I squirt the APF into some soaked beet pulp. Mare is incredibly picky and convinced that any feed changes are attempts to poison her, so I was very surprised when she ate it. However, I have read that people will squirt it into a fig newton or onto a soft ginger snap and the horse will gobble it up. You might have to spread it over several cookies for the horse to eat it.
^^^Haha, my horse wouldnāt eat apples when I got him. But Iāll try to find something to mix it in that he will eat.
Bumping this thread to see how peopleās cold induced laminitic horses are doing. My pony was rehabbing well all summer. As soon as ground froze but we didnāt have snow cover I put her back in soft ride boots. When temps dropped below 30 in November I right away went back to wool socks, Whinny Warmers and the boots. Last week we had our first below zero night, and days only in the teens and she has been miserable. I tried keeping her in the barn (not heated) during the day and shes down as much as she is outside. I have a friend whoās pony had this happen earlier every year. and that appears to be happening with my pony. We have a solid 4 months of weather coming that is not going to get better than this and Iām already doing everything that helped last year. Iām going to have some heart to heart talks with farrier and vet about her but would like to hear how others are doing.
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Thank you for bumping this thread up.
Very interested, as I have a mare with this
condition/struggle.
I just downloaded all of the printed materials from the 2017 No Laminitis conference. One of the papers, from Eleanor Kellon, VMD, had the following information:
Winter Laminitis ā Winter laminitis is a sudden and dramatic increase in hoof pain with no change in management or precipitating factors. It is cold-triggered and it occurs both in horses with a history of laminitis or no history of laminitis, but usually with a history of IR.
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One owner from the ECIR group took her horse to the vet clinic for thermography on the feet. This horse showed a dramatic drop in perfusion of the feet when the temperature got below 40Ā° in the front feet compared to the hind. When the temperature was brought back up, her feet returned to normal. So we know itās temperature triggered, but it depends on the individualās sensitivities. This particular horseās trigger was a temperature of 40Ā°. We sometimes see this kind of laminitis when there is a very sudden and severe change in the weather, e.g., a severe cold snap. There may be other changes that go along with the temperature drop and vasoconstriction ā there deļ¬nitely are in other species ā but it hasnāt been looked at in the horse.
What to do ā Pads, socks, boots: Keep the legs and feet warm. We used good thick pads, in boots, and also put socks on the feet. Regular boots alone will not keep feet warm. There are a variety of ways that one can increase warmth in the feet, e.g., lining boots with ļ¬eece, or making ļ¬eece holders for the pads. One of the best ways to ensure warmth in the legs, in my opinion, is lined shipping boots; they canāt slide down and cause a problem and they canāt be put on wrong.
What to do ā Adaptogens: The adaptogens jiaogulan, APF, and Canadian ginseng are especially useful because they donāt cause an insulin release. A lot of adaptogens do cause an insulin release, and that is something one has to be very careful about, as with herbs in general. One of the adaptogens above will work to help the horse get over and prevent a bout of Winter laminitis. In really bad cases we add arginine, 10 g every 4 to 6 hours or Arginine Alpha-Ketoglutarate (AAKG) ā another form of arginine that is a little more long-acting and a little more potent ā 1-3 g, three times a day. This is to support nitric oxide, which enhances the perfusion.
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I use the back on track wraps when in the stall with their bell boots before to help. I am not above using ice boots and adding the rice warmers to add quick warmth.
Iāve had my pony on the ECIR protocol for the 3 years Iāve had her (she came to me a mess). She makes progress and then the cold sets in. And it stays. Iām already doing everything I did for her from January on last year, but it started in November this year. It wonāt be over 40 degrees here until maybe March. Weāll see what the farrier says Friday, but I donāt know what more I can do to keep her comfortable.
Have you tried APF or APF Plus? Best prices I could find were at thrivingpets.com: http://www.thrivingpets.com/index.php/apf-advanced-protection-formula.html
One of my veterinarians claims that he has various clients who put their laminitic horses on APF in October and keep them on throughout the winter months, with good results. I used APF for a long period while one of my horses was recovering from laminitis. She had an excellent response to her medication regimen, which included this supplement, so I canāt swear that the APF made any difference. Maybe its worth a shot?
I did have her on APF when she first became laminitic but it didnāt seem to make any difference so I stopped. Glad to hear it worked for you though.
Hi, following this with interest. (Also, @twelvegates , we live close by so might want to see if thereās any synergy here ā¦ CSU?)
Backstory: I kept horses at 9,000 ft above sea level and we always noticed foot soreness through winter ā¦ since none were working it was just āa thingā where they would shorten stride and ouch about on icy, frozen ground. No real issues in snow where the ground was more forgiving. So it was attributed to sole soreness due to hard ground, very much like if they were ouching across gravel.
Fast forward to living on the front range where temps swing WILDLY because apparently winter only shows up every so often just to remind us we donāt live someplace always pleasant and that it can go from 60 degrees on Thurs to snowing and a high of 20F Friday.
The horses live in stalls w/runs and no pasture access, so diet is pretty standardized through weather (hay + Strategy). We have a young warmblood (just turned 7 yrs) in the program with no symptoms of IR. Not normally blanketed. The first really cold snap, he came out and we thought he was off because he had turned into an absolute goober on the lunge (time to fly the horse kite) and we assumed he tweaked something. He was out of work for about 3-4 weeks. The next cold snap, same deal, only this time we were noticing he was really front-foot ouchy in the concrete aisle way (like sole sore) ā¦ in the arena it was much less noticeable but still there. And, of course, lame in front enough to be off work again. We were looking for abscesses, anything. (None found.)
As an idea, we started dropping a heavyweight blanket on him for the last several weeks overnight and (touch wood!) no soundness issues.
The original thought was that his whole body was reacting to the cold and tension from being cold overnight was leading to his muscles getting tweaked, but symptoms are more consistent with sore soles.
I am really, really interested in this because it seems to fit so well! Weāre going to see if keeping his whole body warm will keep him going.
All, please post updates! (And, if @Katy Watts is still on the thread - would you be interested in doing research via survey? Can my HS daughter work to help you?)
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