Laminitis

Diet is key when it comes to addressing laminitis and founder in horses. The number one priority is to ensure that the diet is low in simple sugars and starch. When testing forage, Ethanol Soluble Carbohydrates (ESC) is the measure of simple sugars. It's the ESC and starch that need to be considered when assessing...

It is very tempting to want to give your laminitic horse pain relief medication such as the non-steroidal anti-inflammatory phenylbutazone (bute). However, these medications must be used with caution and preferably only in the first 3-5 days. 

Unfortunately, one of the biggest risk factors for laminitis and founder in horses is domestication. In the wild, horses will often cover very long distances looking for food and water and their digestive systems have evolved to be very efficient in obtaining energy and nutrients from sparse low-calorie fodder.

Not all the signs of Laminitis are obvious! Your horse doesn’t have to be standing ‘Camped under’ in the classic Founder Stance or have ‘Aladdin’ slipper feet! Some of the signs can be subtle and easily confused with other common problems.

It can be confusing for people to actually visualise what is happening inside the hooves of their laminitic horse, so we’ve drawn some pictures for you! But first, before we go into what’s ‘abnormal’ we need to have an understanding of what’s ‘normal’