My new horse will live out 24/7, will he get laminitis? ?

Question

1. He hasn't had it before and isn't prone but, i wondering if he will get it or if there are anyways i can prevent it ?

There isn't an option of stabling so i need other ideas !

2. I've heard of strip grazing but can someone explain in more detail how to do it and what it does ?

3. Also would he be able to wear a muzzle all day and night or should i put it on for a few hours with gaps in between ?

Thanks i know there are loads of questions in there !

Holly x

Answer 1

Generally horses are less likely to get laminitis if they are kept on grass 24x7 as long as you're not supplementing with grain so that the horse is overweight. It may be that you only have to provide grass and hay and no grain - weight control is important. Generally laminitis is more likely if the horse has not had access to rich grazing and then is allowed to graze too long (along with colic!). Horses with free access rarely indulge too much. If you find that the grass alone is making the horse overweight, then a grazing muzzle is an option.  

Answer 2

My old horse has cushings, and is prone to laminitis, but he is out 24/7 and he's not got laminitis, if he starts to pile weight on, I get him into a starvation paddock for 3 days a week, he'll be fine.

Answer 3

Unfortunately, there's still so much we don't know about laminitis, including all of it's causes. In all likelihood, if your horse doesn't have insulin-resistance or metabolic issues, living outside shouldn't effect him. But, you need to take into account the amount of time he's spent outside before you got him. If he comes from a place where he's pasture-boarded and is used to living on grass, he should be able to live outside right away. But if he comes from a barn where he's in a stall for a significant portion of the day, you will have to wean him onto the grass so the sugars won't shock his digestive system.

Ideally, if the horse isn't used to much turn-out, you should keep him off the grass or muzzle him for as much time as he normally spent in a barn. Every week, increase the amount of time he is able to eat by one hour. When he's up to 8-10 hours, he should be able to handle the grass all day.

Just as a note, laminitis is so hard to predict. I had a jumper that got out for 5 hours a day and had been on the same turn-out situation and feed for 3 years. He foundered for no reason we could determine. Talk to your vet, too, about what precautions you can take, because I can tell you firsthand you don't want to go through the pain of treating laminitis.  

Answer 4

Usually what causes horses to get laminitis from grazing is when it is a big change from what they are used to. When changes are introduced gradually, usually they adapt quite well.

So, is your horse on pasture where he is now? If he is, you probably have nothing to worry about. If he isn't, introduce grazing slowly. Keep him in or have him wear the muzzle for all but about 2 hours per day for the first day, then lengthen the time without the muzzle an hour per day until you are up to 24 hours per day. Once he has adapted, he should be fine.

Laminitis is still a impossible to totally predict, but horses live most naturally when they are out 24/7. It's not the grazing you need to worry about, it's the change.  

Answer 5

Holly - great, direct, well formulated questions

Laminitis is a condition found in horses allowed to way over graze or ones that have more delicate systems than normal or ones that are suddenly allowed to graze on rich grasses that have not become conditioned for it.  

The proper considerations for this are:

- What type of pasture and how much will your horse be on vs what he was previously used to?  If you are pasturing on simple timothy pasture, the level of sugars and proteins in that grass are quite a lot less than something like clover and alfalfa.

- How grazed is the pasture now?  Is it a pasture that's been "over grazed" and has not grown a lot or has a lot of weeds?  If so, he won't be able to eat enough or fast enough to harm him unless he's not accustomed to any pasture.

- Grazing muzzles can be the answer but you need to test them out.  My friend one time purchased these to limit her fat horse's grazing.  He didn't like it well - went running around and around until she took it off.  They aren't expensive so are worth a try.

If your horse has been on pasture at all before with available grazing of any kind, you are starting off well - if not, he should be limited.  Have you any sort of barrier you can move in to limit the amount of grass available to him?  Something like a round pen or some panels - if you can't limit and gradually increase his grazing by taking him to the barn after a certain amount of time, then the next option is limiting his space available.

I think a call to your vet or some research to properly identify signs of laminitis or founder may be in order so you can catch it early.  

The main concern first is comparing what he was used to before in time and pasture quality vs what he has now.

Answer 6

Buffy has hit the nail pretty much on the head.

