A few months ago, my friend thought her horse was coming down with laminitis. She had been riding alot on roads down to a different barn to then go out riding with friends, and was scared her horse was showing signs of concussion laminitis. She called me, and I immediately advised her to call her vet. (As you might be aware, laminitis is nothing to play around with. Getting timely help for your horse can mean the difference between life and death.) I sat by the phone waiting for her call back. She told me her vet was out on an emergency colic case and would be out to her farm as soon as he could. So what happens now? We started brainstorming about what she could do for her horse to stop the laminitis from becoming worse.

I started doing internet searches and found lots of information in lots of different places. It was time consuming. In a laminitis case, there is no time to spare. I figured I would list the information I gathered in hopes of helping another horse owner become educated about what they can do to help their horse until the vet arrives.

So what can you do if you suspect your horse has laminitis and you have already called the vet? There are things you can do to help stop the laminitis from continuing further and to help your horse be comfortable, as laminitis is extremely painful.

• Encourage him to lie down
• Keep him on soft ground, preferrably deep shavings or sand
• Do not feed anything
• A small amount of water is OK if your horse is willing to drink - do not try to force him to drink
• Keep anything that may stress him away from him
• Give an anti-inflammatory medication (usually bute)
• Treat with mineral oil via a naso-gastric tube

A successful outcome will depend on how quickly the horse is treated. Your horse can be healthy, sound and working again if you follow the above advice, follow your vets recommendations, and apply a different daily management technique to your horse after the vet has left the farm. I've expanded on the above treatments at Laminitis Cure. It is important to the horse owner to become educated about this deadly disease. Over the years I've learned that a horse has the best chance at a healthy, productive life if their owner is edcuated to their needs. Horses are large, but very fragile, animals. Many people believe their size makes them indestructable. This is far from the truth. The only thing that can help our horses stay healthy and sound is for the horse owner to be educated.