Feed: bedding for horses - AggScore: 49.6

equine health problems laminitis

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Laminitis is one of the common equine health problems that horses suffer from. Laminitis is basically a breakdown of the strong connecting tissue, called laminae, that connect the pedal bone in the horse’s leg and foot area to the wall of the hoof.
As the tissue breaks down the pedal bone begins to sink into the hoof and sometimes can rotate as well.

Laminitis is one of the most painful and debilitating equine health problems that horses suffer from. Laminitis can cause permanent lameness for horses if it’s left untreated or not allowed to heal properly.

There are two forms of laminitis, chronic and acute. If your horse has an acute case of laminitis you’ll notice that your horse is standing with the front legs splayed out in front of it and the back legs tucked under in an attempt to take all the weight off the front legs or you might see the horse shifting its weight frequently. You also could see some swelling around the coronet band and the horse may have a temperature if there is a secondary infection.

As one of the equine health problems, laminitis almost always occurs in the front hooves so if your horse is trying to get weight off the front hooves then you need to check for laminitis immediately. If your horse has acute laminitis you’ll also feel heat from the hoof if you touch it and your horse will probably be very reluctant to lift its front hooves off the ground.

If your horse has chronic laminitis you’ll see the same symptoms that you’d see in a case of acute Laminitis but the symptoms won’t be as pronounced and you might miss them. That’s why checking your horse’s hooves every time you groom or ride is so important. If you’re cleaning and handling the horse’s feet regularly you’ll notice if something is wrong. Sometimes, in an acute case of laminitis you can see white rings around the outer edge of the hoof.

If your horse develops a case of acute Laminitis that doesn’t heal all the way, then your horse is more likely to develop chronic laminitis over time. If your horse does develop laminitis it’s very important that you allow the horse to fully heal before getting the horse back into a normal exercise and turnout schedule so that the horse doesn’t develop chronic laminitis. Among equine health problems, laminitis is one that you want to get ahead of immediately.

bedding for horses

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Here’s a good outline of various material you can use for bedding for horses from the University of Wisconsin-Madison:

Materials for bedding of stalls for all classes of livestock are becoming increasingly difficult to procure and the cost of these materials has increased dramatically over the past few years. Most items used for bedding are by-products of various industries. The economic status and increased technology have resulted in many materials that have traditionally been used as beddingbeing used by or within the industry producing them.

When studying potential bedding for horses, there are several factors to consider other than cost, availability and transportation. These factors include absorbency, dustiness, possible allergic reactions, consequences of materials being eaten, handling equipment, storage facilities, how quickly or well the materials decompose and flammability.

There are several types of bedding for horses available to the horseowner depending on geographic location. All bedding materials have advantages and disadvantages.

Straw - Good straw bedding comes from the stems of oats, wheat, rye or barley. Your location will be a great factor determining availability. Oat straw is the most common and most water absorbable, but is becoming more scarce and not readily available in some areas. Wheat straw is the next most desirable.

Straw commonly comes in bales that may vary in weight from 40 to 60 pounds, is clean and fresh looking, and relatively free of foreign materials such as dust, weeds and grass. Cut or chopped straw will absorb about 25% more water than long straw, but may produce some dust. Some horses will eat straw even though it has almost no nutritional value.

Wood Products - Sawdust and wood shavings are used by many horseowners. Fine sawdust should not be used because of dust and possible respiratory problems. Wood shavings or chips look good, are easy to handle and, if the stall is "picked" daily, it will keep the horse and stall clean.

Shavings or chips from soft wood are about twice as absorptive as hard wood. Wood products may have a tendency to dry the horse’s hooves, possibly needing moisture added to the hoof walls, coronary bands and frogs two to three times weekly. Wood shavings and sawdust may have a tendency to stick to newborn foals and the mare's reproductive tract during foaling.

Sawmill by-products may not be desirable because of hardwoods, dust and possible walnut particles that could cause laminitis (founder). Wood products decompose slowly and may increase soil acidity.

Paper Products - Shredded paper is a relatively new bedding material finding limited use in the horse barn. The quality of the product depends upon the quality of the paper. Results show that the average amount of water absorbed by shredded paper is greater than straw or wood shavings.

Bedding stalls with paper requires less material than using either straw or wood shavings. The paper bedding is dustless, clean and horse generally do not eat it.

Corn Plant - Crushed or ground corn cobs can be used as a good bedding for horses. Corn stover (stalks) need to be shredded or chopped for the best absorbency. Horses may be tempted to eat the stalks which have very little feed value. Ground or crushed corn cobs have a better appearance than the shredded or chopped stalks. Depending on availability, cost and handling, these may be good possibilities.

It is our responsibility as horseowners to also be concerned about the environment and how our horse interests may be affecting it. Being aware of optional choices in bedding for horses is good stable management.