Pony Laminitis And Its Causes
This article is going to attempt to give the reader a good idea of what the disease laminitis is, and its identified causes. It must be clarified nevertheless , that there’s a lot that’s unknown about this illness. It is understood that laminitis affects old as well as young horses. It affects horses that are presently being put to strenuous levels of near daily training and conditioning, i.e, horses that are at absolute peak condition, just as much as it affects horses that live less strenuous lives or even inactive lives. No breed of pony is safe from this ailment.
As the disease’s name itself indicates laminitis is a soreness or an inflammatory reaction in the hooves of horses. There are only a few clinical indicators of the disease. Research has been extensive on the condition, and it looks to have links to several other illnesses that horses are exposed to, but most of the time, there seems to be little question that laminitis is primarily due to poor management of horses.
Stages of laminitis
The beginning of laminitis is identified by 3 distinct stages: the development, the acute and the chronic stages.
The developmental phase begins with the exposure of the animals to those elements that are likely to bring about the condition. This stage prevails till such time as the initial signs indicating onset of the next stage appear.
There isn’t any identifiable time period over which the acute stage develops. While this phase can see the illness setting into all four feet of the pony, it is normal for the front feet to be affected more. A pulse is clearly seen at the back of the fetlock, and also in the pastern area. The horse is in obvious agony, with the affected feet giving out higher than usual emanations of heat.
The chronic stage may be said to come into effect when the horse’s coffin bone, in the foot, starts rotating downward, or if excruciating pain has been felt by the pony for at least 48 hours. This stage signals the onset of the most unpleasant phase for the pony, and can go on for just days, a few weeks, one or two months, or at the acute, the whole life time of the pony.
What Factors Trigger the developmental stage?
Causes that set off laminitis include:
- The inclusion of cereal grains in the horse’s diet to a level that is much more than necessary. This situation is also called “carbohydrate overload”;
- Unexpected introduction of the horse to new or lusher pastures than it is used to. The pony consumes grass of composition that it has not had so far. This phenomenon also is called “excessive intake of legumes”;
- Allowing a pony to drink a large amount of really cold water within a short period of time right after it has been through a demanding work load and is experiencing great thirst;
- Infection of the horse by a bacteria called “Septicemia”;
- Working the horse for too much time or too hard on really hard surfaces, where the feet are subject to abnormal impact and concussion, a situation known as “road founder”;
- Hormonal changes, for example, the type that are triggered by foaling;
- The frequency of conditions of high fever, which force undesired after effects in the guise of an attack of laminitis, also known as “viral” reaction.
- Reactions to injections. Injections of corticosteroids in the main. This expression of the illness is alleged to be “pharmacologically induced”.
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