laminitis!!

We had a Welsh mountain pony that was prone to laminitis, nigglynellie. We did the same as you, kept him in the yard, limited his feed etc.

I think the only thing you can do to prevent it happening in the future is to get him off grass early in the spring or move him to poor grazing land. We also used to put up temporary fencing in our paddock to divide it into smaller areas but they are very good at escaping if they can see lush grass the other side of the fence. Tethering where we could keep an eye on him also worked.

A friend was lucky enough to have a shallow stream at the bottom of her garden and her vet recommended standing her daughter's pony in it every day to cool the feet.

I think once laminitis has occurred you are always going to have to live with the problem and try and avoid it.

Can't give any advice but I do remember several ponies having laminitis when we had our pony. With all the rain we've had I wonder if the grass is extremely rich at the moment? Is he ok being stabled? Our Welsh Cob used to hate it [whereas the thoroughbreds on the field used to be happy being stabled all day and every day]. I know someone in Northumberland who has Exmoors and I'm always surprised that they graze on very long grass as I've always thought the native breeds are more used to the sparse vegetation of the moors that they originated from; to my knowledge she's never had a problem and I don't know her well enough to contact her. You get a lot of ponies at this time of year with buckets on their heads so I'm sure with a lot of ponies laminitis is an ongoing condition that is controllable. Poor Merlin; it must be like a human having gout. What does the vet say? Keep me updated and give him a hug from me; I'll try to think of anyone I can ask.

One of our ponies had this condition nn. He was never allowed near spring grass and we had a paddock for him which let me monitor his feed. We were also lucky to have a loch at the bottom of our field which he would stand in for a while each day. We had a very good blacksmith who kept his hooves in check too. All of this helped but it was never cured.

I seem to remember adding bicarb to the (small) feed, but it might be an old wives tale

Just googled it! There is quite a bit of stuff about it.

Apparently it helps to neutralise the acid in the grass, which is often part of the cause.

Prevention is better than cure. We had horses and ponies for years, never had it as we were 'laminitis aware'.

Ponies that are 'good doers' are more prone to it. It's caused by too much rich food. Spring grass is especially dangerous. And it's very, very painful as the hoof is an enclosed 'box' so the swelling has nowhere to go.

Once they've had it once they will get it again unless you are very watchful. No more freedom to eat as much grass as he wants. If you can condone off an area of his field and keep it pretty bare then that's the answer to getting him outside with little to eat.

But beware weeds that colonise bare ground, such as ragwort, which can be fatal to horses. Keep weeding.

condone cordon

if you google it, there are actually whole forums that seem to be dedicated to it, will have another go later and post a link, but to be honest you may be better off having a look yourself, as there does seem to be a lot of information out there.

I do hope you can get a good result, fingers crossed for you.

I was laminitis aware too Aka but the pony I am talking about belonged to a friend whose daughter had outgrown him and he had laminitis.She didn't want to sell him and our DDs had known him all their lives and adored him so, as we had the space, I brought him to ours. One of her 'instructions' for him was, he likes hot orange juice at bedtime and lots of,polo mints and sugar lumps!! This stopped and I took care of him.

I also grew up with horses and none of my own suffered from laminitis but I think my friend just didn't realise the dangers of too many treats and tit bits until it was too late.

Good point about the ragwort too.

Thank you all for your replies, and apologies for not getting back before. I've had to change my e mail address as a hacker has been plaguing me for the past two or three weeks, and you wouldn't believe the hassle! Well, I expect you would!! particularly doing it on my Kindle!!!
Merlin is fine with being stabled, at least for the time being. He is such a lovely good tempered, laid back boy, and I just can't believe that this has happened as his paddock is only about 1/4 acre and very sparse. I can only suppose that as someone said the grass is particularly sugary this year owing to the warm wettish spring, and being out 24/7 was just too much for him. Luckily we have got a yard of sorts outside his stable, which at the moment is grassy(!!) and full of garden grot. We shall clear this, fence it, and he can go there, and any grazing will have to be done with a muzzle on. He seems a lot better today, standing more comfortably, eating well, pooing properly, and the crest on his neck is softer and less obvious. We are hopeful that he will recover, but of course he will have to be monitored closely. Again many thanks for all your comments, all very helpful.

Have just had a reply to say grass is very rich and high in sugar at the moment. Waiting for more info from one of the forum ladies who's a vet.

Thanks again for the help and information, I knew I should ask on here!!!
Merlin does seem a lot better tonight, eating (!!) well, and standing a lot more normally. We are talking to the vet tomorrow, as we need to sort out how much salt he should be getting, and what sort! he has been licking his stable wall today, and we think it is probably salt that he is after. We are just crossing our fingers that not too much damage has been done to his hooves - how could we have been SO stupid to compromise his health like this, only time will tell what the future holds for our poor boy.

nellie; if horses and ponies can get something wrong with them they'll do so, their bodies and digestive systems being so complicated. Don't be hard on yourself .

Thanks Tegan. I just feel that we should have made it our business to check the fact that the sugar content in grass was higher this year, we feel that we have been so busy, (family ups and downs) gardening, this and that,(no excuse) that Merlin, although not neglected, was put out earlier, checked twice a day, esp his water, and went very slightly onto the back burner. But we are where we are, and it won't happen again!!

Fact; pets make us guilty. Twice a day is once a day more than we used to check ours. They only know the sugar content is high because they're probably getting more cases of laminitis. As for ragwort; I thought there was a government campaign to get rid of it a few years back. Awful stuff. I feel sorry for horses and ponies that get sweet itch.

I had a Shetland pony as companion to my horse, and every year he got laminitis. I had to keep him in every May for the whole month, and after that, let him out but only for a short while, lengthening it a bit eac day until the grass stopped looking lush. Also, I had a tractor mower, and had to cut the grass regularly. It made it easier to collect the manure and keep it clean though. Two hours a week I spent on that blasted mower because of that pony... Anyway, being in Kent and on a south-facing slope, the grass was usually burnt by the end of June/mid July after which it wasn't a problem.

Merlin ought to have a salt lick in his stable niggly

Yes Aka I think he does, but we want to check with the vet first to make absolutely sure we're doing the right thing, and are waiting for her to ring back!!!! Today Merlin seems pretty good and turning on his front feet a lot better so we have left off his sedative and he is just on Bute. Have to see how he gets on.