Getting your horse or pony s diet right with a case of laminitis is an essential part of their care and recovery.
Best chaff for laminitis australia.
One handful of speedi beet makes a huge dinner for rubic but she gets a lot of powdery stuff which she wouldn t eat unless disguised in some sort of sloppy feed.
I have started feeding the chaff with a handful of speedi beet it is unmollassed and only has 5 sugar which is about equal to many other low cal mollasses free feeds.
The laminitic horse s diet needs to be low in sugar we could get all very technical here and call sugars non structural carbohydr.
In the majority of horses with ir induced laminitis it is important to remove the cereal grain bi products such as bran pollard or rice bran or feeds based on millrun such as equestrian or pony pellets from the ration as these feeds contain starch and soluble sugars.
If your horse has very recently suffered a bout of laminitis and is still sore it is best to avoid grazing completely until the animal is once again sound.
1 5 2 bodyweight hay depending on whether weight loss is needed 1 5 or not 2 so 7 5 10 kg for a 500 kg horse 3 75 5 kg for a 250 kg pony soaked for at least 1 hour then drained to reduce sugars or analysed to show combined sugar starch no more than 10.
It is important to consider when choosing which chaff to use what the ingredients are.
Grass or pasture hay preferably older hay low sugar no clover or rye that is not mouldy.
For laminitic horses and ponies it can be used with a balancer or vitamin and mineral supplement to make up a low calorie balanced diet and for older laminitic horses with dental problems as a forage replacement.
Coleman says diet and exercise are the best ways horse owners can manage their horses weight to prevent laminitis.
L mix is a chaff based feed that is suitable for those prone to laminitis with a combined starch and sugar level of only 5 25.
A survey has reported that grain overload and grazing lush pasture caused 50 of reported cases of laminitis.
Although laminitis is a disease of the feet the cause is often found in other parts of the horse s body.
Hay feed approx.
Over eating and gorging in ponies is the most common cause of laminitis.
If extra calories are required to what low non structural carbohydrate forage can provide then be careful to select low nsc grain free feeds or ingredients.
What can cause laminitis or founder.
Soaking good quality oaten chaff.
Here s what you should be feeding.
Emergency diet for a horse with endocrinopathic laminitis feed.
Chaff is an important part of a horses diet.
Feeding a horse with a history of laminitis can be a time consuming and confusing task and one that if not done properly can have painful consequences for your horse.