If you think your horse has laminitis, ring your vet immediately. Do not wait to see how it goes overnight, and do not walk the horse to see whether it works out of it.
Laminitis is extremely painful, can progress quickly and needs urgent veterinary attention. This article will help you recognise the early signs and understand why spring can increase the risk. It is not a substitute for veterinary advice, and no product sold in a saddlery can treat laminitis or guarantee its prevention.
While we are not vets, we can help you understand what to look for and when to make the call.
What is laminitis?
Agriculture Victoria describes laminitis as a crippling disorder of the feet resulting from damage to the sensitive soft tissues—the laminae—that connect the pedal bone to the inside of the hoof wall.
In practical terms, the laminae are interlocking structures that suspend the pedal bone within the hoof capsule. When they become damaged and lose structural integrity, that attachment weakens. This is extremely painful, and in serious cases the pedal bone can rotate or sink within the hoof.
The term founder is often used interchangeably with laminitis, although it more specifically describes the structural changes that can occur within the hoof as the condition progresses.
Laminitis most commonly affects the front feet because they carry more of the horse’s weight, but it can affect any or all four feet. Early veterinary involvement matters because changes within the hoof may begin before the outward signs become severe.
Why does spring grass raise the risk?
Research in this area has advanced considerably, giving us a clearer understanding than much of the older advice provides.
Research led by the Australian Equine Laminitis Research Unit at the University of Queensland demonstrated that prolonged, experimentally induced high insulin can cause laminitis. In one study, healthy Standardbred horses subjected to sustained hyperinsulinaemia developed laminitis within 48 hours. This established that high insulin could be a direct cause rather than simply being associated with the condition.
The practical link to your paddock is important. Rapidly growing spring pasture can contain high levels of non-structural carbohydrates. Sugars and starch that are digested and absorbed can provoke a particularly large insulin response in a horse with insulin dysregulation.
Fructans are also included within the water-soluble carbohydrate measurement used in pasture analysis, but they are processed differently and should not simply be described as sugars that directly raise insulin. The clearest practical concern for a susceptible horse is the abnormal insulin response that can follow grazing carbohydrate-rich pasture.
This helps explain why pasture-associated laminitis is commonly seen during spring. The concern is not simply that the grass is new or lush; it is how the horse’s metabolism responds to what the pasture contains.
Pasture carbohydrate levels are not constant. They vary with the grass species, stage of growth, sunlight, temperature, moisture and plant stress. Levels can remain high after frost and during other stressful growing conditions, which is particularly relevant in Victoria when spring weather can swing between frosty mornings and warm, sunny days.
There is no single turnout time that is guaranteed to be safe for a high-risk horse. Your vet can help you develop an appropriate grazing and feeding plan based on your horse’s individual risk.
Which horses are most at risk?
Not every horse is equally vulnerable. Knowing whether your horse is in a higher-risk group can guide how carefully you manage the spring months.
Higher-risk horses generally include:
- Horses and ponies that are overweight or have regional fat deposits, particularly a cresty neck
- Ponies and some hardy breeds that evolved to thrive on relatively sparse pasture
- Horses with equine metabolic syndrome or known insulin dysregulation
- Older horses with PPID, formerly called equine Cushing’s disease
- Horses that have experienced laminitis previously
Not every horse with insulin dysregulation looks overweight, and not every overweight horse will develop laminitis. Appearance alone cannot establish the risk.
If your horse falls into one of these groups, your vet is the right person to help you prepare for spring. Blood testing—including resting insulin or a dynamic test where appropriate—can help assess whether a horse has insulin dysregulation. Your vet can choose and interpret the most appropriate test because results can be affected by factors including recent feeding, season and the horse’s current health.
What are the early signs of laminitis?
Early recognition can make an important difference to the outcome. Look for:
- A shortened, pottery stride, especially on hard ground or when turning in a circle. It is often described as walking on eggshells.
- Shifting weight from one front foot to the other while standing.
- The classic stance, with the front feet pushed out in front and the weight rocked back onto the hindquarters to take the load off the toes. By this stage, laminitis is well established.
- Reluctance to move, turn or pick up a foot.
- Heat in the hoof wall and a bounding, unusually strong digital pulse at the fetlock. Learn where that pulse is on your horse when it is well, so you can recognise a meaningful change.
- Lying down more than usual, or being difficult to get up.
Any one of these signs warrants a call to your vet the same day. If several appear together, call your vet now.
Milder or early cases can be subtle, presenting as a horse that is slightly footsore, seems stiff or is not quite right on a circle. The absence of the textbook stance does not rule out laminitis, so call your vet if you are concerned.
