09/12/2024
With cold weather on the way, here are a few tips to help horses and ponies with insulin dysregulation or a history of laminitis:
Sunny days with cold frosty nights cause sugars to accumulate in the grass. People often think that laminitic horses shouldn't graze frosty grass until the sun has melted the frost, but that's not exactly correct - they shouldn't graze the grass until there has been a return to night time temperatures above 5'C and/or overcast weather.
During sunny weather grass makes and stores sugars (photosynthesis), at night when grass is able to grow these sugars are used up (respiration), but when environmental conditions such as low temperatures (below around 6'C), lack of rainfall or poor fertility prevent growth, sugar levels can continue to accumulate in the grass, making it unsuitable for horses and ponies with insulin dysregulation and increasing the risk of laminitis.
Other reasons horses may show signs of laminitis/foot discomfort in cold weather may include:
- damage in the feet from previous or uncorrected rotation making feet more sensitive to hard frozen ground,
- hay soaking is not as effective at colder water temperatures,
- horses tend to get less exercise/turnout in cold/frosty/snowy weather.
What you can do:
- prevent or limit access to grass during and after sunny frosty weather until the weather changes to milder nights and overcast days, and feed analysed forage (hay, haylage, perhaps some straw or non-molassed chaff) with combined sugar and starch levels below 10% (on a dry matter basis and analysed by wet chemistry) instead. It is not the frost itself that is the risk, it is the weather conditions that cause the frost, so do not allow horses to graze once the frost has melted with the sun - wait until the grass has been able to respire and use up some of its sugar.
- keep feet warm and protected - use leg wraps/bandages, pads and boots on feet, warm deep bedding. Thick wool hiking socks can be great for keeping pony feet and legs warm.
- ensure feet are correctly aligned if there is a history of laminitis, or if hooves have divergent (wider at the heels than at the toes) hoof rings, by having x-rays taken and realigning trimming carried out if there is rotation or thin soles.
- continue to exercise horses with no signs of foot discomfort or laminitis if safe to do so in cold weather - exercise increases insulin sensitivity. If you cannot exercise, consider whether you need to reduce the energy content of your horse's diet - aim to feed no less than 1.5% of the horse's bodyweight (on a dry matter basis) of forage and high fibre feeds, and look for lower energy (DE) feeds rather than reducing intake below 1.5% if weight loss is needed.
For more information and support, join Friends of The Laminitis Site (a £12 annual donation is payable to support our work): http://www.thelaminitissite.org/join-friends-of-tls.html
The Laminitis Site is run by volunteers and relies solely on donations to be able to help, rescue and rehabilitate horses and ponies with laminitis. Thank you so much if you are able to support our work - please see ways to help us here: https://www.thelaminitissite.org/help.html
