What Causes Laminitis In Horses

This is often seen when a horse breaks into a sweet feed bin and gorges himself or a pony is given free reign on a young spring pasture.

What causes laminitis in horses. Heavy breeds such as draft horses overweight body high nutritional plane feeding large amounts of carbohydrate rich meals ponies morgans. Increased neck and tail head fat deposits laminitis acute and chronic obesity insulin resistance high insulin levels with normal blood glucose concentration infertility. There are many causes of equine stress and due to some stress laminitis in horses may be developed. Equine metabolic syndrome is basically a collection of clinical signs such as.

Laminitis tends to be a secondary condition arising from a variety of sources so we ll guide you through the most common. Soluble carbohydrates including sugars and starch when consumed in excess can overload the horse s digestive system with undigested sugar and starch which is pushed through to the hindgut. There are several causes of laminitis but the primary cause is a sudden increase in carbohydrates in the horse s diet. Factors that seem to increase a horse s susceptibility to laminitis or increase the severity of the condition when it does occur include the following.

A high intake of soluble carbohydrates can be a cause of laminitis. There are a number of contributing factors overload inflammation metabolic issues and physical trauma among them.