Tb gelding, not an easy keeper and laminitic. Feed suggestions?
Take a look at this Kentucky Equine Research article regarding Copra:)
https://ker.com/equinews/use-copra-horse-feeds/
i believe “Cool Stance” is a copra meal, if you can find it without having to order it:)
Copra is NOT a complete feed, you would still need to be sure your horse gets all its vitamins, minerals and amino acids by also feeding it something else:)
copra is just a safe fat supplement:)
Depends a lot on why he developed laminitis in the first place. Does he have an underlying metabolic disorder or was it due to an acute endotoxic event associated with a systemic illness? Or injury that overloaded a contralateral limb, etc?
Give us some more info so we can help more. Details like age, history, current diet, etc.
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Exactly.
Diagnosis, treatment, meds?
Currently, or previously laminitic? Acute episode brought on by something reasonably known, or chronic and cause unknown?
Current diet?
All the tested low NSC hay he will eat. Then a forage based higher fat lower NSC concentrate.
A high fat, low carb/sugar diet such as Beet-pulp (without Molassas) or Rice Bran. A good supplement which I swear by is Remission. I feed rice bran and remission to my laminitic mini.
My guy was on Hallway Fibrenergy and then all the low NSC hay he wanted. I also had in on Remission at the end. But the Fibrenergy I swear by! They love it!
I am also a HUGE fan of the Remission. I started my gelding on it recently, and am already seeing some great results.
With that said though, your question is simply to broad right now to be able to give you any information that will help your case. Without an understanding of what is truly going on with your horse, it is hard to offer advise that will be relevant to your situation.
I’d start with a comprehensive vet visit. Get some blood work. Talk to your vet about his feet and his current weight and your management practices and make a plan with your vet. If he is a hard keeper, start with the obvious stuff like teeth and worming. Talk to your vet about ulcers. Have your hay analyzed. Don’t just throw supplements at your horse without understanding why you are doing it. You can throw off mineral balances, or be missing something valuable.
There are a ton of online resources, check safergrass.org, the ecir groups, etc. They can be great to help educate you, but without having that foundation of vet work, and understanding what you are dealing with, you wont be able to focus your efforts.
