Laminitis – the word alone is enough to make horse owners shudder! This painful condition is well known in the equine community, yet you can be left with many more questions than answers if you have never dealt with laminitis in a horse before.
The good news is that we’re here to help! From symptoms to treatment and prevention, we’ve got the tips you need to rein this condition in and help keep your horse healthy and comfortable.
Ready? Let’s quit foaling around and get to it!
Before we saddle up and talk more about the treatment and management of this condition, you may be wondering – what exactly is laminitis in a horse?
As a common, extremely painful, and frequently recurrent condition, laminitis in horses also significantly affects ponies and donkeys. In fact, more than 7% of equine deaths occur due to laminitis, so any horse owner should take this condition seriously. Even so, the severity of laminitis does range from more common mild, manageable cases of foot tenderness to chronic founder, which is where those more serious situations can arise.
As a result of laminitis, the laminae, which form a junction between the hoof walls and the foot, including the pedal bone, become inflamed. As a result of the laminar destabilisation, the pedal bone may rotate or sink (founder) within the hoof capsule.
The diagram below shows what a healthy hoof looks like versus one that is affected by horse laminitis.
Generally, there are three causes of laminitis in horses:
However, laminitis is a complex disease, and recent research constantly changes our understanding of its causes, so if you're worried about a change in your horse's behavior or conformation, don't be afraid to contact your vet.
It’s important to know the signs and symptoms of horse laminitis, as the earlier you can spot them, the better your horse’s chances of recovery.
Laminitis horse symptoms can include:
The stance of a horse with laminitis is fairly recognizable to horse owners:
The characteristic of leaning back onto their hooves as pictured above sometimes presents as a reluctance to move forward first, but if you take a moment to observe them while standing still, it should be fairly obvious that their conformation is off.
If you suspect the horse has got this kind of stance going on, or are uncertain about changes to their regular posture, check in with your veterinarian. They will be able to provide your horse with other tests and check into their vitals to see if anything is wrong.
Your horse deserves the best in their feed, and their diet is even more important to pay close attention to for laminitis horses.
Here are some basic guidelines for feeding a horse with laminitis to help avoid exacerbating their condition:
Aside from what you’re feeding your horse, it’s also important to consider how you’re feeding them. Simple things like when, how much, how often, and where your horse eats can all impact laminitis horse symptoms.
Below, we have a few additional tips for laminitis horse feeding to help reduce their discomfort and symptoms:
Laminitis is a painful disease. The inflammation in your horse’s hooves can cause lameness and interfere with their ability to walk, and it only makes sense you want to handle this condition ASAP!
Thankfully, modern veterinary medicine has provided us with plenty of options for managing this condition with relative ease, and all options can help make your horse more comfortable.
Because of laminitis, the sensitive laminae that line the sole of the horse's foot weaken and become inflamed. In some cases, this tissue can tear, resulting in the rotation or dropping of the pedal bone. It can lead to painful walking and even just standing for your horse.
Often, the solution for reducing the pain and helping your horse's hoof get the support it needs is adding soft padding to their stall and removing their shoes, such as a thick bed of shavings. And while this can be helpful for your horse's recovery, it is not very useful when you want to get them out for exercise and doesn't do anything to help aid in circulation or stabilize the hoof.
A better choice is to utilize a set of horse boots for laminitis. These specialized horse "shoes" are basically padded compression socks for equines! It allows them to stabilize their hooves, while the compression helps to increase circulation and aids healing. Traditional shoes should be removed during this time to relieve pressure on the laminar attachments.
Horse laminitis boots should only be used alongside other veterinary care as a supplement and aren’t going to cure your horse’s laminitis. They simply provide comfort and protection for their sensitive hooves during their recovery.
If you're hoping to get help from a laminitis supplement for horses, it's important to know that supplements won't cure laminitis or make a lame horse sound – only prescription drugs and medicines can do that. Call your veterinarian immediately if your horse shows signs of laminitis because it is a medical emergency.
There are some ingredients that can be helpful for treating symptoms of laminitis in horses:
Additionally, feeding your laminitis horse a joint supplement can help strengthen their joints and reduce inflammation caused by laminitis. And while some experts have said glucosamine, a common ingredient in horse joint supplements, may not be good for laminitis horses, that isn’t necessarily true.
Only a small amount of glucosamine is converted to sugars! According to some studies, 11g of glucosamine in a 500kg horse would only increase the blood glucose level by 1%, which is barely noticeable. Therefore, oral administration of large doses of glucosamine to horses has no negative impact on glucose metabolism and therefore no negative impact on laminitis.
A significant reduction in side effects was observed with glucosamine compared to non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs). Consequently, feeding horse joint supplements to laminitis horses is safe and effective, and these supplements can significantly impact their everyday life.
Equine joint supplements are a great complement to a course of laminitis treatment. They help make strong joints and soft tissues and also reduce inflammation and pain associated with joint conditions. Why is this so important? Unfortunately, laminitis comes along with other conditions like PPID and EMS. These conditions can make your horse weak and susceptible to illness and infection, so building their strength is important!
