The Royal Veterinary College has recently been awarded a grant of over £100,000 to fund a study on the beneficial effects of exercise for horses and ponies that contract laminitis. Laminitis is very painful condition that affects the feet, mainly occurring in ponies that are turned out on grazing that is too rich and lush for their bodies to cope with.
As the wall of a pony’s hoof cannot swell when it becomes, the pain suffered by the pony is terrible and an affected pony often adopts a posture that is almost a crouch to relieve the pressure on his feet, and is unwilling to move at all. Once a horse or pony has contracted laminitis he remains prone to further attacks, and the hoof wall can become badly damaged and even deformed as a result. Since the old saying ” No Foot, No Horse” is extremely true, often the only remedy in these tragic circumstances is humane euthanasia.
Careful treatment is involved, including restricting the pony’s grazing to try and prevent him from getting too fat, as native ponies are traditionally accustomed to sparse grazing by nature, are usually greedy, and can get very fat very quickly on good grass. It is believed that this new study will look at the beneficial effects of regular exercise on ponies that are prone to this distressing condition and also at the question of why some horses and ponies are more likely to get laminitis than others. Regular Exercise improves circulation in legs and feet of both humans and equines and carried out on a regular basis will help both to keep weight down.