Minds Must Change To Win Laminitis War

Owners have to realise weight should be lost in winter, leaving rugs off and managing condition to prevent issues

- Eleanor Jones

OWNERS must take advantage of natural weight loss, lay off the rugs and change mindset on obesity to help combat laminitis.

This was the message of a talk at the British Equine Veterinary Association (BEVA) congress in Birmingham (11-14 September).

Experts spoke on preventing, managing and treating different forms of the deadly disease.

Redwings Horse Sanctuary senior vet Nicola Jarvis said it is important owners realise what obesity means.

“It’s not just that the horse is a bit chunky, there’s such an excessive accumulation of fat, it’s having a negative health impact,” she said. “Studies have shown that by the time a horse has a maximum body condition score of five, 40% of its weight could be fat — so for a 600kg horses, that could be 240kg fat.