Just looking for some support and others’ experiences with recuperating from laminitis. My 9 year old Morgan gelding was diagnosed with laminitis last Thursday after x-rays and had his shoes pulled and Styrofoam boots applied. He is on soaked hay only now, Bute and stall rest. My vet and farrier can’t really tell me anything definitely as far as what to expect and recovery, it’s just so hard to see him in pain.
Sending you and your gelding Jingles during this terrible time period.
Laminitis is life changing for both of you ~ it’s a tough on all levels.
Day by day ~ stay the course ~ follow vet/farrier leads but realize you are the one who sees and knows how each day is unfolding.
Bloodwork done ?
[B]Laminitis remains the severe medical condition that the vets and farriers continue to struggle with ”¢ from backyard horses to “A” circuit champions to super stars like Secretariat ~
((hugs)) laced with strength and patience for all involved ~
Jingles & AO ~ Always Optimistic ~[/B]
So sorry you and your horse are going through this. As you already know, it’s too soon to know how this will all play out, and however it goes, it will be a long road. But I’m here to tell you don’t lose hope.
Four years ago my horse had a laminitis attack. Vet put him in Reddin Ultimates and prescribed bute until the attack settled down, which took about 3 weeks. Then he started rehabilitative shoeing with Reddin rail shoes. (Check out the NANRIC website if you want info about these products: http://www.nanric.com/index.html) Shoeing was done at the clinic so they could take x-rays and know exactly how to adjust the shoes. Long story short, after about 8 months my horse’s hooves recovered and today he’s sound as a dollar. He lives barefoot and I ride in hoof boots, and the farrier says there’s no sign of laminitis in his feet.
During his recovery, my horse was confined to a stall and corral, and this was very hard on him mentally. He was so frustrated that he would stand in the middle of the corral and jump up and down, which of course was not good for his feet. I looked for ways to take his mind off his frustration without moving his feet too much. I taught him to come to me when I tapped my shoulder and rewarded with a roasted peanut. I groomed him every day. When his feet were better, I started taking him on walks on a lead rope. These walks started very short and lengthened as he improved–first just up to the house and back, then around a small field, then around larger fields, then down the road a bit, then up and down hills. We practiced things like stand still while I mount and dismount and don’t move until I tell you.
As a result of his laminitis attack, my horse’s lifestyle changed dramatically. Before, he was out on pasture 24/7 and way too fat. Now he’s out wearing a grazing muzzle during the day and stalled with stemmy late cut summer hay at night. When the grass is really lush I put him on a dry lot part of the day. He gets no grain but I do feed a forage balancer and Remission supplement. I don’t know if the Remission helps, but I figure it won’t hurt and he likes it. These changes were a big adjustment for him, but today he’s slim, trim, sound, and happy.
When my horse had his attack, I feared the worst. I worried about him day and night, and I felt guilty because I thought I should have managed him better. I get what you’re going through. The only advice I have is to do everything you can to help him both physically and mentally. This will be mentally hard for your horse, so look for ways to ease his frustration without damaging his feet.
Most of all, I wish you and your horse good luck.
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Thank you so much OzarksRider, your reply means a lot to me at this time especially. I really appreciate you sharing your story. I do think, only day 5 of stall rest, he is coping well so far at being in side. He had a very similar lifestyle to your horse. I am following the ECIR Dr. Kellon’s emergency diet and he is getting soaked hay in a slow feeder nets.
This morning I was getting so frustrated with the ‘Teflon’ answers, but I will keep following the plan and day by day.
I’ll share my story. Actually it is one year to the day last Friday and my vet and farrier both were out last week. One of the important parts of my story is I have mine at home so I am paying for a lot- but not for board.
Our show pony had a laminitic attack last year and we will never know what brought it on. We had the vet (her partner in the business) out for xrays and farrier. He was immediately put in those round shoes to support the whole foot, deeply deeply bedded. Bute etc for a few days then he was sound. Vet partner thought he has a 7 degree rotation.
My vet and farrier both wanted to let his foot grown out before he went back in to work . He was on stall rest for about 2 months post incident- even after he was sound. I’d switch him to different stalls for different scenery. He did not start true turn out on a dry lot, only supervised and still in a hannibal lecter mask (in case he escaped) in the late spring. We had hand walked him. No- not optimal.
