Laminitis symtoms

[rebeccajane]

Popeye is barefoot on farriers advice.

Laminitic several years ago.

[akehurstannabel]

Holly is wearing heartbars as she had slight rotation in her off fore. But she is out to 6 weekly shoeing intervals now. It started at every ten days and gradually worked out. My farrier is not a barefoot fan as I spoke to him about it and he hadn't had a lot of success with it. I guess it is whatever works for your individual pony. She is also on formula 4 feet and pergolide. This combination is keeping her sound (in fact last time my vet came he said "that pony is prancing!") It is so lovely to see her so happy now after all that time being ill.

[bevbob]

Akehurstannabel, are Holly's soles quite soft? Im asking this because a friends pony has a soft sole at the moment and hes had lami in the past and is also slightly lame on the foot with the soft sole. She is treating it as lami but I was wondering if its just a bruised sole as hes still very perky??? Farrier showed us how soft it was by using pincer things.

[akehurstannabel]

Yes Hollys soles are very soft. Apparently this can happen after laminitis. In his wisdom the farmer put down gravel in the gateways to stop the mud, so I have to pick her feet out once she is in her paddock as well. The vet gave me some iodine and formaldehyde (I think!) to harden her soles but it doesn't seem to have made that much difference. I thought about turning her out in some kind of boot but they won't fit securely over her heartbars due to the extended heels. I would suggest it might be an idea for your friend to get some hoof testers of her own. They are really handy and only about £ 20. I use mine constantly! Does he have any other lami symptoms?

[bevbob]

Thanks for that, he did have quite a strong dig pulse but that has since gone while hes been off grass for 2 weeks. Hes a Welsh sec C and has a huge crest but he has always had that.
He trots when asked and turns ok on a tight circle. She hasnt had the vet as she is a vet nurse and is very sceptical about what they would say when they see his neck.
Farrier cant see any signs of lami other than a soft sole.
Im just wondering if it could be bruised? He has been slightly lame for 2 weeks though.
If only they could talk!

[akehurstannabel]

Bruises can last quite a long time. I know it's a bit different as Holls had bruising as a result of the laminitis, but my farrier was cutting bruise out of her foot for over a year. If he can turn ok I wouldn't be quite so worried. When Holly was really bad she could only do 3 point turns! Is there any chance it could be an abscess? If it is bruising she could try packing it with witchhazel soaked guaze to bring the bruise out, although that would make it softer again. How about feeding some arnica. That can be quite useful. When Holly bruises hers she goes on box rest on a 10" shavings bed with bute and acp until she is sound, but I am very lucky that she is a very tolerant pony.

[bevbob]

Thanks for that, we now know it is probably lami, he escaped onto some lush grass for a few hours and came in still perky but couldnt turn very well on a tight circle. He is absolutely mad for grass! Bobs was in the same field as him and luckily didnt follow him to the good grass as he was scared of the tapes (not electric)
We had 3 horses damage their heels on the barbed wire so yo taped off an area around the trees with bright orange nylon tape. Then swopped the geldings for the mares and the mares didnt go near the tape. The grass had been growing for 2 weeks so was quite long when the fat ponies were allowed to go in and friends horse just barged right through them!! I was forever tying them back up again! Pony is now in stable for however long it takes and Bobs is back to being stabled until the other field is bare again! Arghhh! I cant risk putting him in jumping field with a bit of flimsy tape though.

[akehurstannabel]

Sorry for the delay I've been away for a few days. I don't blame you at all for not trusting a bit of tape. Holly has been under, over and through an electric fence. She has no respect for electric fencing. That was until I put my other mare in with her. No more escapes! He will get used to being stabled and he will get less desperate to get to grass. It's amazing how they adapt. Holly just seems to know whats good for her. I just make sure I ride her after turnout or I lunge her to take the edge off first, as she can obviously and with good reason be quite explosive!

[debbiec]

Supplimenting with Magnesium is great for laminitis prone horses, either to help prevent an attack or to help them overcome an attack.

I've also noticed in the early stages of lami when you just can't work out if they're footy or not, you will notice the are more uncomfortable when turning a corner. when you walk them up they'll look ok but when you turn them at the end to walk them back they may struggle.

If you watch for this as well as the digital pulse then you should get a good idea if there is a problem or not.

Debs

[khristyne]

how would you keep an 18" high bed inside the stable? you would need to fit a board across the front!! Imagine mucking out, there wouldnt be room for you the piles would be so high! Nice idea but wouldnt it be a nightmare!!!

[harveydales]

Khristyne, when Quest had Lami the first time I kept him on a really thick Aubiose bed and managed it as a deep litter bed. I felt this would give him an easier base to walk on as it is soft yet supportive and doesn't move about. It worked well and was easy for me to deal with though was expensive to set up initially.

[akehurstannabel]

My beds are huge shavings ones!! I'm lucky though because they always wee in the same places, so it's quick to find the wet bits and then turn the rest over to fluff it up. Takes about 20 mins to do two completely! I had a look this morning and they are 12" deep + banks. I must admit they do creep out from under the doors though as i bring them right to the door and loads gets dragged out when you bring your horse out!!Jo x