Ingredients often found in horse supplements like those outlined in the table below can be helpful for reducing laminitis horse inflammation and pain.
|
Equine Joint Health Ingredient |
Benefit |
|
MSM |
Reduces pain and inflammation in the body, including joints. |
|
Glucosamine |
Treats joint inflammation, breakdown, and loss of cartilage. |
|
Hyaluronic Acid |
Improves joint fluid viscosity and lubricates joints |
|
Chondroitin |
Plays an important role in preventing cartilage breakdown and stimulating cartilage repair. |
You want the best of the best for your horse! Whether they are performance horses or leisure horses, a supplement can help reduce symptoms of laminitis and help get your horse back under the saddle or help prevent it from happening in the first place.
Just remember that laminitis is a serious condition and needs the supervision and management of a veterinarian, and often a multi-faceted approach to healing is the best way to treat this condition.
Alrighty, with that out of the way, let’s get to our top picks for horse supplements for laminitis!
For horses who suffer from laminitis-related metabolism problems and have sensitive hooves, this offering from Cavalor is a versatile option that will suit their needs.
It supports a horse’s delicate intestinal flora and brings hormonal and metabolic processes back into balance, as well as helping to support blood circulation and promote blood flow in the hoof. The liquid format is easy to serve and makes feeding a breeze.
Ready to be “laminaze-d”? This supplement is designed to support the diets of equines who are on a specialized diet to cope with laminitis. It contains mint, ginger, and magnesium oxide to provide gut support and maintain hoof health. It offers your horse gut balancing protection, especially during spring and autumn periods when grass is particularly lush.
The supplement is available in a powder format, so it’s easy to serve and incorporate into daily feeding.
For laminitis horses especially, a healthy balance of quality feeds is key. And that balance should extend to the contents of your horse supplement. Too much extra junk in an equine joint supplement is both a waste of money and time for you and your horse.
That's why we recommend TRI-ACTA’s family of equine supplements to help your laminitis horse recover from a flare-up and protect them from other joint injuries and conditions such as arthritis.
Both regular strength TRI-ACTA and extra strength TRI-ACTA H.A. contain 100% active ingredients, including two types of glucosamine to support the health of your horse’s joints. Glucosamine hydrochloride is readily absorbed, meaning that your laminitis horse can more easily process glucosamine in this form. Glucosamine sulfate promotes collagen production, which is incredibly important for joint health.
Besides containing active ingredients, TRI-ACTA is also made of exclusively pharmaceutical grade components and is a Health Canada-approved Veterinary Health Product, so you can trust your horse is getting exactly what they need and nothing they don't!
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With so much information out there about laminitis horses’ care and treatment, as well as what is safe to do with them while they are experiencing this condition, we wanted to break down a few of the most common questions we hear about laminitis.
Read on to get the answers you need to better prepare for laminitis horse care.
The most common ways a horse can get laminitis are:
Riding a horse with laminitis is an extremely bad idea. It can cause further damage to the hoof, increase inflammation, and even worsen the situation. In some cases, the horse's weight on its feet will aggravate the condition and cause them to founder (when one or more of the tendons in a horse's foot actually separate).
If you suspect that your horse has laminitis, don't ride him until after he's been examined by a veterinarian who knows how to treat this condition (or at least talk with him about what he may be able to do).
Once they've been diagnosed by an expert and treated appropriately, horses with laminitis are often able to return safely under saddle within 6 months or less. However, every case is unique so talk through options with both your vet and farrier before making decisions in order to not just reduce pain but also ensure long-term health outcomes for all parties involved in the treatment plan development process.
Walking a horse with laminitis depends on the horse's condition. A sedentary horse with mild laminitis may benefit from light exercise, but it's important never to force your horse to go for a walk. If you suspect your laminitic horse is experiencing pain, don't try to get them onto their feet or encourage them off the ground – this action could make things worse!
Your vet can give you further advice if they suspect walking might harm your particular case of laminitis.
As with any type of hoof disease, deciding whether or not to shoe a horse with laminitis is based on both the severity of the condition and the animal's individual needs. It is possible to successfully help treat most laminitic horses with therapeutic shoeing, which involves your farrier carefully assessing the damage and reading the horse's specific needs.
If you suspect your horse has laminitis, you may wonder what to give a horse for inflammation. In horses with laminitis, NSAIDs are the most commonly used analgesics. The most commonly prescribed analgesic for laminitis is phenylbutazone (“bute”), which is the most effective drug for treating orthopedic pain in horses.
Other drugs for the treatment of laminitis in horses include:
Laminitis can be a very serious and life-threatening condition in horses. However, the right treatment coupled with proper management can greatly decrease the risks associated with the condition.
And one tool you can add to your prevention and care tool kit? A joint supplement like TRI-ACTA for equines.
With powerful anti-inflammatory ingredients to help reduce swelling and pain associated with joint conditions and the inclusion of chondroitin and glucosamine for horses to strengthen and improve joint health, it's the perfect supplement for any horse, laminitis or not.
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Find out where to buy TRI-ACTA, and contact us if you'd like to know more about how TRI-ACTA can help make life better for any horse in your stable.