15/11/2024
The single biggest reason for a horse being unable to recover from grass related laminitis is the owner.
Laminitis season is here in New Zealand. With all of the information freely available on the internet, it never ceases to amaze me how this still happens so frequently and how many owners have absolutely no idea what to do about it.
While I function off of the mantra of “know what happens before what happens happens”, most horse owners seem to function in a state of blissful ignorance until it’s too late. You don’t know what you don’t know.
The key to laminitis is prevention, of course. And prevention looks much the same as treatment. So let’s look in to it.
Hoof health is steadied on 4 pillars.
1. Diet
2. Exercise
3. Environment
4. Hoof care
Horses aren’t designed to eat grass 🤯 Crazy concept, right? But they’re not. Horses are designed to live on a variety of stalky fibre sources. The best we can usually offer them in domestication is hay.
Prevention: Feed hay, limit grass.
Treatment: Feed soaked hay, ZERO grass. Yes, that includes the little green f***ing shoots that are peeking through. They’re the worst because they’re full of sugar.
Horses in the wild get their nutritional vitamin and mineral needs from the variety they browse. Horse in domestication need us to provide those vitamin and minerals by way of hard feed.
“But my horse is fat and has laminitis!!! I can’t hard feed it!”
Yes, you f***ing can and you should.
What you should NOT feed your horse is premixed feeds full of grain and molasses that requires you to feed 4kg a day in order to get your horse the nutritional requirements it needs.
What you SHOULD do is feed them a small, low calorie feed of simple fibre sources such as beet or chaff, with salt and a balanced vitamin and mineral powder.
Not only is this the healthiest way to feed but it is also the most cost effective.
Prevention: Feed a simple fibre based feed with balanced vitamin and mineral powder; DO NOT feed premixed feeds full of molasses and grain that requires 4kg of feed.
Treatment: Feed a simple fibre based feed with balanced vitamin and mineral powder; DO NOT feed premixed feeds full of molasses and sugar that requires 4kg of feed.
You have to understand that vitamins and minerals play a vital role in the healthy function of the body. Without them, your horse will not make it.
Horses in the wild travel around 20+ kilometres per day over varied terrain. They romp and play with their herd.
Horses in domestication often live in a small paddock and receive below average exercise for less than an hour a day.
Prevention: Keep your horse in large paddocks or dry lot, preferably with a herd or on a track system. Work or ride your horse 3-5 times a week in such a way that they work up a light sweat.
Treatment: Keep your horse in a dry lot or track system, preferably with a herd. Assuming your horse is sound, work or ride your horse 3-5 times a week in such a way that they work up a light sweat.
We don’t want horses lathering in sweat and heaving for their life. What creates a light sweat in one horse may not in another. If your horse is fat, a 20 minute walk on the lunge may be enough.
In the wild, horses travel 20+ kilometres a day over varied terrain which wears down their hooves.
In domestication horses stand in the corner of a paddock and do f*** all 🤷🏻♀️ If they’re lucky their owner might get their hooves trimmed every 6 weeks.
Prevention: Have your horses hooves trimmed every 4 weeks, year round. No excuses.
Treatment: Have your horses hooves trimmed weekly or fortnightly to correct the deviation then move to 4 weekly trims year round. No f***ing excuses!
So there you have it, the 4 pillars of hoof health for the prevention and treatment of grass related laminitis.
It’s not f***ing hard!
NOTE: I’m swearing because this is kindergarten basics of horse care. Know better. Do better. I’m sick of being the ambulance at the bottom of the cliff and my heart breaking for theses horses that should have never ended up in this position.
