All horses have a standing pool of hydrochloric acid sitting in the lower stomach. The purpose of this pool of stomach acid is to assist in digestion as horses are foragers and therefore eat continuously for most of their waking hours. When they do not eat, this acid is not absorbed. For horses with a metabolic syndrome, whether laminitis or Cushing’s, who already have acidic intestines, this situation can become critical.
There is a pathological condition called metabolic acidosis that results from the accumulation of acid or the depletion of the alkaline reserve.. By dramatically reducing the horse’s diet to a point nearing starvation, the horse’s body starts metabolizing their own fat stores very rapidly, breaking them down to fatty acids. This creates a highly acidic environment resulting in something referred to as metabolic acidosis.
Large quantities of ‘ketone bodies’ (acidic substances that are produced by fatty acid and carbohydrate metabolism in the liver) collect in the urine and tissues of the body, depleting the bicarbonate reserves that are to there keep the pH alkaline. Metabolic acidosis occurs in horses from both ‘starvation’ and a progressively ‘uncontrolled’ metabolic disease.
Insufficient forage is also psychologially very disturbing for a horse - the need to chew and root around for food is an essential behaviour and the absense of any food can lead to emotional distress and abnormal behaviour.
Ideal diet for a laminitic pony or horse
Please refer to the dietary information on this website for more information.
I feed my laminitic ponies the folowing diet.
Unmollassed Alfalfa - but take care, some horses are sensitive to Alfalfa, particularly the flash dried forms. The very sensitive one gets no Alfalfa.
Unmollassed Beet Pulp - Speedibeet or Pura Beet (rinsed after soaking and drained)
Seaweed meal
Cooked Linseed meal
Brewers yeast
Magnesium oxide
Herbs and spices as you need
Good quality, clean hay - soaked if required.
Actually I feed my other non laminitic horse the same diet, but he has access to grass. They all have plenty of energy and regularly hack out or drive for many hours at a time at all paces. I have never felt the need to add grains for energy levels.
These feeds should be limited or best excluded for the laminitic:
Grains or grain derivatives should be excluded completely - including feed balancers which contain grains
Apples and carrots should be very limited to perhaps once a week
Grass pellets
Freeze dried grasses
Sugar based sweets (such as pepermints)
If you feel the need to give a treat, and we all know that treats are very important for both the horse and the owner, then consider something like PuraMint pellets from SimpleSystems which are just pure mint leaf.
Remember too that a carrot can be spread out over many treats - just cut it into thin slices! Getting the treat is motivating and pleasant for ponies - the size of the treat is not important - after all how many ponies demand another carrot just after devouring a huge one about the size of their head!
Grass
If you absolutely must turn a laminitic pony out onto grass then the following should be remembered:
Old grasses, rough, unfertilised, and with a variety of species may be tollerated
Modern cattle fattening rye grass based pasture is very unsuitable
Any pasture that has been fertilised in any way is unsuitable
Do not turn laminitics out on to frosted grass
Don't turn a laminitic onto grass that has been frosted overnight on a bright and sunny morning!
Do not turn laminitics onto very stressed or bare paddocks - the grass may contain high levels of fructans and will provide insufficient fibre
Grass is safest at night when sugar levels are in decline. The later in the evening the better.
Strip grazing may be a safe alternative on old pasture.
Pick up all droppings in limited grazing
Consider using a grazing muzzle to limit intake
However the harsh reality is that there is probably no such thing as "safe grass" for a laminitic pony - and the tough decision may need to be taken that you will have to do your best to manage the pony in a grass free environment.
Livery Yards
No equine professional should underestimate the difficulty of managing a laminitic horse or pony in the livery yard environment. For those of us who do not own our own ground, the laminitis diagnosis can mean the onset of years of difficulty in finding environments that are just right for our animals. Vets and hoofcare professionals need to extend understanding and practical advice to people in the livery situation - the approach to treatment and management of the laminitic must be adapted to accommodate the limitations and restrictions of the livery yard.
I am fortunate in that I livery with a good friend of mine, beef cattle farmer Roddy Mackintosh, who has provided an area that I can do with as I wish, and cover with pea gravel and so on.
It is a great pity that many livery yard owners and managers in the UK do not recognise the needs of laminitic horses and ponies, and do not arrange for grass free turnout areas to be provided. I've held conversations with certain yard owners and managers who have told me that I am talking absolute nonsense when I say that chronic laminitics in the UK should not be allowed access to grass - especially overgrazed and stressed starvation paddock grasses!
There is surely an emerging market for more enlightened livery yards who can cater for the growing numbers of horse owners who want to keep their horses in a grass free, hoof friendly environment, or simply need somewhere to help a laminitic horse or pony recover and manage them longer term. It's my opinion that a yard with more than 10 horses should provide two grass free turnout areas or one area that can be gated/split. When not used for horses that need to be in a grass free environment, these can be used for turnout in extremely wet or adverse weather to prevent the fields being torn up.