Laminitis...we've tried everything.

Well it looks like Sparrow will always have problem skin, and Montana (alias Rosebud)(She's the brown girl) will always have problems with her hooves. That is, unless any of you knowledgeable people can provide additional notes to add to an ever expanding compendium of expensive and homemade remedies.
Montana is causing us most worry at present, so this is what's happening. I think she developed laminitis around Christmas time. We were on to it early, but nothing seems to be improving. The farrier has seen her every 4 weeks and we get up at 5.30, before hubby goes to work and clean out the grooves and put on "thrushbuster", which the horsey shop recommended. Yesterday the farrier said that it's getting worse, probably because of the dampness in the ground. He advised packing the worse one and using a strong iodine solution on them all. We don't mind all the hassle, but will they eventually recover. Any further advice would be most welcome as we don't have any previous experience. If no one minds, I'll post this on the shetland sales site as well, the more help...the better.
Will leave Sparrow's skin problems for another day.
Thanks all
cheers
HelenB

I have a lamanitic pony at the moment. This is how we are dealing with her, it may mot work for your pony.

She has her feed done by a barefoot trimmer who deals in this sort of thing. I also feed her Hygain Ice ( or zero) as it is low in sugar and starch. Grazing should be done between around 5am to around 10 am as this is when the sugar content in the grass is at its lowest. Any hay is also soaked for around an hour as it also takes out the sugars in the hay ( the water turns yellow from the sugar)

To keep lamanitis away its now prevention for her. She should be in a dirt paddock but cause we dont have any she is in the house yard paddock and i have 2 other mares in with her to keep her on the move. Another important thing with them is to keep them moving as well. I have her on a herbal remedy as well and i find it is working wonders.

Keeping water far away from the feeding area or "hanging out area" also keeps them on the move. Other people I've known with laminitic horses also keep them on soft sand yards as it alleviates the pressure on their heels if they develop awkward stances. I don't know much about feeding for laminitis as I have never experienced it, but Yarreh Lane should be able to help as she has been thru it all and she is also big into the herbal stuff.

Thanks Willowmoss and Ponykid.
Interestingly, (by sheer luck that is) I've been just letting them graze in the morning in the "green" paddock,
Then putting them back into a not so green paddock for a few hours, and then back into the former one later on in the day for an hour,(you get the picture) and spending the day basically moving them round. I was putting into practice the "introduce slowly to new pasture" approach. I'm hoping I can leave them in the new paddock all the time by next week. Does this sound reasonable? The pasture's nothing special, not seeded or fertilized but living on NSW north coast, it is fairly lush. Each paddock is about 1/2 acre, and we have four paddocks in all, on which we rotate them.
I don't give any supplementary feed, just half a slice of bread each with their garlic and mineral supplement.
I don't think she's too bad though, as she shows no signs of discomfort. Hubby came home yesterday with iodine, cotton balls and elastoplast....so on the weekend we'll pack the two which are affected and I'll let you know how we fare. (If nobody minds, I'll copy this to the Shetland site to save writing it again.)
Thanks again
Cheers

With Harmony we have been putting pads on the bottom of her feet as well to make her more comfortable. I use the gardening knee pads cut into the hoof shape and stuck on with gaffa tape. If there is a abscess i also put a sandwich bag with cotton wool and epsom salts, and tape the pad under neath.

I hope ponys feet come good

Em

sorry i cant help with the founder problem though will speak to a few people and see if they have any ideas for u.
I may be able to offer some suggestions on Sparrow's skin problems though as i have a black one that had everyone scratching their heads (vets included) with his skin but now i have it all ok and not itchy.

If you would like some help on that one let me know

Hi and thanks willowmoss and mini-mad. I don't think she is uncomfortable, but we're packing (tiny hole) and "separatlons" with iodine and elastoplast tomorrow.
mini-mad,I daren't start on his problems yet, I'm still struggling with getting my head around all the info. about Montana. I've tried everything for him too....from green antibiotic cream to WD40. Stop, stop Helen....maybe in a couple of weeks...
cheers

I have a broodmare Goldie,(the one in my profile picture) who developed laminitis last winter while in foal...and this proved a problem for us as no-one could help us for feed that was suitable for both pregnancy and laminitis. Anyway from research and trial and error this what we did.

First of all if you can totally remove from green grass...if your horse isn't overweight then it is generally the sugars in the grass that have caused the laminitis. IF you find it too expensive to fully hand feed, then only allow the horse to graze for a few hours after the dew has dried from the grass. Do not allow your horse to graze early in the morning or afternoon as this is when the sugars are at the highest. Goldie developed it due to sugars not from being overweight.

My vet recommended feeding grassy-lucerne hay, and soaking prior to feeding to remove as much of the sugars as possible. You can also feed oaten hay or wheaten hay but you need to make sure that there is very little head/seed, which also needs to be soaked prior to feeding.

Due to the lack of grazing I feed Goldie Speedibeet. Yes it's expensive to buy, but being a miniature and even with 2 feeds a day the bag last a month and I find it well worth it. It helps when horses are restricted with grazing. I also was feeding her Hygain Zero (which was recommended by the feedstore), but due to not having enough nutrients for a broody she lost a lot of weight and I have since moved to Hygain Balanced which is also suitable for laminitis. The feed you choose will have to be suitable for what you use your horse for...I highly recommend Hygain feeds though.

I also in the beginning, before I decided on what to feed her, and I still add it to her feed twice a week now, fed her a seed mix that consisted of sunflower seeds, rosehip and french white millet all mixed together with sunflower and ricebran oil. This mix helps with well being and helps repair the hoof as well. I mix up an ice cream container full at a time with these ratios...1/2 cup sunflower seeds, 1 tsp rosehip, 1 tbsp white millet and equal amounts of oil to bind it together.

We just had x-rays done of Goldie's feet and although it showed the signs of the laminitis it also showed that it had started to repair and the vet said that her hooves should return to normal.

We caught her feet early and as we do our own trimming we trimmed every 2 weeks in the beginning and now every four weeks. The only trouble we had was stopping the "pixie feet" from happening, which her hooves still tend towards which is why we trim often.

Hope this helps and if you need any further advise just ask!

Gee, thanks for all that info. Yarreh Lane. It turns out that my horsey mate has had a similar problem of separation/seedy toe.with her big'un, following a bad experience with an apprentice farrier that we both employed. After extensive help from here and the shetland sales site, we are treating for seedy toe and not laminitis. It's me and my inexperience causing confusion. I'll let everyone know how things are going in a couple of weeks.
Thanks again