Hybrid Vigour

[jowyles]

Just wondering today when riding with my sisters as someone on her yard breeds Sections As and her mare and one filly get bad laminitis. I was wondering if ponies that are pure bred may be more suseptable to it, as an example dexter is shire x halflinger and gets very overweight in the summer but doesnt show any sign at all. So just wondering as with diseases in other animals etc there could be a link with pure bred/ x bred and laminitis or other problems?

[horseygal90]

There's a breed of dog (think it's the Bulldog?) that has bad respiratory problems if it's a purebred, I think it's something to do with their noses.

[CMR]

I really do believe that with some purebred lines, you are going to run into more problems than you would with a cross. Just because of all of the inbreeding to try and get "perfect" horses that has happened in the past(and maybe is present some now), there are going to illnesses that pop up that wouldn't have been there if it had not been a certain mix(Think about the far far back Egyptian pharoahs). I personally don't care what lines my horse has, as long he is sweet and sound, it doesn't matter one way with me. :p

[shaiarabians]

Laminitis is not breed specific

it has a couple of causes
one is sugars in the grasses or an overload of sugared feeds

two is extremely poor feet to the extent that the horses feet break down and the pedal bone then rotates

three they have a major trauma or crisis and the body to take care of itself causes the laminits

your boy wont be getting it in summer even tho fat as the sugars arent present in full summer but they are early spring. I have also found in my travels that horses prone to founder are grasing on or lacking in two minerals copper and magnesium.

I hope this helps you a bit more.

Liesl

[ambatt]

It is also partly to do with the way in which we keep horses now. Most of our pasture, at least in the UK, is monoculture, lacking in grass and herbage species. Our native breeds in particular are designed to browze on rough hill pasture, not lush valley pasture. Thus they do tend to be more prone to laminitic conditions.

ALso we feed artificial feeds which can be high in sugar content so we compound the problem.

The PRE and LUsitano breeds are often laminitic because of the way they are kept, stabled, hard fed and some dreadful farriery.

I bet someone like Wally who keeps Shetlands, Icelandics and Fjords does not have a problem with laminitis as she is able to keep her horses in the environment that they were designed to cope with. She is also a damn good farrier.

[Wally]

This is why I am amazed Whiff hasn't got laminitis, she is a piano stool in summer, but we have no "grass" as such, it's an ancient hill pasture, with little or no improvements in tha last 100 years. Inbye there is grass, but mostly herb rich and scrubby. Shetlands and Icelandics do well on it, but (touch wood) laminitis is something we have side stepped inspite of having some horses you could seat 12 around for dinner!