Laminitis is rife again in many New Zealand paddocks this year.

However, it is not a condition that "just develops" independently. Without a shadow of a doubt, it is mainly caused by allowing horses to stay too long on grass from an unawareness of what can happen to their owners.

 

Sadly, the message of having a good grass management plan to prevent this is still not getting through to so many, so we would very much like you to share these two links below to help save more horses from suffering from this incredibly painful and mostly avoidable disease:

If everyone checked their horses for the signs below, we could prevent a lot of pain, suffering and needless deaths of so many more of our equine friends:

 

See the Photos Below:

1-Check for heat in the hooves-we use an infrared thermometer -they cost around $25-50 for a basic model to check this accurately, and if the temperature rises above 91.4°F (33°C) for more than a few hours, then it is time for action-see the links below.

 

2-Check for a bounding pulse at the back of the leg as shown with two fingers. Please don't check with your thumb as this contains a pulse that can give a false reading.

 

If there is heat or a pulse, please follow the recovery advice on the second link and remove the horse from all growing plant matter and grasses immediately before the horse founders when the bone in the hoof tears away from the inner surface called the laminae. Once this happens, often, the only outcome for so many horses is euthanasia.

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