Laminitis: An Equine Plague

05/11/2023

Whole Horse Inflammatory Disease (WHID) is the number one killer of horses in the world today. Laminitis is not a disease; it is just one of many symptoms of WHID.

“My book, “Laminitis: A Plague of Unconscionable Proportions,” exposes the industry behind laminitis, its connection to WHID, and what any horse owner can do to put it to rest. While reading the book, also go to www.AANHCP.net for articles and diet recommendation - one of the most important documents written to combat laminitis at the dietary level. Avail yourself also to the trimmers list of professionals trained to deal with laminitis at the hoof and who understand its origins in WHID. If your horse is in the devastating throes of laminitis, don’t listen to the detractors of genuine natural horse care, the time to act is now. “ - Jaime Jackson

02/11/2023

Very sad. Symptoms of chronic laminitis showing in all four hooves but still being required to work. Changes in the diet and management would allow this horse’s health - and symptoms - to improve quickly.

A Walmart parking lot in Cave City, KY.

01/11/2023

Another image for attention. What a healthy hoof looks like when there are no symptoms of unnatural horse care, laminitis or invasive trimming. Note the lack of horizontal rings on the outer hoofwall? At the time the photo was taken, Chance and his herdmates were still on their Paddock Paradise track system in California where they lived for 8+ years. Mountain lions and bears roamed the area and so, it is fair to say they were not living a stress-free existence. But 'natural stress' like that is no different from what they experience in their adaptive habitat. And there is no evidence that this type of stress causes 'event lines' or stress rings. But there is plenty of evidence that an unnatural diet (to the equine species) such as most domestic grass pastures, the wrong kinds of hays, sugary feeds, high carb feeds, agricultural waste products, chemically-laden feeds (oats with mold inhibitors, soybean oil or preservatives) and various medications - including sweetened dewormers, multiple vaccinations, and more that tend to be the worst culprits.

Photo - in mid-trim - by Jill Willis. Trim by Jaime Jackson.

01/11/2023

What a healthy hoof looks like when there are no symptoms of unnatural horse care, laminitis or invasive trimming. The shot of the solar view is, of course, pre-trim. Note the lack of horizontal rings on the outer hoofwall (swipe left to see)? At the time the photo was taken, Chance and his herdmates were still on their Paddock Paradise track system in California where they lived for 8+ years. Mountain lions and bears roamed the area and so, it is fair to say they were not living a stress-free existence. But 'natural stress' like that is no different from what they experience in their adaptive habitat. And there is no evidence that this type of stress causes 'event lines' or stress rings. But there is plenty of evidence that an unnatural diet (to the equine species) such as most domestic grass pastures, the wrong kinds of hays, sugary feeds, high carb feeds, agricultural waste products, chemically-laden feeds (oats with mold inhibitors, soybean oil or preservatives) and various medications - including sweetened dewormers, multiple vaccinations, and more that tend to be the worst culprits.

Photos by Jill Willis. Trim by Jaime Jackson.

26/10/2023

There is no evidence that hot weather causes laminitis. Someone posted that a vet said the reason for her mare “foundering” was the hot, Arizona weather. Horses cannot recover if you do not understand the cause or triggers and how to eliminate these.

This way of thinking removes all accountability and motivation to make important dietay and management changes.

21/10/2023

“The only time event lines (aka stress rings) are caused by a diet change is if you change from a safe diet (reasonably natural) to an unsafe diet.” - Jaime Jackson, author and horse care expert.

Image is a poster of hooves of horses diagnosed with laminitis at New Bolton Center, Univ. of PA. If your horse’s hooves look similar, drastic changes need to be made.

19/10/2023

Suffering from laminitis is a 💔 for all horses, of course. It is just a huge statement when we see how even a horse like Secretariat did not get appropriate treatment.

Secretariat was declared dead at the age of 19 by lethal injection, according to an article in the NY Times published on Oct. 5, 1989, stating he 'contracted' laminitis a month earlier, on Sept. 4th. It is incredibly unfortunate that so much of the horse world does not understand laminitis any better almost 35 years later. While Secretariat was diagnosed with acute laminitis on that day, no doubt he suffered from chronic laminitis (what Jaime Jackson refers to as WHID - whole horse inflammatory disease) for many years due, in part, to grazing in the lush grass pastures of Kentucky.

"Secretariat was suffering from laminitis, a painful and usually incurable degenerative disease of the sensitive inner tissues of the hoofs," wrote reporter Steven Crist. Unfortunately, many people still believe this to be true. And the reality is that laminitis is both treatable and preventable when you feed and manage horses according to the needs of their species (each horse is not 'unique' when it comes to what's generally best for them). Poor Secretariat was allowed to continue grazing in his grass paddock until the day he died.

12/10/2023

Wondering what to do if your horse has hooves that look like this? Start by eliminating all access to grass pastures.

Your horse(s) can have a wonderful and healthy life if you learn how to meet the needs of the equine species.

Check the Articles option on the AANHCP website menu for all sorts of great information on how to manage them in ways that will help them to heal from the many unnatural and harmful practices passed down from the tradition of convenience and ignorance. And if you like what you read, feel free to donate.

Pic by

06/10/2023

Such important info! Laminitis is caused by what goes into the horse (by mouth or by injection.) That's it.

