Laminitis Management

TwoDaysTooLate

TwoDaysTooLate

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Mar 12, 2017
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Hi!

I have recently found myself a loan horse through my yard. He is one of the horses that was taken from a film yard and brought to my riding school, and that is where I met him and bonded with him. I was then supposed to loan him in the summer, but in February he was returned to his old film yard owners, and stayed with them since. I recently was told that he could return in order for me to loan him, however today I was told he developed laminitis!

I am fairly sure that he has been in the field eating his weight in grass since mid-February when I last rode him, and am almost convinced that that is the cause. He isn't a spring chicken - he's aged about 14/15 (we don't know his exact age).

I'm really concerned for his wellbeing - I haven't seen him since Feb and have also been told he hasn't been able to be caught in and therefore I'm worried that he hasn't been treated.

I am still very much hoping to take him on loan, laminitis or no laminitis and give him the tlc he needs!

However, he will be living out as there are no stables at my yard that are vacant. Does anyone have any advice for someone in my situation / any good supplements I could use?

Thank you so much,

J :)
 
I think it's going to be extremely difficult to treat laminitis without having him stabled, and if it's a bad case all but impossible.

If you're seriously considering taking him on you need to find out exactly what the situation is & get a vet or farrier to assess him. You can spend a fortune & still not save them, and it's not just a case of feeding the right supplements & loving them - in acute stages they need stabling on a deep supportive bed, soaked hay, nursing so a lot of time spent with them & you'll run up some big vet & farrier fees because there'll be drugs, possible x-rays, supports & possible remedial shoeing. How's your bank balance feeling & does your life allow for a sizeable amount of time to be spent on a horse? And if they recover there's ongoing management issues & no guarantee you'll have a sound horse. He may also have PPID (cushings) & if that's the case there are lifelong meds to try & control it.

By all means find out exactly what the situation is, but be prepared to walk away.
 
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I totally agree with @carthorse, you really need to know more before making the decision to take him on, in addition to the time and money the emotional investment and toll can be huge if it doesn't end well.
 
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carthorse said:
I think it's going to be extremely difficult to treat laminitis without having him stabled, and if it's a bad case all but impossible.

If you're seriously considering taking him on you need to find out exactly what the situation is & get a vet or farrier to assess him. You can spend a fortune & still not save them, and it's not just a case of feeding the right supplements & loving them - in acute stages they need stabling on a deep supportive bed, soaked hay, nursing so a lot of time spent with them & you'll run up some big vet & farrier fees because there'll be drugs, possible x-rays, supports & possible remedial shoeing. How's your bank balance feeling & does your life allow for a sizeable amount of time to be spent on a horse? And if they recover there's ongoing management issues & no guarantee you'll have a sound horse. He may also have PPID (cushings) & if that's the case there are lifelong meds to try & control it.

By all means find out exactly what the situation is, but be prepared to walk away.
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I understand that it'll be very hard and to be honest my yard owner doesn't seem too bothered by his current situation so I'm thus assuming the laminitis isn't too bad.

What with my life allowing for this - i'm still a student but am finishing my gcses before I take him on. So i'll have about 2 months of constant yard presence, but then depending on year 12 i will most likely be up around 5x a week.
Money will always be an issue but I plan to work at my yard all summer long, and if I get put on the rota I can decently make about £125 for 5 days of 8-6 work... I hope that that would be enough in the long run!

Thank you for your advice though, and I'm really looking for a horse for the summer and besides him I don't think i have any other options >.<
 
Jessey said:
I totally agree with @carthorse, you really need to know more before making the decision to take him on, in addition to the time and money the emotional investment and toll can be huge if it doesn't end well.
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Yeah, I get that and I think I'll wait and keep pestering my yard owner to let me see him or at least update me on his condition... I'm very much concerned for him >.<
 
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TwoDaysTooLate said:
I'm really looking for a horse for the summer and besides him I don't think i have any other options >.<
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If he has lami now its unlikely he will be fit to go by the summer holidays, recovery from lami is often a long road, my boy recovered quickly as it was caught early and it was 6 weeks before he was back to riding, some can take years, some never recover.
To give you an idea on vets bills, the investigation into my horses lameness, the vet looking, doing nerve blocks and xrays was nearly £1000, it can get expensive very quickly.
 
To be brutally honest if you're still at school, have very limited income, no transport (I assume you don't live on site or within easy walking distance) & no stable then I don't think you can do this. I'm sorry. And laminitis is an emergency, not something that can be left until you finish GCSEs to take him on.

Unless your YO has x-ray vision & vet/farrier training then she cannot say how bad the laminitis is, believe me when I say degree of soundness is no indication of degree of damage. My welsh cob kept looking a bit off if worked 2 or 3 days in a row & after trying various shoeing options we decided to get x-rays to try to pin down what was wrong. He trotted up almost sound for the vet but we insisted on x-rays anyway to find, to our horror, that he had significant rotation in both fronts & was within a hair of going into the sole on one! He did nearly 10 months box rest, got through vast amounts of sedalin & regular remedial farriery plus repeat x-rays. I was extremely lucky that he made it, but he cost me a fortune & there was a lot of work involved.

I appreciate you're concerned for him, and what you want to do does you credit, but if he's truly laminitic than you don't have the means to deal with it & from the sound of it your YO isn't taking this horse's welfare seriously & probably won't be helpful - if she was likely to be she'd be doing something now not leaving a laminitic in a field stuffing it's face & with no treatment.
 
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carthorse said:
To be brutally honest if you're still at school, have very limited income, no transport (I assume you don't live on site or within easy walking distance) & no stable then I don't think you can do this. I'm sorry. And laminitis is an emergency, not something that can be left until you finish GCSEs to take him on.

