My farrier thinks my TB is on the verge of laminitis

get her off the grass asap as a precaution and call the vet! farriers normally have a very good idea about these things. check if she's at all footsore (slow on hard ground, they don't have to be proper lame to have early lami signs!), check digital pulses or heat by the coronet band. but please take her off the grass right now, just in case. lami isnt something to be taken lightly, unfortunately.

Julia
x
 
I think, and I may be wrong, that bruising and old blood in the white line is usually from old damage higher up the hoof wall that has grown down. It certainly suggests your horse is prone to problems, and her previous lifestyle sounds like it won't have helped either. The stretched white line is also a sign of grumbling problems, along with flare in the walls (ie bell shaped rather than straight).

Look out for heat in the coronet band area and raised digital pulses (feel for a pulse in the crease below the fetlock joint) as they are the usual signs of trouble, although they don't automatically lead to a full on attack.

Also consider what your are feeding - a lot of conditioning mixes contain high levels of starch and sugar which are also problematic, if you need to keep condition on quality chaff and oil are a better way to go.
 
That's not so much an early sign as had laminitis a while ago and just about got away with it! If there's no sign of current laminitis then less grazing and no sugary stuff (mixes etc) to keep the laminitis away and if you're worried at all that there's still ongoing laminitis even if mild then vet.
 
She's not lame or footsore at all, there is no excessive heat in the feet or coronet band and the digital pulse is normal. She is bright and well in herself and moving normally. She is on very poor grazing with ad lib hay. I have cut her hard feed today to just a handful with her joint supplement.

Looking at the hoof wall from the side, it does flare and is not straight. this had been bothering me for a while but I didn't know if it was significant.

When i left my old yard 4 months ago, we moved to a field temporarily where she lived out on very lush grass. Could this have caused mild laminitis which is showing in her hooves now?

The farrier didn't seem overly concerned which is why I was hesitating to call the vet - he said it was just something to watch. Do you think I should be calling the vet straight away or just keeping an eye on her?
 
From what you've posted here I'd personally just keep a watching brief, it doesn't sound like there's anything to panic about. The flare is quite likely to be a result of the grazing, my Tb suffers with the same thing.

There's a really good article here on low grade laminitis which may be relevant http://www.unshod.co.uk/articles.php
 
Thanks for that article Yann, it was really helpful. A lot of the signs described for LGL match what she was like a few months ago, but not now. I am intending to put her on a laminitic diet and keep a careful eye on her feet and see if there is any improvement. Obviously I will have to be very careful over the next few weeks and if she appears to get any worse I will call the vet immediately. Thanks everyone for the advice.
 
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