Laminitis warning

Quick answer:  your hay is most likely too high in sugar, you will need to get it tested.

If any forage, including hay, chaff, balancers, grass - is too high in sugar and starch, your horse will not lose weight.  The recommended level of sugar and starch is 7% of body weight for laminitics up to 10% for normal horses.  This can be challenging.  They want to eat a lot more than that and you need ways to restrict them even when you know your forage is within those limits.

Your choices end up being: 

  1. Just give them that weighted amount - that can be hard on both of you.
  2. Restrict the grazing time, they live partly on a dry lot or not so good - stabled.
  3. Strip graze but likely still have to remove them from grass or hay for part of the day
  4. If you are lucky, you can create a grassless track however small, it is better than being stabled for long persiods.
  5. Find a grazing muzzle that they will tolerate and use it on turnout. NB: they can't really eat hay with a muzzle on.

These are your choices, not thrilling but take it from me, a horse or pony being overweight and developing laminitis is beyond horrible, very painful and they will always be vulberable to it.  Please don't let it happen to yours.

Back to blog

How to Attach to a Head Collar