Can a horse recover from laminitis?
Often, yes. This is worth saying clearly because the word can lead people to assume the worst. The outcome depends on how severe the episode is, how quickly it is treated, whether the pedal bone has moved inside the hoof, and whether the underlying cause is found and managed. Mild cases caught early and managed well can return to normal work. Severe cases, particularly where there has been significant movement of the pedal bone, are much harder, and some horses do not recover.
Laminitis may be described as developmental, acute or chronic. The acute stage is the painful episode requiring immediate treatment. Chronic laminitis generally refers to cases in which structural changes have occurred within the hoof or clinical problems persist and require longer-term veterinary, farriery and management support.
A horse that has experienced laminitis remains at increased risk of another episode, particularly if the underlying cause, such as insulin dysregulation or PPID, is not controlled. Ongoing management remains important even after the horse appears comfortable.
Diagnosis is a veterinary job. It generally involves a clinical examination and may include hoof-tester examination, radiographs to assess the position of the pedal bone and blood tests for underlying insulin dysregulation or PPID. The examination and tests required will depend on the individual case. Laminitis and the extent of any internal hoof damage cannot be assessed reliably from a photograph or over a counter.
What should I do while waiting for the vet?
Once you have called your vet, minimise the horse’s movement. Do not walk, lunge, ride or deliberately turn the horse to assess how sore it is.
If it can be done without forcing the horse to walk any distance, move it off pasture and onto a deeply bedded stable or small yard where the surface provides support beneath the whole foot. Bring water and appropriate forage to the horse rather than making it walk to them.
Do not give pain relief or make sudden changes to feed unless your vet instructs you to do so. Medication given before the examination can alter the signs your vet needs to assess, and the correct immediate management will depend on the horse and the suspected cause.
Follow your vet’s instructions about hoof support, feeding and whether the horse should be moved. If transport is required, ask how it should be managed before loading the horse.
What can I do to reduce the risk?
These management measures should be planned with your vet, particularly for a horse that is already at high risk or has experienced laminitis previously.
Manage total pasture intake. Reducing access to lush pasture is one of the most direct measures available to most owners. Options may include a dry lot or smaller grass-free yard supplied with an appropriate amount of suitable hay, strip grazing or a correctly fitted grazing muzzle.
Simply limiting turnout to particular hours does not always provide reliable control. Pasture carbohydrate levels vary with weather and growing conditions, and some horses compensate for shorter turnout by eating more quickly. Horses at particularly high risk may need to be removed from pasture completely on veterinary advice.
Use a grazing muzzle correctly if you use one. A grazing muzzle can reduce pasture intake while allowing the horse to remain outside with company and continue moving, but the reduction varies between horses and it is not a guarantee against laminitis.
Before leaving the muzzle on, watch the horse take a full drink from its usual water source. A muzzle that works with a deep trough may not allow the horse to drink properly from a shallow one.
Introduce the muzzle for short periods and build up gradually. Remove it after the first few hours to check the nose, chin, lips and the areas behind the ears where the straps sit. Continue checking the horse and muzzle daily for rubbing, damage and correct fit.
Provide an appropriate amount of forage over as much of the day as practical. Horses need sufficient fibre for digestive health, but an overweight or insulin-dysregulated horse may require a carefully controlled forage ration rather than unrestricted hay.
Slow-feeder nets and bags can help spread that measured ration across more hours. The amount and type of hay should be determined with your vet or an equine nutritionist. Our guide to slow feeders and hay nets explains the different options and how to use them safely.
Change feed gradually. Agriculture Victoria advises introducing feed changes gradually over three to five days because sudden dietary changes can contribute to colic or laminitis. A horse already experiencing or suspected of having laminitis needs immediate veterinary advice about what to feed and should not simply be transitioned according to a general timetable.
Keep weight under control. Regular body condition and cresty-neck scoring, followed by early action when weight or regional fat deposits begin increasing, is more valuable than relying on any single product. Your vet or an equine nutritionist can help establish an appropriate weight and feeding target.
Use exercise appropriately. Regular exercise can be valuable for weight and metabolic management in a sound horse. Never exercise a horse that currently has laminitis, is footsore or is suspected of developing laminitis unless your vet has specifically approved it.
Keep up with farriery. Regular trimming and appropriate hoof balance are important. Your farrier may notice changes in the hoof, but suspected or active laminitis requires veterinary assessment. In diagnosed cases, the vet and farrier should work together on hoof support and longer-term management.
Know your horse’s normal. Become familiar with its usual digital pulses, hoof temperature and movement on its normal surfaces. Establishing that baseline makes it easier to recognise a genuine change without deliberately walking a sore horse to test it.
