Laminitis & Good Doer
If your horse or pony is a little on the chubby side, then you’re not alone!
Studies report that between 30 and 50% of the equine population is overweight or obese (Furtado et al, 2020) and feedback from vets and nutritionists suggests this figure could be considerably higher. Being overweight increases the risk of laminitis in horses and ponies, so to avoid this horrible disease you really need to take action and get your horse’s diet under control.
What you need to know and do
In order to reduce the risk of laminitis in horses, there are a few things that you can do:
- Restrict access to grazing – stabling your horse means you can get complete control over what they eat – this is the most effective way to promote weight loss as grass is usually the greatest source of energy and sugar in most horses diets
- Use low calorie fibre feeds for chew time and to promote gut health
- Ensure the diet is balanced – restricted access to grass not only reduces energy (calorie) intake but also essential vitamins and minerals
- Aim for 1.5% of bodyweight as the minimum intake of forage/high fibre feeds per day
- Monitor body condition using a condition scoring chart
Laminitis Risk Calculator
There are lots of different factors that increase a horse or pony’s risk of developing laminitis. We have developed a questionnaire to help you ascertain your horse’s risk level.
Our Weight Management Guide
One of the most significant risk factors for laminitis is obesity. If you want to reduce your horse or pony’s risk of getting laminitis it is essential that you maintain them at a healthy weight. We know this is not always easy; studies have shown that horse owners tend to underestimate their horse’s body fat score so think they are thinner than they are and finding the balance between giving enough fibre to maintain a healthy digestive system without promoting weight gain can be tricky.
Click here to view our Weight Management Guide to learn more about managing your horse’s weight and which products in the Dengie range are suitable for those prone to laminitis.
Suitable Products
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I put weight on my laminitic safely?
The key is to use horse feeds that are low in sugar and starch which usually means they contain lots of fibre and oil. High or prolonged intakes of sugar and starch are increasingly being linked to insulin dysregulation which is a predisposing factor to laminitis. Be careful that you don’t over-condition your horse as the greatest risk factor for laminitis in horses is being overweight. Unfortunately, “fat” is becoming normal – research has shown that horse owners frequently underestimate the condition score of their horse meaning they are underestimating their risk of laminitis too. If you are in any doubt ask a nutritionist to assess your horse and don’t succumb to peer pressure to have a cuddly pony – cuddly might be cute but it isn’t healthy!
If you really do need to promote weight gain then feeds such as Alfa A Molasses Free and Alfa-Beet are really low in starch and sugar but contain moderate levels of energy (calories) Alfa-A Molasses Free is a medium energy feed but contains around 10 times less starch than a cereal based feed with a comparable energy value.
How effective are grazing muzzles?
A couple of studies have been done investigating this including one by our very own nutritionist Tracey Hammond. The general estimate is a reduction in intake of about 75-80% depending on the time of year. Do be aware that if you take the muzzle off and let your horse or pony graze freely they can consume their total daily requirement in just a few hours! Some horses and ponies have adapted their grazing behaviour to increase intake even when wearing a muzzle so do keep an eye on what they are doing!
Why do products approved by the Laminitis Trust contain molasses?
Molasses itself is not dangerous or harmful to horses – it has been used as an ingredient in horse feeds for decades. It is a source of sugar and if used in large amounts can significantly increase the amount of sugar a horse consumes. The key point is how much molasses is added to a feed and how much sugar the other ingredients contain – this determines the overall sugar content and therefore suitability of a feed for a horse or pony prone to laminitis. The Laminitis Trust have strict criteria based on findings from independent research as to what levels are acceptable. If the total sugar and starch content of a feed are below the levels set by the Trust then that is what determines the suitability of the feed for a horse or pony prone to laminitis.
What’s the difference between Hi-Fi Lite and Hi-Fi Molasses Free?
Hi-Fi Lite combines chopped straw and alfalfa with a light molasses coating. Hi-Fi Lite provides 7.5MJ/kg digestible energy, 7% sugar and 1.5% starch and so is a low calorie, sugar and starch feed. Hi-Fi Lite is particularly useful for weight loss if a low calorie forage replacer is required for good do-ers, or overweight horses when only haylage may be available on the yard for example.
Hi-Fi Molasses Free combines chopped and pelleted alfalfa and straw with a light rapeseed oil coating and the added herbs mint and fenugreek for tastiness. Hi-Fi Molasses Free provides 8.5MJ/kg digestible energy, 2.5% sugar and 1.5% starch. Use Hi-Fi Molasses Free if your preference is for a molasses free feed or if an exceptionally low sugar and starch ration is required for example for those with Equine Metabolic Syndrome.
My horse doesn’t have a bucket feed but is still overweight, what should I do?
If your horse isn’t receiving a bucket feed, but is overweight then energy or calories are being over-supplied by grazing and/or forage and it is these that need to be managed in order to encourage weight loss in conjunction with increased exercise.
Tips for managing grass access to help reduce the risk of laminitis in horses include turnout on a no grass area with supplementary forage, strip grazing or the use of a grazing muzzle. When it comes to forage, mature forages with a lower digestibility will provide less energy. Look for coarse, stalky hay or appropriate low calorie hay replacers. Straw can replace up to 30% of the total forage ration to reduce energy intake as long as it is introduced gradually to the diet. The overall amount of forage may also need to be restricted to 1.5% of the horse’s bodyweight on a dry matter basis daily to assist weight loss.
Whilst grazing and forage can over-supply energy or calories, UK pasture and forage tend to lack key trace minerals such as copper, selenium and zinc and conserved forage also lacks vitamin E. A low calorie fibre feed from the Dengie range combined with Leisure Balancer or Leisure Vits & Mins can provide a balanced ration.
