Posted: 4th April 2022 | Back to news feed
Although spring signals the start of the competition season and more daylight hours for riding, there is always the worry about horses and ponies getting laminitis.
Laminitis is a disorder that is associated with overfeeding, too much sugar and starch or water-soluble carbohydrates in the diet, which causes inflammation of the laminae.
How can you prevent a horse getting laminitis?
Regular and continuous exercise helps circulation and keeps the lamellar oxygenated and flushes away pro-inflammatory factors and toxins.
Equally important is weight control; an overweight horse puts extra stress on the hoof. Checking your horses or ponies condition score is key and maintaining a healthy, high fibre, balanced diet.
Also consider paddock management. Grass grows all year round, but spring and autumn time are the periods where it grows the fastest. These periods are when the grass has higher levels of sugars. Even the time of day, mid-morning is the optimum time for grass to grow.
Nutrition Tips for Horses with Laminitis
Because horse and ponies are hind-gut fermenters, fibre should form the base of their feed. Fibre keeps the digestion system healthy and functioning properly.
High fibre feeds that utilise ingredients like beet pulp, oat fibre and alfalfa will help the microflora to be maintained in the hind gut and provide a functioning barrier to these toxins.
Look for a feed that is low in sugar and starch. High starch diets such as cereals and mixes that are most likely to cause unwanted weight gain.
Speedi-Beet and Fibre-Beet are super fibre beet pulp feeds that are high in fibre and low in sugar and starch. Ideal fibre based feeds for horses and ponies prone to laminitis as part of a balanced diet.
Small feeds, little and often is good practice alongside forage. Again speak to a nutritionist on how much you should feed. It is important to keep the hindgut moving so we don’t want to limit the forage to little.
Remember when making any changes to the horses or ponies diet, do them slowly allowing the digestive system to get used to the change – too quick of a change could result in colic.
Consult your vet for veterinary advice and contact the British Horse Feeds team for feed advice.
For further information visit www.britishhorsefeeds.com or contact a member of the team on 01765 680300.
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