189. New home...new problems...

This morning i got a call from the livery yard owner where Spice is kept saying that she didn't look quite right and had been seen lying down and looking uncomfortable on her feet :(

So, we agreed that she should be brought in and i would be there as soon as i could to check on her. So off i go to my local feed store to get some high fibre low sugar haylage to substitute her grass intake whilst inside.

I arrive at the stables to find Spice standing up and alert (her normal self) which was a good sign and immediately check her hooves over. They all feel warm to touch with raised digital pulses but they don't look out of shape apart from the odd bit of chipping and she doesn't have a cresty neck and is not particularly overweight so I walk her around the yard to see how she is moving and she seems to be walking o.k so i decide to keep her in for the rest of the day with small rations of haylage, water and a salt lick and decide to come back to check on her later on...

Later on i arrive to find her still standing up so she is obviously not that uncomfortable since the stable flooring is concrete - although we did make a nice deep bed for her to lie down in if she wished but apparently she hadn't used it. So i walk her around the yard again to check her movement and once again she seems fine. So, having kept her in all day we decide to put her out in a small paddock with limited grazing with 2 other horses. The only problem is 2 of Spices best friends are in the paddock next door. So, as soon as i take off her head collar she gallops flat out to go and meet them until she realises there is a fence in her way....However, not to be deterred by a 3 foot fence Spice continues to trot around showing absolutely no signs of discomfort and with a little determination and impulsion she jumps straight over it making a b line for her companions.

The problem is i can't leave her out there with them because that's where she was before and the grass is just too rich and if it is mild laminitis that's the worst thing she can be out on so we then decide to put all of them in the restricted grazing paddock in the hope that if they are all in there together Spice wont feel the need to escape.

Tomorrow i think i will keep Spice in during the day and only let her out in the evening with a muzzle on.

Luckily, I have the vet coming tomorrow to give Spice her yearly vaccination so will be able to ask them whether it is the onset of laminitis and what course of action to take and the day after that my trimmer is coming so she will be able to advise me too.

My gut feeling is that it's probably a very mild case of laminitis and a warning sign that the grass is definitely too rich and if her poos are anything to go by that's definitely the case but if i stick to my plan above i think all will be o.k.

I guess the one good thing is that because i have seen Spice literally walk around crippled before for weeks on end due to a recurring abscess i don't tend to get stressed about her being 'slightly tender/uncomfortable and luckily i feel i know enough (having had a pony at my last yard have acute laminitis and make a full recovery) to know that as long as you are responsible and take action quickly it wont develop into anything serious.

So i guess I will update you all tomorrow to let you know what the vet thinks...fingers crossed it's what i think and nothing else. :)