Avoiding Laminitis In Pasture

However sugar glucose and fructan content can fluctuate throughout the day and over several days.

Avoiding laminitis in pasture.

If you are concerned about their weight or their risk of laminitis then you should also try to avoid grazing them at times when environmental conditions indicate that wsc levels could be elevated or when there is lots of grass available that will inevitably increase their intake. Therefore we must carefully manage pasture turnout and. Avoid grazing lush pastures especially between late morning and late afternoon hours since plant sugars are the highest during these times. Research has shown that pasture induced laminitis occurs at times of rapid grass growth.

Use grazing muzzles or turn out horses on dry lots. Make all dietary changes slowly. Limit pasture intake particularly when sugar content is expected to be high and prevent manage insulin resistance. The accumulation of certain carbohydrates including fructans starches and sugars non structural carbohydrates nsc in pasture forage during the spring early summer and fall particularly after rainfall precipitate this laminitis.

Restrict pasture intake during spring or anytime the pasture suddenly greens up. If you have a sensitive horse you must manage pastures carefully. So prevention of laminitis is two fold. Managing pastures seek veterinarian approval before grazing horses prone to or with previous episodes of laminitis.

You can effectively treat or better yet prevent it but only if you understand the mechanism. Laminitis grazing management can help you to do this. First what it s not there is zero evidence to support the idea that naturally occurring spring pasture laminitis is related to fructan and hind gut. As your horse pastures spring back to life it may be wise to consider limiting your horse s pasture grazing time.

Avoid grazing for all horses at risk of laminitis. Make dietary changes slowly. Theoretically at least every horse is at risk of developing laminitis if he gorges himself on enough young pasture grass in a short enough period of time to result in severe gut upset. In a 2016 study menzies gow et al followed 446 animals on pasture over a period of three years.

There was no increase of fructan in the pasture when laminitis cases appeared nor no indication of diarrhea or hindgut upset. They found both prior laminitis and development of acute laminitis correlated well with indicators of insulin resistance. Spring is the peak time for grass associated laminitis in most parts of the world. There are several steps owners can take to avoid pasture associated laminitis in the spring.

There are several steps owners can take to avoid pasture associated laminitis in the spring. The lower part of a plant may contain the highest amount of sugar. The only way to truly know the sugar content of your pasture is to have it tested. The best way to deal with laminitis is preventing the causes under your control.