Hoping he’s on a quick road to recovery.
I always think of laminitis as a disease of older, heavier, less fit, or severely injured, horses and ponies. How common is it in racehorses?
Laminitis can be caused by many different things and racehorses are just as susceptible as regular horses. In the case of Lord Nelson (from the article):
“Lord Nelson has developed laminitis, secondary to the infection in his right foreleg that caused him to scratch out of the (TwinSpires) Breeders’ Cup Sprint (G1).”
Stallion Old Trieste died from laminitis after he had a reaction to the antibiotics that were used to treat an eye infection.
I also wonder if, in racehorses, if it has something to do with the sudden change in exercise and diet from a world class athlete to essentially a pasture pet. Same with the influence of colic in some of these horses (Nyquist) who recently came off the track to a more leisurely life.
I have always admired the farms (Winstar/Three Chimneys) who keep their horses exercised and fit. I think it is absolutely essential to them.
Obviously the case of Lord Nelson is more due to his weight bearing due to a leg infection.
As with any laminitis case; immediate starch control and hoof maintenance is absolutely key.
Hope he recovers quickly. He is beautiful
Two other TBs that fought laminitis originating from uneven weight bearing would be Barbaro and Lady Eli. One successfully recovered, one did not 
