Equine laminitis can strike fear into any horse owner’s heart! If your horse becomes acutely lame, your veterinarian will conduct a physical examination to determine the cause. She/he will also ask for the horse’s history since the horse was last examined. This is a critical part of diagnosing laminitis (sometimes called founder). Make sure you note any changes in feed, hair coat, urination, lameness, behavior, etc.  

What to Watch For

Let’s look at some examples of history that you should make sure to tell your veterinarian about. 

  • If you have a horse that does not normally lie down much and that behavior changes, tell your veterinarian.  
  • If your horse becomes lame and shifts its weight back on its hind limbs and points its front limbs ahead of its body, that could be a sign of laminitis. 
  • If your horse broke into the feed room then became acutely lame, that could be associated with the onset of laminitis.  
  • If your horse has a metabolic or insulin-related condition and gets out onto fresh, lush spring grass, that could be a precursor to laminitis. Preemptive icing of the horse’s feet and lower limbs, even before the veterinarian arrives, could help stave off or reduce the clinical signs of laminitis. 
  • If your normally sound horse becomes tender-footed, especially on hard surfaces or when turned in small circles, that could indicate an onset of laminitis. (Editor’s note: There also could be other causes for this lameness, but owners should have laminitis in the back of their minds, especially if the horse has some other inciting comorbidity, such as a metabolic disease.) 
  • If your horse had an injury in one leg, then becomes lame on the opposite leg, that could indicate onset of support-limb laminitis. 
  • Horses that are worked on hard surfaces could tear or stretch the laminae, causing what is known as “road founder.” 

Horses, mules, or donkeys that become laminitic have a reluctance to move. If you notice that in any of your animals, contact your veterinarian for a proper diagnosis. 

Equine Laminitis Immediate Response 

Multiple studies have shown the benefits of cryotherapy (cold therapy) on equine laminitis. In one study, cryotherapy markedly reduced the severity of acute laminitis.1 The study’s authors said, “Although further research is needed, we suggest cryotherapy as a potentially effective prophylactic strategy in horses at risk of developing acute laminitis.” 

Those same authors in another cryotherapy research project with equine laminitis noted, “Continuous, medium- to long-term (72-hour) cryotherapy applied to the distal limbs of horses safely and effectively ameliorates the clinical signs and pathology of acute laminitis.”2 

Resources 

  1. Equine laminitis: cryotherapy reduces the severity of the acute lesion, Van Eps, A; Pollitt, C. Equine Veterinary Journal, 2010.   
  2. Equine laminitis model: Cryotherapy reduces the severity of lesions evaluated seven days after induction with oligofructose. Van Eps, A; Pollitt, C. Equine Veterinary Journal.  
  • Kimberly S. Brown is an award-winning writer and publisher. She is the Editorial Director for My Senior Horse. Brown spent 10 years at Equine Network, parent company of My Senior Horse. Prior to that she worked for three years in equine nutrition after she retired from nearly 30 years working at The Blood-Horse. Brown spent the last 15 years of her time at that organization creating and developing The Horse and TheHorse.com.
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