So about a month ago (so 11 months post) my daughter started lightly riding him. Sound. Vet came out and said he has NO rotation- it could have been his stance - the xrays look very different. I had religious farrier work every 6 weeks or if he pulled a shoe my farrier was on it.
So my guy was on restrictive turn out and a good farrier and no work. For a year.
The vet Friday was AMAZED that I gave him a year off. I said “isn’t that what you said to do?” Apparently she said it can take up to a year for the new hoof to grow. 
Either way- we sweated it out and stressed about it. We had a happy ending. Most people may not give such a long time (and it may not be needed) but since I have mine at home that’s how I handled it.
For the rest of his life he’ll be on a relative dry lot and be in a mask when he goes out. He is not metabolic (we test him) but he is a super easy keeper so he also is on a lower quality hay so he can have it in front of him. We supplement him with a ration balancer. He will not enjoy the free roaming lifestyle my other do- but we made adjustments for him to get to be out more and be happy.
Wishing you and your guy the best, @Portagecreek . Sounds like you’re doing a great job with the management, so all I have to add are hopes for a full recovery.
I just want to add a comment to what Pennywell Bay said about giving her horse almost an entire year without work. When my horse had his laminitis attack, my vet said one mistake people make is putting their horse back to work too soon. The horse appears sound, owner thinks horse is completely recovered so starts horse working, everything seems fine but then next thing you know coffin bone rotates/sinks and horse is in really bad shape. Vet said even if the horse appears sound the laminae are still weak and the hoof needs time to grow out. Much better to rest the horse too long than not long enough. Resting the horse for a year is not at all unreasonable. I didn’t ride for 8 months, and then only when x-rays showed the gas pockets had grown out and vet said ok. And even then we took it very easy for a couple of months.
Preach it. I had mine basically on stall rest, which the vet said perhaps overkill but she was pleased.
I just had this convo because I know it is expensive to board. I know it is frustrating to pay and not ride. But vet, farrier and I believe it was an integral part in his recovery. (that and some good luck- for a change). Management is key to at least the chance of a successful outcome.
Sorry this happened, and hope he gets better with no bad long term issues.
Generally speaking, this time of the year is the worst for laminitis - people think that it’s OK to leave horses out on grass longer than usual due to cooler weather, not understanding pasture growth cycles and realizing that it’s still a danger. Even pasture that looks poor and weedy can still be dangerous. So if you are tempted to pull muzzles, - DON’T DO IT unless your horse has reached a point where it needs to gain weight. You don’t need to fatten up an easy keeper for winter.
Did they have any thoughts as to the cause? If you can identify the cause, you can do a lot more to predict outcome. Obviously without a cause you don’t know if you’re treating the problem or just the symptoms.
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so @OzarksRider your guy was in pain/discomfort for about 3 weeks? I keep panicking thinking he should be more sound by now…Today it will be a week exactly since he was very lame and had xrays and bloodwork. It seems to be localized to his LF which was the worse rotated one.
OP, it can take quite a while for the horse to become sound. a month or 6 weeks is far more common than a few days. It can be much longer than that…don’t stress too much about that yet.
You aren’t getting solid answers because every laminitis is different, and the time frame for recovery is different. Will you be able to accommodate your horse’s new needs at your current barn? Dry lot is a necessity in my view. A muzzle is likely going to be too risky. You might also want to start having those discussions in case you need to find a different barn once your horse is cleared from stall rest.
You will also want to make sure your hay is tested or send it off for testing yourself, if you barn doesn’t do that.
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Thanks @fordtraktor . I keep my horses at home, I am so lucky. He does have a dry paddock just off the barn as well as our fenced in sand arena so all good for the future.
Insulin resistant laminitis has been the most difficult type I have experienced as a horse / pony owner.
Diet
Daily management
Patience Ӣ Strength Ӣ Stay the course !
Be brave during the Fall Season … toughest time for mine.
You have a vet and farrier and the ‘safe’ set up -dry paddock and sand arena
and
your own eyes for daily monitoring.
