In order to participate in the forums and post comments, you need to be registered on Horse Hero. Please make sure you are Registered and Login to get involved!
|
|
|
Horse Hero Guru
30 Mar 2010 20:01
|
I am aware of at least two horses that have gone down with laminitis in the last week. There may not be much grass yet, but it is growing fast and so is high in sugar.
Please make sure that your horse or pony does not succumb to this painful and sometimes fatal condition. Keep their weight down and make sure that they do not get too much grass if they are prone to laminitis.
If you find that your horse seems a bit footy or if his feet are hot or if he just seems a bit stiff and you cannot think why, it is quite likely to be laminitis, so call your vet. Prompt treatment means that the problem can be treated with no longterm problems other than the fact that he will be probne to getting the problem for the rest of his life. Never leave it and hope it will go away on its own.
It is easiest to check by monitoring your horse’s digital pulse on each leg daily. You should be able to find this by feeling where the arteries run on each side of the fetlock joint just in front of the bulb of the joint. In a healthy horse the pulse should be slight and fairly difficult to feel and if you can feel it easily then you have a problem. It is not the rate at which it is pulsing it is the strength of the pulse that you need to detect. In some horses with laminitis there still is not a very strong pulse, but it will be different to normal.
|
|
|
|