would not put my Welshie on fertilised grass as it will come through very rich and may cause problems. I let my horse have a small paddock all summer and strip graze and he comes in at night on hay to give his tummy a rest. I also make sure he is exercised a lot to keep his weight down as they put it on very quick and just keep an eye on his weight. I have been working mine harder over the last few weeks in order to get a bit more weight off him going into spring.
I don't know what work you do with your horse but I feed mine no cereal, he has a couple of handfuls of Hi Fi Lite toput a supplement into and that is it...the rest is grass and hay. He has enough energy to do 20-30 miles trot hacking in week and up to a 20 miles pleasure ride in trot and canter most weekends on this diet...they rarely need more.

[MelanieD]

Fertilising at all isn't automatically bad, obviously if the grass isn't growing at all it needs a bit of help of some variety. What you need to be careful of it picking the right fertiliser and using it in the right amounts bearing in mind its for grazing for a horse and you don't want to over-fertilise and end up with grazing that'd make a cow fat enough to pop :)

Even though coblet isn't laminitic its best to be careful and keep it that way but there's no need to go straight to the type of management that's suitable for the very laminitis prone straight away either.

After fertilising you need to keep horses off the land for a while, at least until its soaked in properly so keep them off for a couple of weeks or at least until some good rain. And check how long exactly to keep them off for since a couple of weeks is a bit of a guess from me! A yard down the road from us fertilised and let the horses out too soon (a few hours later) and every single horse there has signs of low grade laminitis, flare and suspicious growth rings, and one horse even had a full blown case of laminitis from it.

[AengusOg]

[QUOTE=NoviceNic;1613443]
If you are fertisilising the field you would really need to keep your horse off it. It will ruin it before it gets a chance to root. [QUOTE]

The grass is being fertilised.........the field is not being reseeded.:)