Laminitis Best And Worst Times For Grazing

Laminitis is one of the most prevalent and devastating health issues among horses.

Laminitis best and worst times for grazing. Laminitis is an extremely painful condition affecting 1 in 10 horses ponies every year 1 and can cause permanent damage to the hooves. The question of when s the best time to graze a laminitis prone horse is a tricky one to answer as in practice water soluble carbohydrate levels are very difficult to predict. There are several steps owners can take to avoid pasture associated laminitis in the spring. Restrict pasture intake during spring or anytime the pasture suddenly greens up.

Laminitis the smartphone app was created to provide horse owners with a practical tool to help monitor weather conditions in a way that can be used to warn when grazing on grass poses an increased risk to horses prone to laminitis. If they must be on the pasture then allow them on it only with muzzles that prevent or severely restrict grass intake. Avoid grazing lush pastures especially between late morning and late afternoon hours since plant sugars are the highest during these times. If you do graze do it between 3 a m.

Laminitis can affect any horse pony donkey or their hybrid at any time of the year and not just in spring there is no safe season. Cold blooded ponies under 149 centimeters e g shetland fell welsh dartmoor icelandic horses norwegian fjords or a mix of these were 18 times more likely to develop laminitis than warm. Other horses develop chronic laminitis as a result of metabolic issues such as insulin resistance metabolic syndrome and obesity. Some horses develop laminitis due to a sudden shift in diet such as gorging on grain or grazing lush spring grass and this is considered acute laminitis.

Carefully select pasture plants. Susceptible horses should have limited grazing or no grazing. Generally the following advice is given regarding turnout turn out early morning removing from pasture by mid morning. Make all dietary changes slowly.

High risk groups should be kept off pastures until the period of rapid growth has stopped. High amounts of sugars in grasses can bring about laminitis in horses susceptible to the disease. Safest grazing times made easier the best time to graze horses is early in the morning. The best way to deal with laminitis is preventing the causes under your control.

If your horses are prone to laminitis or you just want to keep you gravel crunching barefoot horses striding out then you really need to know the safest times to allow grazing especially in the spring or autumn when there are growth flushes.