He'll most likely need to be supplemented with a feed balancer as horses don't get all the nutrients from grass, and from the sounds of the work you'll be doing (in your other q) he's going to need a little help. It depends on many factors, in addition to the ones buffy mentioned; what kind of horse is he? does he have any diseases (ie cushings) that would make him more susceptable? Is the ground hard (some people forget about concussive laminitis)?

If he hasn't had laminitis before and his routine doesn't change dramatically, and he doesn't get overweight, then it's less likely that he will get laminitis. Please don't fall into the trap of thinking that only little fat ponies can get lami, my TB got it whilst on box rest through stress. Thankfully he didn't founder, but the laminae was inflamed and he now has the tell tale rings in his hooves and the sunken coronet. Anyway that's another story!

Laminitis is commonly caused by a "grass overdose" because of the fructans, carbs, protein etc. There is arguement over what exactly causes it; as someone said earlier the vets aren't yet sure of the definitive causes but they do know what contribute to it. These include:

too much lush grass

too much haylage

too much hard feed (striaghts or concentrates)

excessive working on hard ground

poor shoeing

prolonged turnout/haylage after a period on little turnout/haylage

The "juiciest" part of the grass is the bottom, the freshly grown bit. So your horse is better off in a field of long grass as the grass at the top - the bit he will eat - actually doesn't have a lot of fructans etc. in. This is where grazing muzzles are helpful. Personally I find the GreenGuard muzzles to be helpful, where muzzles are required.

Some people put horses with/prone to lami on paddocks with very short grass. This is counter productive for the reason I mentioned earlier about the richest part of the grass. True starvation paddocks which are bare, are ideal for the chronic lami sufferer, provided turnout is advisable (some must be box rested to help prevent founder occuring/worsening).

Grazing a laminitis suffering/prone horse with sheep is a bad idea. Sheep eat grass right down to the ground, leaving only the newest, sweetest grass for the horse to eat.

Turn a laminitic out at night, the sugars are less in the grass and so the pony can graze for longer, taking in less sugar.

Concussive laminitis is caused by excessive work on hard ground. The concussive forces cause the sensetive laminae to inflame, and this can (and very often does) lead to founder.

"Founder" is rotation or sinking of the pedal bone. There are operations to shave parts of the bone, realign ligaments etc. to try and help a horse who has foundered. Sometimes it is so bad that the pedal bone protrudes through the sole of the foot (not nice to see). In these instances the prognosis is very poor. Any horse prone to or suffering from lamitinis requires careful management, and any horse with any chance of getting laminitis (so basically, any horse at all!) should be managed accordingly.

Speak to your vet, they will be able to help you as they know your individual circumstances and they know your horse.

Strip grazing is where you divide a paddock up into smaller "strips" or patches. The horses are then rotated round the strips to give grass chance to recover. It can also be used to limit grazing. For example: divide an 8 acre field into four strips (each of 2 acres). Then you have 2 acres for spring, 2 for summer, 2 for autumn and 2 for winter. Some people use this method if they haven't much grazing. :-)

Hope I helped!

Answer 7

Most horses only get laminitis (founder) when they overeat grain.  I've only known a couple horses who would founder on early growth grass pasture, but if you horse isn't already prone to it, I wouldn't worry.   If you are still worried about it, and your horse doesn't already live in the pasture all day every day, then introduce him to it one or two hours at a time until he can go all day out in the pasture.

Answer 8

A horse must be trained to wear a grazing muzzle.  By the time you get him trained to it, he probably won't need it anymore.  I don't know where you live, but here it is late summer, and the grass in pastures is pretty safe.  If the horse hasn't been out on grass at all, then it's best to start with 2 hours, then 4 hours, then 6 hours, etc. to get him used to it.  Night pasture is high in sugars this time of year and is more likely to cause laminitis.  Keeping the horse in at night at first would be best, with gradual exposure to the high sugar grasses.  Or, you could muzzle him at night.  Again though, it takes training as he adapts to it.  A muzzle really shouldn't be on for more than a few hours at a time.

PS.....if you decide to try a grazing muzzle, the only one that is any good is the Best Friends brand.  All others are inferior and don't work properly.

Answer 9

most likely he will not get laminitis...

has he lived outside before?

if you think about it  horses in the wild dont get laminitis cause they know when to stop eating