Winter and Laminitis

[ElvisFan]

So how does winter affect laminitic horses?.Remi is currently out about 13 hours a day in a bareish paddock with a grazing muzzle on.Is it ok to take off the grazing muzzle during the winter?The paddock Remi is in is the winter one and all the other horses will move in there about November time when there is little to no grass until they move to another field about March/April time.The farmer puts out piles of haylage for each horse every morning,is haylage ok for lamimitics.Also what about feeding carrots and apples in his food,can he have these?He has speedibeet and Hi-Fi lite at the moment purely to take his supplements i.e lamitox and Farriers formula,but I,ve not dared give him any "treats" since he had his episode.Any info would be appreciated :)

[eventerbabe]

Winter is just as stressful for us laminitic owners as summer i'm afraid. my mare had a laminitic episode where the pressure of balled up snow in her feet caused a bout of laminitis. i tend not to take my one's muzzle off, else she gorges on hay and then starts digging in the snow to get to what grass might be around. also, cold legs can trigger laminitis so my one wears wrap around competition boots on her front legs at all times when out from november to march.

Marksway blue horsehage is a hoof kind product, but i avoid haylage with my one on the vets advice. "normal" haylage can upset their gut and increases the acidity of their dung. i'd be wary of farm made haylage unless its been correctly tested and approved for use by your vet.

Despite what some on here say, i've never had a problem feeding carrots and apples to my lammy. the vet says she can have a few a day. she also gets turnips and parsnips when they are in season.

[martini55]

Martini was un-muzzled last winter and probably will be again this winter, simply because the grass is far too short for her to get anything through the muzzle and hay is not put out in the fields.

Another thing you have to watch out for is frost, it can cause there to be more fructans in the grass.

I've also had no problems feeding apples and carrots, though Martini does get them in moderation :)

[eventerbabe]

thanks for reminding me martini, had forgotten about frosted grass. don't turn out onto it. often ours don't go out til midday in the winter to allow the frost to lift, or if they do go out, Bonnie is put in a small pen with some hay to prevent her eating any frosty grass.

[ElvisFan]

Thanks for your replies.I thought winter might be a bit easier for him :(

[eventerbabe]

i actually find winter more stressful than summer, probably coz Bonnie has had 1 or 2 attacks during the winter. the frosted grass is the main thing to watch out for though.