Laminitis/obesity

[Lorgene]

I have an overweight mini and she has been for a decade. Weight goes up and down.
I have 4 acres with a lot of grass. Right now she is stalled all day for 9 hrs and then goes out all night with a muzzle on. She was doing very well with this regimen but has started getting sore hoofs on the cement. She doesn’t have any heat in them just sore. It has just rained a lot and the grass is very long so maybe she is getting too much?
Anybody?

 

[Taz]

That sounds like it could be the beginning of laminitis. Is the pulse up in them? I'd try either cutting the grass down short or covering half the hole in her muzzle. I have one who gets sore feet and if I cut her back right away and put her comfy boots on her she gets over it really fast.

 

[Marsha Cassada]

My thoughts are that horses that stand on soft ground all the time will naturally get sore feet if taken suddenly onto concrete. When we have had a lot of rain here, I take mine out on the pavement at least twice a week so they can exercise on a hard surface. You can imagine wearing shoes all the time, then being asked to walk barefoot on gravel.

 

[Abby P]

So, I would say that it is normal for a horse to get soft feet when the ground is wet and then become ouchy on rocks when that wasn't an issue before. However, I would not expect soft feet to cause ouchiness on smooth pavement or smooth concrete (without rocks on top of it). So I would guess it's diet-related footsoreness. Be careful if you mow the grass because shorter grass can sometimes be easier to eat through a muzzle so she might be able to get more. If you can't dry lot then I would consider turning her out only in a fully blocked muzzle or making the hole REALLY small, and keeping her in a bit longer so she can eat hay. It's not ideal but if you have no other way to keep her off the grass then it's the only option. Long term, if she's always had a problem with obesity, this is just a ticking time bomb that only gets more dangerous with age so consider a track system or making a dry lot for her and just keep her off the grass entirely.

I know it's a pain, but having dealt with laminitis in my own horse and trimmed feet for a lot of other people dealing with it, whatever management you need to do to avoid it is worth it. It's at the least very painful for the horse and at the worst it can be deadly. I swore I wouldn't get another horse that had to be kept off grass and then I ended up with a mini!

 

[Cayuse]

Having gone through this, I'm leaning towards it being the start of laminitis. I'd pull her completely off the grass and if possible get some bloodwork done to see where her insulin levels are and to check for Cushing's. If she is older she may have the start of Cushing's and that could make her more prone to laminitis and what grass she was able to tolerate prior may now be too much. My welsh pony foundered badly in Feb and will never be right again despite the best vet and farrier care I could get for him. I agree with Abby P 100%, do what ever you can to avoid any hint of laminitis.

 

[MindySchroder]

Providing she isn't acute exercise is good for them. It sounds like she does a lot of standing around a stall and then standing around to eat.

I made a small track system that is grassless so my ponies could move around all the time when they aren't eating. Then they either go out on grass for a limited time or I put hay filled nets out. But I do weigh and measure their hay as I don't want them to get fat...

 

[Ryan Johnson]

I'm another that has dealt with Laminitis and until you see it first hand, its hard to imagine how debilitating it can be. For what its worth ill give you my two cents worth........

Start be removing your mini off grass all together. This will give you an idea if its laminitis related or not. Muzzles are great and I fully support the use of them , but sometimes the one with the holes in the end still allow the horse to consume too much grass. In my opinion if you have lush grass , turning your mini out all night is far too much.

Not sure what the equivalent is there, but Id consider a founder protection supplement ( Here we have founderguard) I have two minis that are on this, on and off from Sept- May. It does NOT prevent laminitis & founder but helps to prevent the build up of lactic acid from the fermentation process, preventing damage to the gut lining , leading to laminitis.

On top of "Turnout" time what are you feeding ??

As Abby said, Do what EVER YOU CAN to prevent it , its a horrible thing. Having had a couple of minis go thru this, I am now the grass police & proud to admit it