Unless your YO has x-ray vision & vet/farrier training then she cannot say how bad the laminitis is, believe me when I say degree of soundness is no indication of degree of damage. My welsh cob kept looking a bit off if worked 2 or 3 days in a row & after trying various shoeing options we decided to get x-rays to try to pin down what was wrong. He trotted up almost sound for the vet but we insisted on x-rays anyway to find, to our horror, that he had significant rotation in both fronts & was within a hair of going into the sole on one! He did nearly 10 months box rest, got through vast amounts of sedalin & regular remedial farriery plus repeat x-rays. I was extremely lucky that he made it, but he cost me a fortune & there was a lot of work involved.

I appreciate you're concerned for him, and what you want to do does you credit, but if he's truly laminitic than you don't have the means to deal with it & from the sound of it your YO isn't taking this horse's welfare seriously & probably won't be helpful - if she was likely to be she'd be doing something now not leaving a laminitic in a field stuffing it's face & with no treatment.
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Yes, I would have to agree. Unfortunately my yard owner seems to prefer money to horse welfare and there is nothing i can currently do for him. I will see how it all progresses but I don't have high hopes for the future :)
 
Jessey said:
If he has lami now its unlikely he will be fit to go by the summer holidays, recovery from lami is often a long road, my boy recovered quickly as it was caught early and it was 6 weeks before he was back to riding, some can take years, some never recover.
To give you an idea on vets bills, the investigation into my horses lameness, the vet looking, doing nerve blocks and xrays was nearly £1000, it can get expensive very quickly.
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Yes, I'd have to agree. I don't know much about his condition and i know I have the time and the commitment to help him but I don't have the money or ability to convince my yard owner to help me help him :(
 
You want an idea of costs? I've never worked it out exactly but here's a rough idea of what I probably spent on LU
X-rays, at least 4 sets as I remember, say £800. Bedding for 10 months, say 2 bales shavings a week when in 24/7 so around £640. Sedalin, both to help medically and also to keep the horror in the stable until he settled (at least 2 weeks) approx. £200. Bute, again approx. but at least £250. Remedial farriery on fronts every 4 weeks (initially more often), by my long term farrier who would never rip me off, in most cases I suspect the same work would cost a lot more, £600, and he'll always need remedial shoeing on a 4 week cycle as he needs protection for his soles & his foot balance has to be spot on. I'm not including livery, hay etc as I'd have had to keep him anyway, though arguably having him in meant more hay as otherwise he'd have been out.

So adding all that up, and it's a very conservative estimate, that's £2,490. He's now sound but I have to be extremely careful with his management & his work. No trotting far on roads or hard ground, no fast work on hard ground, I wouldn't ask him to jump, I certainly can't use any old farrier or put him on a longer shoeing cycle, he has to be in a reasonable level of work all year round. And there are no guarantees - it could all go wrong tomorrow despite all of this.
 
I managed my pony through laminitis several years ago. He lives out, but has a big shelter which I could use for his box rest. It was hard work but very successful - he is fully rehabilitated now.

It was expensive though. Vet fees were about £2000 and I couldn't believe how much I spent on shavings.

He's my pony and I love him and was happy to shell out to look after him. But I wouldn't recommend to you that you take on a horse who's already laminitic, during a laminitis attack, when you have few resources and haven't managed a horse before. I absolutely honour your intention and your kindness to the horse, but in your own interests I would walk away.
 
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I sadly have to agree with everyone here.

As hard as it is. Believe me I have been in your situation when I was 17. I had one on loan and it was still a decent chunk on my wages even though she had no health issues.

My current boy has a number of veterinary Issues, lameness and previously lami been one or two of them. And the emotional toll of having a sick horse is very hard to deal with and I have lost count how many time I have been very upset and some unlucky person, they know who they are. Has had me been on the phone to them in not the best state!

Also the management of a horse or pony with lami can be difficult. X rays for my boy are normally around 200-300 quid mark. Even if I only need one hoof doing its still 150 quid for the vets to bring out the X ray and then call out feed before anything else. In all honestly I would either wait. Or I would see about another horse one that is a bit easy to keep and easier for your situation too. I know it's easier said then done. My boy had lami last August and we are.. 10 months on and I still have to management him closely ( he is an exception and certainly doesn't follow any text book!) But honestly I would take the advice from here. A lot of people are very knowledgeable as well and walk away.
 
I had a mare that took acute laminitis, I tried everything to keep her with me, but sadly she still ended up having to be pts. It broke my heart and the vet bill was almost £2000 ..it really isn't something to be taken on lightly. I also have an aged pony with cushings who is prone to laminitis and touch wood I have been able to keep it under control even with everyday turnout..every case can be different..
 
Mine is also out 24/7 on extremely poor turnout, but I couldn't have him out on halfway decent grazing. Plus it's one thing keeping them out tightly managed after they've recovered and quite another keeping a horse out that is currently suffering from laminitis.
 
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@carthorse yes you are so right, my oldie cushings pony is kept on a track and brought in during the day with a haynet. I also just noticed in my above post I put my mare had acute laminitis when it was actually chronic laminitis. She was only 9 years old.:(
 
Hi I'm a 3rd year BSc student at the Royal Veterinary College completing research in to 'Owners perceptions of laminitis: the role of diet in cause and management'. This will hopefully bridge the gap between what owners believe and what the current research says. This will help better direct future research and improve educational resources for owners to help our beloved horses and ponies. It would be greatly appreciated if you could take 10 minutes to complete this questionnaire.

Many thanks in advance!

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1...9rvcc2bjfLyoUgzJX4hMNggw/viewform?usp=sf_link
 
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