Laminitis
With the change of season and the change in weather ahead, I would like to touch on the subject of laminitis. Most people are careful of the new spring grass and the high sugars it can produce, but there is also a situation in the fall that can send a horse into a laminitic attack or just play havoc with it’s metabolism.
What is laminitis? It is the inflammation of the laminae. You may recall, from past discussions, that the laminae are the “ little fingers” that bond the hoof wall to the inner structures of the hoof. When the laminae grow down and reach ground level, that is where you see the white line. It is the area between the sole and the hoof wall. It’s appearance would remind you of little feathers, usually yellow in color. It is a Veterinarians place to diagnose laminitis. I would just like to put it in simple terms and help you to understand some of the factors that put a horse at risk.
When the bond between the hoof wall and the coffin bone has been weakened, the result is separation. This can be seen on a hoof in the form of flaring of the hoof wall and/or a stretched white line. Ripples or protruding growth lines also indicate metabolic upset. Mechanical forces such as the hoof wall bearing all the weight alone ( over grown wall or shoes) can make it difficult to grow out a separation, but generally the bond must be weakened by dietary upset.
Horses were designed to move constantly, grazing here and there on natural low sugar, high fiber diets. Their stomachs can not hold large amounts at one time and long periods with no intake are damaging to the stomach lining. Feeding high calorie meals two times a day is convenient for owners, but hard on the horses metabolism. Pastures can also contain high amounts of sugar, that some horses can not process. Our “easy keepers” seem to be more susceptible to problems.
Although the exact mechanics are still being researched, there is an undeniable link between high sugar diets and the weakening of the laminae bond. A horse has usually been struggling with this for years before an all out laminitic attack or founder occurs.
In the west we have a situation in the fall that can create very high sugars in our pastures. In general, when the sun rises each day the sugar in a plant begin to increase. By late afternoon it is at it’s peak. When the sun goes down it begins to drop off and is at it’s lowest level in the early morning hours. Once temperatures go below freezing at night, the sugar level is stopped from dropping off. The sun comes up the next day and the level rises from the already elevated level to an even higher level. Get another freeze at night and the same thing happens. A week of sunny days and freezing nights and you will see the incidence of laminitis and founder go way up. Keep this in mind when you are grazing your horses.
Preventing laminitis is far easier than recovering from it. Observe your horses carefully for signs that they may be sensitive to high sugar. Hard to keep weight off? Fat pads around the base of the tail and behind the shoulders? Cresty? Ripples and flaring in the hooves? A steady diet of grass hay and well thought out grazing is the best plan for most horses. Exercise is a key to a healthy metabolism. For more information on the factors affecting sugar levels in pasture and hay, go to Katy Watt’s website: http://www.safergrass.org/. She can tell you how to test your hay and pastures.