When I say I "put out 30lbs of hay", that doesn't mean they eat it all. They eat about 90% of what I put out. Also, my 250lb mini is very high maintenance since she's very active and high strung (its a battle to keep her body score a 5). The other two are very low maintenance.

Hi Erin,

Totally get the "life blowing up part" way toooo well. It happens. You can only do what you can do. Sometimes that works really ell, others times not so much.

At the combined weights of the three, total hay needed would be no more than 26lbs, so with 30lbs being available she is getting too much. This helps explain why she is carrying too much weight. Sounds like between the excess weight and suddenly not getting the exercise put her over the edge into mild laminitis. Finding a way to better control her food intake and increasing the exercise would be tops on my list. Instituting a paddock paradise is a great idea - says she who also has that on her bucket list.

When things settle down for you again, increasing her exercise time should be a priority. !0-20 min, 3 times per week is barely enough to make a dent, although is certainly better than nothing.

What a cutie :)

From the pix (thanks for those), the trim has gotten away from being optimal. Toes are quite long, heels run under. Likely, there is an overall excess amount of hoof height but would need laterals to confirm that. The frogs, heels and soles have migrated forward so are distorting the trimming landmarks. This means that the hoof form isn't as tight as it should be so any insults to the feet are likely to have greater impacts. Need to work on backing up the toes/heels to where they are at their structural strongest.

If she' mildly sore, yes adrenaline bursts can make her ignore mildly sore feet and take off. Cold hosing/icing, reducing total amount of food she ingests, getting rid of access to the greenies, realigning the trim are your goals here. Boots and pads if needed for now. Check the file here for things to do in an emergency when horse gets out on grass as it sounds as if she has had a similar type of trigger:

https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/EquineCushings/files/Emergency%20Protocols/

Lavinia, Dante, George Too and Peanut
Jan 05, RI
EC Support Team

I don't know exactly how much hay she eats every day, since she lives with my old pony and her sister. She's 300lbs, the pony is about 750lbs and her sister is about 250lbs. I put out about 30lbs of hay a day for them (half in the morning, half in the afternoon), and there's always some leftover the next day.

Hi Erin,

Sorry your little girl is having issues. How much hay, by weight, is she consuming per day? How much exercise is she getting? Why is she on CTB? Any green stuff she can get to in the drylot? Pix of her, and esp her feet, would be helpful - can add those the ECH8 Photo section. Posting a case history now (can amend it later as needed) would be helpful.

Unfortunately, the hardest part of keeping a mini healthy is somehow managing to get them enough exercise to keep their weight down and their metabolism revved.

AlCar probably wouldn't hurt as it can have an insulin-sensitizing effect. AAKG not appropriate while she is actively laminitc.

Cold (ice/hosing) while sore and pulses are elevated is helpful.

Lavinia, Dante, George Too and Peanut
Jan 05, RI
EC Support Team