Gro 'n Win® university-proven low glycemic, low starch and sugar formula is an excellent choice for your laminitic horse, pony or miniature horse. Highly fortified and nutrient-dense, Gro 'n Win® supplies all the essential nutrients your horse needs in a safe, low-calorie form that complements your forage.

Laminitis

What is laminitis?

If you have ever cared for a horse or pony that has suffered from laminitis, you know how painful and debilitating or even fatal this condition can be. While the specific cause of laminitis has eluded nutritionists, veterinarians and scientists for many years, we are closer to identifying the risk factors associated with laminitis and, as a result, are targeting management practices to help reduce the risk to individual horses and ponies. It can strike any horse or pony at any time, so focusing on reducing laminitic risk factors is the most practical way to manage the condition.

Simply put, laminitis is the inflammation of the lamina of the hoof wall that typically results in lameness. Laminitis is not a disease of the hoof but rather a metabolic condition that affects the entire body and is merely expressed in the hoof.

What causes laminitis?

Listed below are a few nutritional and nutritionally linked causes of laminitis in horses:

• Carbohydrate Overload - the most common cause of nutritionally induced laminitis is an overload of rapidly fermentable carbohydrates either from starch found in cereal grains or sugars and fructan found in grass.
• Glucose Metabolism - long-term feeding of sugar- and starch-based feeds may lead to changes in glucose metabolism resulting in insulin resistance. Overweight animals, especially ponies, are more prone to laminitis as a result of changes in insulin sensitivity.
• High Starch and Sugar - long-term feeding of sugar and starch-based feeds may lead to changes in insulin sensitivity. Large fluctuations in glucose and insulin following meals high in sugar may supply inappropriate signals of energy available to the glucose regulatory system, altering insulin sensitivity of the tissue.

Overweight horses and ponies are typically more prone to laminitis. This is most often associated with insulin resistance. Insulin resistance is a component of several metabolic conditions and a risk factor for the development of many diseases. Changes in the horse's insulin sensitivity are associated with conditions, such as some forms of tying-up, Developmental Orthopedic Disease, hyperlipemia and laminitis. Obesity and diet have been reported to have an effect on insulin sensitivity as well.

Causes of laminitis in horses are not always nutritional. Here are a few potential non-nutritional causes of laminitis:

• Physical Injury - concussion or mechanical trauma from physical injury, excessive trotting on roads or jumping on hard riding surfaces.
• Equine Cushing's Disease (Pituitary Pars Intermedia Dysfunction, PPID) - chronic laminitis is one of the most obvious and hardest to manage symptoms of Cushing's disease in horses.
• Endotoxemia - failure to pass the placenta post foaling increases a mare's risk of developing endotoxemia and toxin induced laminitis from an inflamed or infected uterus.
• Excessive Weight Bearing - injury to one limb may predispose the horse to laminitis as a result of excessive weight bearing on the opposite, unaffected limb.
• Long-Term Improper Shoeing - poor improper farrier care over a long period of time can cause laminitis, especially if the horse's heels are too long, putting excessive stress and strain on the hoof structures.
• Stress - horses under high amounts of stress, such as travelling and competing, are at a higher risk for developing laminitis.

What are the symptoms of laminitis?

Laminitis, whether acute (brief and severe episode) or chronic (long duration or recurring frequently), is always a veterinary emergency. If your horse exhibits any of the following symptoms, veterinary care should be sought immediately.

Acute Symptoms

• Extreme lameness and unwillingness to move
• Characteristic stance with forelimbs extended in front with hind limbs brought underneath in an attempt to shift the weight off the fore limbs
• Increased temperature of the hoof wall
• Pronounced increase in strength and rate of the digital pulse
• Unwillingness to lift either front foot off the ground
• Increased heart rate and respiration rate.
• Painful response when pressure is applied to the sole of the hoof
• Shifting weight from side to side.
• Patchy sweating
• Colic

Chronic Symptoms (may include some or all acute symptoms to a greater or lesser degree plus)

• Characteristic rings in the hoof wall  (wider at the heel than at the toe)
• Bruising of the soles may be presen
• The sole may appear to have a flat or dropped appearance
• A thickened "cresty" neck may have developed from either insulin resistance or laminitis
• A thickened white line may be observed at the toe (seedy toe) with a possible secondary infection present

What can I do about laminitis?

Reducing the incidence of laminitis is typically most effective when appropriate nutritional management is implemented.

• Avoid high-grain diets - Most horses and ponies in light work can be maintained on high quality forage based diets. Ration balancers, such as Gro 'n Win® or Gro 'n Win® Alfa, will help supply the vitamins, minerals and amino acids the animal needs but is typically lacking in forage.
• Keep your horse fit - maintain a healthy, moderate body condition score between 4 and 5 (on a 9-point scale). This moderate body condition decreases the risk of nutritionally induced laminitis and also decreases the potential development of insulin resistance, a contributor to laminitis.
• High fiber, low starch & sugar - for those horses and ponies who need additional calories to maintain body condition while working harder, high fiber, high fat, low starch and sugar concentrates such as Gro 'n Win® with Ultimate Finish™ 40 or Ultimate Finish™ 100 or Safe 'n Easy™ (fortified with Gro 'n Win® technology) are best.
• Forage is Key - ensure that your horse or pony is consuming adequate amounts of forage (hay or pasture). A minimum of 1% body weight per day is needed to maintain normal GI motility and function. If your horse weighted approximately 1100 lbs, he would require a minimum of 11 lbs of hay daily to meet this requirement and decrease the risk of grain induced laminitis.
• Dietary Changes - abrupt dietary changes, volume or type, can predispose your horse to laminitis. Smaller meals, more frequently throughout the day mimic a horse's natural eating behavior and reduce the risk of laminitis.

Grass-induced laminitis has often been thought to be a concern in the spring. Fructan, a complex water soluble carbohydrate, is highest in growing forage. Since grass tends to grow most of the year in more temperate climates, fructan induced laminitis is a concern for horses and ponies almost year round. Here are a few suggestions to reduce the risks associated with grass induced laminitis:

• Turnout Time - for horses prone to laminitis, turnout on pasture when fructan levels are lower (late evening until early morning). Remove them by mid-morning, at the latest, when fructan levels start to rise is best.
• Restrict Grazing - utilizing a grazing muzzle (that allows drinking) during turnout will help reduce forage intake while on pasture. This is also important when avoiding exposure to spring pasture (before flower development) and autumn is not a viable option.
• Mature Forages - grass hay that is more mature at harvest is usually lower in fructan. Alfalfa is also low in fructan but does contain starch, which may not be a good choice for every horse.

Gro 'n Win® has been scientifically formulated and university-proven to be low glycemic and low insulinemic, critical in managing horses with laminitis or prone to laminitic episodes. The Gro 'n Win® formula is a highly fortified, nutrient-dense formula that provides essential vitamins, amino acids and minerals in a safe, low-starch, low-sugar, low-calorie form. It complements your forage and helps you manage the dietary risks associated with laminitis.