Why Does Too Much Grain Cause Laminitis

Written by tom lenz dvm ms spring might be the best time of the year but if we have horses that are prone to developing grass founder this season may be the beginning of serious problems for some of our horses.

Why does too much grain cause laminitis.

Digestive upsets due to grain overload such as excess grain fruit or snacks or abrupt changes in diet. All these situations will result in an overload of soluble carbohydrate into the hindgut which will cause an imbalance in the resident microbial population. It can also increase the hay s bacterial load. What we do know is that through smart management you can reduce the risk of grain overload in your horses.

Other causes are the horse being ridden too hard especially in an over weight or out of condition horse. Most popular putting weight on a skinny horse 204 010. Although laminitis occurs in the feet the underlying cause is often a disturbance elsewhere in the horse s body. The causes vary and may include the following.

It s called equine metabolic syndrome or ems and it leaves tissues less sensitive to insulin which in turn causes the pancreas to produce more of this vital hormone. Eating too much cereal either in one feed or in successive feeds. Eating too much cereal based compound feed especially if highly molassed. However future episodes can be prevented by identifying the cause.

One dangerous disease that often results from ems is laminitis also known as founder. Many experts agree that grain overload and the changes it causes in the hindgut trigger laminitis. Management of the acute signs of laminitis is the same regardless of cause. Laminitis is a clinical sign of a more far reaching disease process or overload problem.

A horse bingeing on grain is always a cause for concern but with a plan and veterinary assistance horse owners can help to keep ill effects of equine overeating to a minimum. They can develop a condition very similar to type ii diabetes. Horses that are over the age of 10 easy keepers overweight or cresty necked seem especially vulnerable to grass founder and should be the focus of founder prevention. Soaking can cause nutrient and even dry matter loss which is important for laminitis prone horses and or those in a weight loss program.

A typical form of laminitis caused by inflammatory disease is grain overload horses usually have to eat at least 4 kg of straight starch rich grain in one go with the amount required to cause disease lower in horses that are not accustomed to eating a lot of grain.