Preventing laminitis

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Hello! It is great that your farrier was observant and said something. Laminitis is a common diagnosis, yet even today we do not know exactly what triggers the acute inflammation in the hoof or hooves. There are, however, a few risk factors, such as feed and workload. 🥕 Feed and grazing: laminitis can be triggered by overfeeding or rich grazing. If a horse has already had laminitis, there is a high risk of it returning even on what we would consider sparse grazing or slightly unsuitable feed. 🥕 If there is a risk of laminitis returning, it is best if your horse can avoid grass paddocks altogether. 🥕 The amount of hay or forage depends entirely on its nutritional content. Do you have an analysis of your forage? It is important that laminitic horses do not get forage with too much sugar in it. The nutritional content varies depending on, among other things, when it was cut and which plant species it contains. A later-cut forage is often best for horses prone to laminitis. Your horse probably does not need any hard feed at all and should manage on a suitable forage alone, but it is important that it gets minerals that match the content of the forage. 🐎 Work and load: laminitis can be triggered by heavy work. It sounds as though your horse is working a sensible amount, but do bear in mind not to ride too much or too fast on hard ground. At the same time, it is very important that the horse is kept in sensible condition and does not become overweight. Symptoms and signs of laminitis: 🐴 The horse standing in the classic laminitic stance, that is, trying to take the weight off the front legs by placing them out in front and tucking the hind legs underneath. 🐴 Heat and/or a pulse in the hooves. 🐴 A raised temperature. For more on a horse's nutritional needs, feeding and ration calculation, have a look at the Swedish Hästsverige website (a Swedish-language resource): https://hastsverige.se/hastens-miljo/foderstatsprogram Hästsverige also has information on laminitis: https://hastsverige.se/sjukdomar-skador/hormoner-fang/vad-innebar-fang 🦄 I hope this was helpful, do ask again if anything is unclear!