How saddlery products fit into the plan
No hoof dressing, boot or supplement treats a horse that already has laminitis. Suspected laminitis requires immediate veterinary attention, regardless of what products the horse is already receiving.
Some products may help reduce particular risk factors when used as part of an appropriate feeding and management plan. Founderguard is one example. It is a registered feed additive containing virginiamycin and is designed to control the bacteria responsible for lactic-acid accumulation in the hindgut, helping to reduce the risk of feed-induced laminitis associated particularly with high-grain diets.
Other feeds and supplements may be recommended to support a low-sugar diet, digestive health, weight management or hoof quality. Their purpose and evidence vary, however, and none should be assumed to prevent every type of laminitis. Product selection should be based on the horse’s diet, health and diagnosed risk factors, with advice from a vet or qualified equine nutritionist.
Founderguard may be considered for:
- Performance horses receiving high-grain diets
- Young horses in high-feed, low-exercise sale-preparation programmes
- Horses undergoing an increase or significant change in dietary starch or sugar
- Horses with a previous history of feed-induced laminitis or founder
Founderguard does not treat active laminitis and should not replace careful feeding, weight control or pasture management. It targets digestive disturbance associated with carbohydrate fermentation in the hindgut and should not be assumed to prevent insulin-associated laminitis in a horse with equine metabolic syndrome, insulin dysregulation or PPID.
Because Founderguard contains an antibiotic active ingredient, it must be introduced and fed according to its directions. Seek veterinary advice before using it to ensure it is appropriate for your horse and the particular risk being managed.
Diagnosing a horse over the phone or across a shop counter is not appropriate. Laminitis and the conditions that predispose a horse to it require veterinary assessment, blood testing where appropriate and, in some cases, radiographs.
We can help provide products and practical equipment to support a management plan established by your vet or equine nutritionist. This may include an appropriate feed or supplement, grazing muzzle, slow-feeder net, hay bag and day-to-day items from our stable equipment and hoof care ranges.
Diagnosing a horse over the phone is not appropriate. Laminitis, and the conditions that predispose horses to it, need a vet, blood tests where appropriate, and often radiographs. We can help with the practical gear required for a management plan your vet has set, including grazing muzzles, slow feeder nets and hay bags, and the day-to-day items in our stable equipment and hoof care ranges.
Quick answers
What are the first signs of laminitis in horses?
A short, pottery stride, shifting weight between the front feet, reluctance to turn, heat in the hoof and a strong digital pulse. Ring your vet the same day.
Is laminitis an emergency?
Treat suspected laminitis as urgent. Ring your vet immediately rather than waiting to see whether it improves.
Why does spring grass cause laminitis?
Rapidly growing pasture is high in sugars. In horses with insulin dysregulation, that sugar load drives an insulin response that research has shown can directly cause laminitis.
Which horses get laminitis?
It occurs most commonly in overweight horses and ponies, those with equine metabolic syndrome or PPID, and any horse that has had laminitis before.
Do grazing muzzles prevent laminitis?
No. A muzzle reduces pasture intake, which is one part of a management plan set with your vet. It does not guarantee protection against laminitis.
Should I walk a horse with suspected laminitis?
No. Keep the horse still, do not force it to walk, and ring your vet.
Can a horse recover from laminitis?
Many do. The outcome depends on the severity, how quickly it is treated, whether the pedal bone has moved, and whether the underlying cause is managed. Only your vet can assess where your horse sits.
If you need gear for a management plan
Once your vet has set the plan, we can help with the practical side. Our stable equipment range includes the Equiprene rubber base grazing muzzle, and our feed bins and hay bags range includes slow feeder nets and bags for spreading forage throughout the day.
Ring us on (03) 9376 5444 if you would like to talk through what is practical for your setup. We have been supplying Melbourne horse owners since 1977, and we are always comfortable referring you to your vet when a product will not help.
Sources
- Agriculture Victoria, Health and welfare, horses. https://agriculture.vic.gov.au/livestock-and-animals/horses/health-and-welfare
- Agriculture Victoria, Basic horse care (gradual feed change guidance). https://agriculture.vic.gov.au/livestock-and-animals/horses/basic-horse-care
- de Laat, M.A. et al., Equine laminitis: induced by 48 h hyperinsulinaemia in Standardbred horses, Equine Veterinary Journal (Australian Equine Laminitis Research Unit, The University of Queensland). https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20156248/
- The diagnosis of equine insulin dysregulation, Equine Veterinary Journal. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28543410/
- Australian Equine Laminitis Research Unit, School of Veterinary Science, The University of Queensland, research funded in part by RIRDC.
