My gelding just recently started displaying signs of laminitis and has been on bute and in Soft Ride boots for 4 days. He currently seems comfortable. Initially he had pulses, but yesterday and today I have felt none. I have dealt with 3 other horses in the past who had laminitis and/or founder, so am pretty familiar with the issue. But one thing that has constantly eluded me is related to feeling for heat in the feet. When the weather is cool and the foot is definitely hot and pulsy, I know I have a problem. However, there are so many variables that I’m wondering if checking for heat in the foot is just not very reliable. For instance, on a sunny day, all my horses’ feet are at least warm if not hot. Currently I’m dealing with the following situation: weather is cool and rainy. Laminitis horse feet are somewhat warm but no pulses and he is walking around fine, no signs of tenderness. Another gelding’s feet are all cold. Another mare has mildly warm feet, no pulses, no tenderness. Should I be worried about the mare due to her mildly warm feet? Do the mildly warm feet on the laminitis gelding mean he is not currently stable despite walking comfortably? In the past I’ve had 2 minis with laminitis issues, and their feet were almost always warm, but they were often comfortable with no pulses. Just finding this very confusing, and if the laminitis horse is still brewing inflammation, I want to make sure I’m doing everything possible for him. If my mare is starting to brew something, I want to jump on that too.
Horses just don’t “brew” laminitis like they brew abscesses.
If your horses are all grazing on new, lush pasture and one exhibited signs of laminitis…yes. I would check them all and/or change their diet/turnout schedule. But if nothing else in a horse’s diet/environment changed, I would not check them all for laminitis on a regular basis.
The more important question is: what have you done in response to your gelding’s laminitis? Laminitis is just a symptom. Boots and bute make a horse more comfortable, but don’t change the environment that led to the laminitis in the first place.
Cool fall grazing can increase sugar in grass and cause laminitis. So can Cushings disease…so can other things. What do you think caused his issues?
If you think that any of the horses are at risk for laminitis you need to have them muzzled while on pasture and on a low starch diet. You can’t really see it coming and nip it in the bud - it can get away from you before you know it’s there.
You need to look at the whole horse and make a judgment call. Any overweight horse, one that is cresty, one that has fat pads, ponies, stock breeds, any risk factor and you should exercise care wrt pasture and grazing. Just because a horse has cold feet an no digital pulse does not mean it won’t have an laminitic episode. By the times those symptoms appear, the damage has begun.
If one horse has laminitis symptoms, I’d limit pasture for all of them, since that one horse is clearly saying that pasture is a bit rich right now. I totally understand your worry, so just put them in muzzles or in a dry lot and you’ll sleep better. If they seem to be fine, you can let them out on pasture for a few hours early in the morning. My riding horses are out all night in muzzles and I remove them for 3 hours in the morning.
Well, not necessarily.
If one horse has laminitis in the fall, it might simply be that horse has an underlying issue. If my fat WB mare or Cushings pony started to be foot sore, I would not assume my older TB mare needed to come off the pasture. Especially if I know, for example, that she has grazed from spring to fall for the last 10 years without any sign of laminitis, ever. But the other two have higher risk issues for metabolic problems - breed, condition, history, etc.
More information about the environment and affected horse(s) would help.
Thanks for the responses. They had all been on fall pasture, and we’ve had lots of rain here, so it was getting pretty green. But I only put them on it for about 2 hrs per day because I was wary of it. The gelding that is having the problem is a warmblood, a bit overweight and maybe a tad cresty, but he’s 12, been that way for several years and never had an issue with pasture in the past. Anyway, I am suspecting he is now a metabolic syndrome horse, altho I haven’t tested for that yet. I have currently pulled all horses off the pasture and they are on dry lots as best as I can do (there is still a bit of grass in every lot I have). Laminitic gelding is in a grazing muzzle and I have cut his hay to 1.5% of body weight and am soaking it. He is also in Soft Ride boots and on bute. He is comfortable, but I wish the heat in his feet would subside. Wondering if I should stall him, but vet said no if he’s quiet, which he has been. The mare is 20 yrs old, never had an issue with pasture, but is a bit overweight, Percheron cross. She is not cresty and does not have fat pads anywhere. Having her feet be a bit warm is making me nervous, but I’ve pulled her off the pasture and am hoping for best. Need to order another grazing muzzle.
I specifically stated “limit,” not “come off,” and I was referring to the OP’s horses, one of which is lamintic, one of which has warm feet and the other has cold feet, no other info. Plenty of TBs get laminitis and this is the time of year when it is most prevalent. To each his own, but my farrier adamantly says that if one gets symptomatic, “pull them all off.” He sees way more laminitis than I do, so I defer to his advice, mostly. I muzzle and then allow the ones who do not appear to be at risk to graze muzzle-free during the morning hours only.
Sure, it makes sense for a farrier to recommend the safest protocol. Especially if they are not there to evaluate and don’t know the details of each horse’s feeding plan, etc. Some TBs get laminitis, but I’m not going to assume mine will because others do. Just like I know some Cushings horses can tolerate grass, but my pony can’t. I can manage them like individuals because I know them, but I wouldn’t expect my farrier to.
That’s why I asked the OP for more information.
Given the OP’s additional details, though, it sounds like both her horses could be at risk for laminitis based on breed, condition, and the quality of the pasture.
My WB mare would do better if she never ate another blade of grass. 
Which is too bad because I have ample pasture but a smaller dry lot.
