Laminitis is a painful and serious disease that can cause lameness in
horses. It is an inflammation of the laminae. The Laminae is tissue that
connects coffin bone and the wall of the hoof. Laminitis can occur in any horse,
usually obese horses, and ponies. It is caused by changes of horses' feed, lush
grass, retained placenta, intake of cold water while horse is still hot,
surgery, trauma to the hoof, riding on hard ground. Key Words: Laminitis,
Laminae, Inflammation, Founder, Coffin Bone Introduction: Laminitis can occur in
all horses. Ponies are more prone to laminitis, just as obese horses. A horse
that has had too much grain intake recently, or is turned out in a lush grass
paddock can get laminitis too. When a horse gets laminitis, the sensitive
laminae which contains the blood flow, becomes inflamed and since there is
little room in the hoof wall, the horse feels a lot of pressure, and pain. If
this is not treated right away, it can lead to acute laminitis, which is also
known as founder. Founder is detachment and or movement of the coffin bone. When
the bone detaches or moves it can make laminitis a permanent or chronic problem
(Equine-world). Discussion: There are many different types of laminitis. There
is grain founder, grass founder, water founder, and road founder. Each one of
these can cause the same problem in the laminae. Grain founder is when a horse
gets into a feed room and over does it, or if the horse is feed too much when
not working enough. Grass founder is when a horse gets turned out in the spring
to a lush field without being weaned on to the field slowly. Water founder is
when a hot horse has had a lot of cold water intake. Road founder is when the
horse is worked too hard on uneven surface (McArdle, C). Laminitis is weakening
of the coffin bone. This weakening can come from a lack of blood supply to the
area in the foot that is injured. In more severe cases, the lack of blood supply
causes the laminae on the outside of the foot to detach from the laminae on the
inside of the hoof wall. In the worst cases, the weakened laminae can no longer
support the weight of the horse, and the coffin bone moves to the wall. Movement
of the bone can cut off blood supply to the laminae by squashing blood vessels.
When the bone moves this is chronic laminitis also known as founder. With
chronic laminitis the horses hoof has a dished appearance to it. Implications
Laminitis if caught early enough will not cause any damage to the horse or the
horses' job. The horse will live a healthy life after laminitis. But if it is
not caught early, there could be many problems in the long run. That is why it
is very important to know the signs of laminitis. The signs are that the horse
could be stiff coming out of the stall or field usually in the front end. Almost
looking like a sore shoulder. The hoofs are hot to the touch. The horse looks
restless, trying to find a comfortable way to rest his legs, pointing of the
front toes.

Bibliography

http://www.cvm.uiuc.edu/ceps/PetColumns/equine_laminitis.html http://www.equine-world.com/laminitis.html
http://www.geocities.com/Nashville/1330/horses/laminitis.html McArdle, Camille,
D.V.M., Fear of Founder, Horse Illustrated, May 1996. http://saddleclub.dbw.org/danger.html