Mechanical laminitis

www.AANHCP.net

Bulletins link:
https://www.aanhcp.net/pages/aanhcp-advocate-bulletins

Article (PDF) link:
https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0311/6673/files/MechanicalFounder.pdf?1553215339497284578

Mechanical laminitis is rooted in the conventional model of the hoof mechanism, which holds that weight bearing forces are born by the hoof’s stratum lamellatum and distal phalanx (P3). This model is contraposed by the NHC theory which states that no weight bearing forces are suspended upon the s. lamellatum or P3.

This difference between the two models is highlighted by how each model interprets the effects of laminitis on the s. lamellatum, and what therapeutically should be done about it. While both sides agree that the s. lamellatum is structurally compromised, including its attachment to P3, all agreement ends there.

Convention holds that P3, as the principal weight bearing structure, must be given support through the application of the heart bar shoe, pads, gel packs, and close monitoring with radiographs,

NHC states that P3 should be ignored altogether, the horse should not be shod at all, distal limb cryotherapy and pain medication be introduced immediately (if acute laminitis), and all attention should be given to the horse’s diet to treat Whole Horse Inflammatory Disease (WHID).

J. Jackson.

28/09/2023

If all horse owners, trainers, farriers and trimmers made a point to learn how to easily see the symptoms of whole body inflammation that is typically displayed in the hooves, countless horses could be saved from suffering the debilitating pain of acute laminitis. Horses are frequently and unnecessarily euthanized because of the lack of understanding of the role that diet and management play in the prevention and treatment of laminitis - and what it looks like in the hooves. Daily posts on social media asking about cracks and crumbling hooves are answered incorrectly by numerous farriers, trimmers and horse owners who think the hooves just need a trim or a soak in vinegar (etc). This advice will not help and only serves to cause harm. I wish every horse owner would read “Laminitis: An Equine Plague of Unconscionable Proportions.” A dramatic title for a catastrophic situation. Picture of a sound, healthy horse in her Paddock Paradise track system for attention. - Jill

18/06/2023

This is a re-post from Meadow Track Livery in Ireland, emphasizing the importance of Paddock Paradise and natural horse care in the prevention and therapeutic rehabilitation of laminitic horses.
-- Jaime Jackson, Author

Knowledge is key 🔑
Horse owners with laminitic horses are faced with the daunting task of finding useful information online to help their horses. With the eye catching brochures designed by EquiLiberta, we are spreading the knowledge and research of natural hoof care expert Jaime Jackson who has found a way to help all horses suffering from laminitis.

26/05/2023

Far too many people do not know their horses are already suffering from laminitis. And far too many 'experts' still do not understand how to treat or prevent this horrific condition. "You know how laminitis is ... once they have it, it just keeps coming back," said to me by an unnamed equine vet who was practicing in Scottsdale many years ago.

No, no, no!! It only comes back if you don't make changes to the diet and/or management of the horse care.

If your horse is 'foot sore,' or has symptoms such as those on the hooves of this horse (poor quality hoof wall, horizontal lines cascading down the outside of the hooves) or has a 'stretched white line (visible underneath the hoof) that may or may not look like a 'ditch' between the sole and the hoof wall to the untrained eye or there is pink/red in the "Stratum Lamellatum," your horse is suffering from the whole body inflammatory condition that is commonly known as 'founder' or laminitis.

This book is a great starting point if you don't know what to do or where to start. The protocols have worked for countless horses - often those horses who have been recommended for euthanasia, according to horse owners we know or who have written to us (myself or the author of the book). Even equine vets have written to say that they followed all the traditional recommended methods on their own horses - sometimes for years - and felt like they had nothing to lose by trying something different. The 'something different' was the work of Jaime Jackson and the predecessor to Laminitis: An Equine Plague - Founder: Prevention and Cure the Natural Way.

My own horse recovered beautifully from grass pasture-induced acute laminitis decades ago when following the protocols laid out in these books. So many horses can be saved if trainers, vets and horse owners better understood this condition. It should be in your library. This photo shows both hoof neglect (an easy fix) and visible symptoms of chronic laminitis (treatable and preventable). - Jill

04/10/2022

Coming soon, the 2023 ISNHCP Natural Trim Training Program

05/05/2022

"Chakra" about 10 years after a diagnosis of acute laminitis. The culprit? His lush green pasture - in the month of July. Fortunately, decent advice was provided from his vet and farrier. Farrier suggested removing the shoes when he was comfortable enough to stand for them to be removed (in line with advice we give in NHC world), remove him from the pasture (eliminate the cause) and give him time. Unfortunately, I didn't know about Paddock Paradise track systems at the time. And so, he was in a large dirt paddock with a buddy - but the herd was not together. Eventually, a track was created, he was safe and the herd was together.

Laminitis is so misunderstood. One farrier told me, "You know how laminitis is; once they get it, it always returns." Well of course it does if you don't make any changes and eliminate the triggers. But it doesn't have to ever return again. Do your horse a favor and read Jaime's book. ~ Jill Willis

Note: the mountainous area where the track was created in California had a lot of green but not green grass. And there was also a lot of rock, dirt and scrub bushes. Part of the concept of the PP track system is to have 24/7 access to safe grass hays - among other aspects to simulate their life in a natural habitat.