What you need to know about laminitis in horses to be successful in treatment

When I work with laminintis horses I always focus on educating the owner. In my experience an owner who is willing to learn more about laminitis in horses is much better able to meet the needs of these individuals.

First thing you need to pay attention to is what your horse eats. So many cases of laminitis in horses can be avoided by feeding less rich food. That being said the old style treatment of starving a horse with water and poor quality hay is not right either.

Some horses can handle diets that are higher in carbohydrates but most horses do not need or do well with much concentrated feed. Horses are designed to eat high fiber diets and this is what they do best on. Many cases of laminitis in horses can be prevented by keeping them on high fiber diets that are balanced for protein, vitamins and minerals.

If you have a laminitis horse that was on a balanced, low carb diet then you probably have a horse with metabolic issues. In this case you will need to study the types of metabolic syndromes. Cushings and insulin resistance are the main two that lead to laminitis in horses. It is critical that you understand the basic symptoms and treatments for these conditions because you will not likely be successful in treating these laminitis horses without an understanding of what they are dealing with. Diet and proper hoof care are critical in both conditions but diet is more essential in the insulin resistant horses and medication is needed for the laminitis horses with cushings. Lab testing will help you differentiate. I give information on how to do this testing and detailed nutritional and trimming suggestions in my laminitis ebook

Taking the time to study this information and understand the needs of your laminitis horse will go a long way in helping have a successful treatment outcome. Madalyn

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