Equine Laminitis. You may have heard the term or even be familiar with this very painful condition. At best, it can cause permanent structural damage in your horse’s foot on a microscopic level that leads to permanent lameness and repeated infections. At worst, this separation of the laminae from the hoof wall to the coffin bone causes the latter to rotate downward and even puncture the sole of the hoof.
The Signs of Equine Laminitis
A good farrier can tell you. They know the signs; the most obvious: when the outer hoof separates from the inner hoof. But how can you spot this potentially fatal hoof disease? Watch for these red flags, even before signs of lameness have set in.
Abnormal Behaviour
How will you know? It’s often a guess, deduced if the horse is limping or laying, or favours a particular hoof by not putting any weight on it. He may shift his weight more–or even less!–often. Is he shortening his stride? Exhibiting a “bounding” pulse? You may only feel the difference in his behavior when you’re riding him. Then, it becomes a matter of diagnosing whether it’s founder, the more common navicular syndrome, or laminitis. At this stage, you’ve caught it early.
Severe Symptoms of Laminitis
Increased temperature in the hoof for a prolonged period of time (when it’s not that hot outside!) can indicated trauma in the laminar tissues. Abnormal hoof shape or rings, which take months to grow, are another indicator that Laminitis has set in. Another indicator is the white line where the sole and hoof wall meet. It’ll take a month or more to widen and spots of blood can appear, which mean laminae are most likely hemorrhaging and well in the infection zone.
Knowing what’s normal for your horse is the #1 way to assessing when such conditions as Equine Laminitis are setting in. Using the Equi-Stim Leg Saver ting point electro therapy is your next step to ease suffering and attack infections. It will kill the bacteria to stimulate good blood flow in the hoof; an area that is one of the most difficult to diagnose and treat on a horse. Leg Saver has helped countless horses grow ⅜ – ½ inch quality hoof growth per month, and maintain good hoof health for years to come.