I've decided to start a diary - I know other people have diaries on far more interesting topics, but today has bought home the fact that I've let Pete get too fat and as a result, he's had a laminitic episode.
It's his & mine, first ever dealings with this & having seen both my barefoot trimmer & physiotherapist (I initially thought he'd strained something) & speaking to my vet, I need to get a handle on it.
We think it's been triggered by a few things:
* Pete's ongoing battle with the bulge & me feeding too much
* Changing to a 'light' feed balancer - which essentially, still gave him too many calories
* Moving into summer grazing fields (despite being muzzled & out for half a day)
* Possibly being wormed ( well, he was definitely wormed, but apparently it's fairly common for lami sensitive horses to react)
Combined with generally a wet, mild winter & far too much rain & sun.
Looking back - I've fed him far too much for far too long. I should have muzzled him whilst he was in the winter field still & the Spring grass started coming through.
I feel SO guilty, that I've let this happen. I'm hoping by having a diary, I can regularly update with photo's, condition scores & other bits and pieces - I can help manage it better.
At least, we've caught it early - he's fully weight bearing, sound at walk but 'shuffly' in trot, but with pulse's & warm feet.
The plan of action : reduce his hay intake (he was getting 10Ibs of soaked hay overnight, as well as grass) , keep him off the grass until there are no more pulses - then introduce a little grazing at a time & exercise.
He's been taken off the light balancer & will most likely stay off it - apparently, he really can live off grass & hay most of the time! He'll get a token breakfast of literally a scattering of unmollased chaff.
No more treats - I'm ashamed to say, he got far too many.
He'll probably hate me - he looked at his new, smaller net with disgust tonight ...!
I'm going to condition score him & weigh tape him tomorrow as well, as that will give a good starting point.
This will probably be of no use or interest to anyone, but, I'm hoping it will help me get to grips with his new management regime.
It's his & mine, first ever dealings with this & having seen both my barefoot trimmer & physiotherapist (I initially thought he'd strained something) & speaking to my vet, I need to get a handle on it.
We think it's been triggered by a few things:
* Pete's ongoing battle with the bulge & me feeding too much
* Changing to a 'light' feed balancer - which essentially, still gave him too many calories
* Moving into summer grazing fields (despite being muzzled & out for half a day)
* Possibly being wormed ( well, he was definitely wormed, but apparently it's fairly common for lami sensitive horses to react)
Combined with generally a wet, mild winter & far too much rain & sun.
Looking back - I've fed him far too much for far too long. I should have muzzled him whilst he was in the winter field still & the Spring grass started coming through.
I feel SO guilty, that I've let this happen. I'm hoping by having a diary, I can regularly update with photo's, condition scores & other bits and pieces - I can help manage it better.
At least, we've caught it early - he's fully weight bearing, sound at walk but 'shuffly' in trot, but with pulse's & warm feet.
The plan of action : reduce his hay intake (he was getting 10Ibs of soaked hay overnight, as well as grass) , keep him off the grass until there are no more pulses - then introduce a little grazing at a time & exercise.
He's been taken off the light balancer & will most likely stay off it - apparently, he really can live off grass & hay most of the time! He'll get a token breakfast of literally a scattering of unmollased chaff.
No more treats - I'm ashamed to say, he got far too many.
He'll probably hate me - he looked at his new, smaller net with disgust tonight ...!
I'm going to condition score him & weigh tape him tomorrow as well, as that will give a good starting point.
This will probably be of no use or interest to anyone, but, I'm hoping it will help me get to grips with his new management regime.
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