Laminitis in winter?

[MissFliss]

Hi all,

Last night my pony Merlyn was diagnosed with mild laminitis, his hooves were hot to touch and he had a reasonably strong pulse in them. He wasn't really lame, just a bit grumpy. He had some bute and is on stall rest.

What baffles me though is that it's winter here and also a hard drought, so there's no fresh grass at all. He is being fed lucerne hay for breakfast plus pellets mixed wth lucerne and wheaten chaff in the evening. We are cutting back on the lucerne and pellets to see how he goes. He is in full work and is pretty fit and neither thin nor fat. He is also part brumby which as a breed are not known for laminitis, so I am not sure what may be causing it. I know that mares which retain their placenta always get laminitis, but being a gelding this is not likely! :) Can other forms of infection go to their hooves?

Cheers,

MissFliss

[Mary Ann Bright]

Laminitis is any inflamation of the laminae in the hoof. It has many causes, not just spring grass or retained placentas.

Other causes include:
-colic, esp. with grain overload (not really likely in your case if you aren't feeding grain)
-Stress, exhaustion or infections affecting horse for extended periods
-Legs problems, especially excessive, repetative stress or concussion on the legs- this reduces blood flow to lamina, which causes damage

It's good that you seem to have caught it early. I hope this has been some help to you. I hope he recovers soon!:)

[artemis]

When my pony got laminitis last winter the diagnosis was cushing's disease. How old is your pony, & has he any other symptoms?

[stormhorse]

Storm had his worst & last (I Hope) bout of laminitis in Winter (January), it can be caused by the grass being stressed out as well.

In a drough period the grass would be stressed so that might be why.

check out the laminitis website
www.laminitis.org
& the following for more info on laminitis
www.safergrass.org
www.horse-talk.co.uk

Good luck

deb

[MissFliss]

Thanks for the replies and the great links. After having the weekend off, Merlyn is much better and back out with his mates as sound as a bell.

He is 4 years old. A couple of other horses in his herd have had a bronchial infection lately, and three others are off their grub, so maybe it's something going around. I hope it isn't Cushings disease!! How is your pony coping, Artemis? I'm now worried as he has had a small lump in his back since I got him. It had a biopsy and came back as an unspecific allergic reaction. I think he's pretty fit and I haven't seen any other changes in his coat or behaviour. He also had his back out, which was fixed yesterday by the chiropractor, so he is feeling much happier all round today.

What troubles for a young boy!

[artemis]

My pony is fine at the moment thanks, needs a lot of TLC though.

Cushing's is usually in older horses, so it was probably stressed grass as stormhorse said. You will have to keep a close eye on him.

As you can see from the sites lots of things cas cause laminitis.