Preventing laminitis
Aside from restricting grazing, other anti-laminitis measures include:
- Avoiding sugar spikes, feed concentrates in small meals and make sure bellies are full of roughage before turnout – grass has a much faster rate of passage through an empty gut, and a sudden influx can upset the bacteria of the hindgut. Hungry horses also consume grass at a considerably faster rate!
- Providing a consistent habitat for gut flora, they don’t like surprises and if they die in large quantities it can cause laminitis – this happens when a feed is abruptly added or removed. Make changes gradually – for sensitive individuals this means gradually introducing different batches of hay and different fields.
- Providing supplementary magnesium.
- Increasing exercise, this increases insulin-sensitivity and reduces hormone-releasing fat deposits.
- Maintaining good gut health, with plenty of roughage, dentist checks, and maintaining a low worm burden.
