Alayne and Bob at a 2012 reining show. Bob was diagnosed with laminitis in 2007 but with careful management has been able to return to career of regular riding and competition. | Photo: Alayne Blickle

I had brought him for a lameness evaluation and MRIs because his off and on lameness for the previous year was stumping my vets. We needed answers, but this wasn’t what I had hoped for. I was shocked, but knew when this happened. At an out-of-state reining show the previous spring Bob had a fairly aggressive show schedule plus he ended up having to be reshod several times–his big stride caused him to over-reach from behind and pull off his front shoes. His thin, flat soles couldn’t handle all that stress and he ended up extremely lame the last morning there.

At the time we thought he was just foot sore and endeavored to keep him comfortable and get him back home. In retrospect I now know that he had developed laminitis, or what in the old days we called road founder. My point I want to make here is not how or why it happened, but how I currently manage Bob’s diet and the fact that he has been able to return to a successful career of reining and competing.

Once a horse has developed laminitis they often become less tolerant of a diet containing high levels of sugars and starch, or non structural carbohydrates (NSCs). Horses with metabolic issues such as laminitis, Cushings, Equine Metabolic Syndrome, insulin resistance, Polysaccharide Storage Myopathy, etc. need to have their diets strictly managed for the rest of their lives to reduce NSCs. One of the best resources I found for learning about this is Katy Watts of Rocky Mountain Research and Consulting, Inc., https://www.safergrass.org/. Ms. Watts has DVDs and other educational materials available for purchase for a reasonable price