Keep pictures Ӣ videos Ӣ daily log
Sending you a air-ride horse van of JINGLES & AO
(( hugs )) for your worried heart ~
It will get better ~
- Btw We are struggling through ‘Fall Season’ with 2 beloved IR mares right now ~ I know where you are ”¢
Portagecreek, when my horse was diagnosed with laminitis the vet said he would expect the acute episode to gradually resolve over several weeks. He didn’t x-ray the feet at first, because he wanted to wait to see what the damage would be after the initial episode resolved. And there was no need to x-ray for diagnosis because it was real obvious what the problem was. He did put Reddin Ultimates on the horse’s front feet, and I could tell that my horse instantly felt much, much better. The Ultimates raise the heels so that there is less tension on the digital tendon, and that gave my horse a lot of relief. I don’t know what the vet put on your horse’s feet, but the principle is probably the same.
Because we didn’t x-ray the feet at first, I had no idea what was going on inside the hooves. After about 3 weeks, my horse was so frustrated at being confined that he started jumping up and down and bucking in place, and that’s when we took him to the clinic for x-rays and to start therapeutic shoeing. The x-rays showed that he had no rotation, and that’s the first time I let myself even hope that this might turn out ok. The therapeutic shoeing consisted basically of keeping his heels raised and the breakover placed to keep pressure off his toes. The height of the wedge under his heels decreased gradually with every shoeing until he was finally in a regular shoe after about 8 months. He stayed shod for a few more months, and then went barefoot. And he’s been barefoot ever since.
Like other posters have already said, each case of laminitis is different, and you really can’t predict how each case will go. My horse had top-notch vet and farrier care, and a lot of just plain good luck. It’s very frustrating because you want to do anything you can to help your horse but really you can’t do anything other than keep him quiet and off the grass. And then just wait.
Keep giving your horse bute as long as your vet recommends. In addition to helping with the pain, bute is an anti-inflammatory and that may help reduce the inflammation in his feet.
If you trust your vet, just keep following his/her advice. If you have any doubts, maybe take your horse to a vet school where they see a lot of this and are up on the latest methods.
Please keep us updated on how your horse is doing. I’m sure everybody here is pulling for you and your horse.
I’ll share too.
My stepping down, teenaged WB mare was on lease to a (supposedly) good H/J program out of state. The fairly uneducated lessors relied on the BO for all things care-related (like in many/most such programs).
I got a call that miss mare was a little lame, but they thought it was a bruise. A week later, lameness was the same/worse, and so were scratching the next show and soaking. By the time the vet came out, miss mare was quite lame and was clearly laminitic (mechanical founder). They soaked her hay, kept her in a softride boot on the affected foot, and a regular boot on the other (so she was even), with icing/cold hosing until the vet assessed it was safe to ship her to me. Xrays did show a not-insignificant degree of rotation.
When I got her home, she no longer required the softride boots, and was clearly feeling much better. She was kept in a small, individual turnout for awhile and I was very careful about footing (no mud, no hard ground), and we did carefully manage her turnout partners when she joined a group. Blood tests showed no indications of anything metabolic, and when we saw her horrible trim job, it seemed to clearly be the cause. My vet and farrier worked together: we’d take rads, and the farrier would use them as a guide when trimming/shoeing (she wore bar shoes and pads for many, many months). I slowly started her back in work, with lots of walking trail rides, a little trot, etc. And just baby steps from there. She was diagnosed as laminitic in Aug/Sept. I think I started walking rides that Dec. By the summer of the following year, she was 100% sound, and moving/jumping better than ever. She requires zero special management now, and while mostly retired, she’s happy living barefoot and we do the semi-regular trail ride and pop over low (2’6 and under) hunter courses a few times a month. I think she’s where she would be by age, regardless of the founder in her background.
So not every story has a happy ending, but careful care and management, plus some luck, go a long way. Hugs to you and your horse, and don’t lose hope! Obviously with yours, insulin resistance adds a level of care/caution that you’ll have to maintain indefinitely. But jingles to your boy for a complete recovery!
an update - it turns out he had an abscess in his LF. My farrier came to check on him and discovered it on Thursday so he is doing better after that has drained.!
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