Arthur - Laminitis Management

After such a long drought, Texas is finally receiving a ton of rain! We actually have moved into an excess amount of rain for the year, although we still have not caught up for the last two years. So, as you can imagine, the grass has been growing like mad - and has been for about 2 months now.

Arthur was being kept up in a small paddock by the barn to keep him off of the grass as it first started growing after the drought. He has been doing really well with the emergency diet from the Equine Cushings Yahoo Group. Now, the group is of the opinion that you should never, ever let a cushings horse/pony out on any kind of grass. Hard core, no grass at all. But I have been struggling with that idea - and I can tell very quickly when Arthur is getting owie. I know for certain that when the grass grows either after a drought or first thing in the spring, that it is too much for Arthur. But he was eating the grass all last summer without trouble (when it was dried and brown). I have also read that the fall grass is actually the safest grass (lowest in starch). That combined with the consistent rain we have been getting made me feel that our grass is not stressed at this time, and I wanted to give Arthur the opportunity to be out with the herd (not to mention his paddock had become quite a muddy area, and I wanted to get his feet out of that situation as well). So I started letting Arthur out on the grass at night (when the grass is lower starch than during the day) for over a week and saw no sign of laminitis, so we started letting him out both day and night about mid-October. Actually, it was Oct. 10 to be specific, since that was the Horse Expo, and I had to use the panels that make his paddock for the Expo. Arthur has been out on pasture (coming in for 4-5 hours a day over 2 feedings of beet pulp and hay) for over 2 weeks now, and he is SO Happy to be a horse out with the herd again! My main concern are his feet, which I have been watching very carefully for the first sign of soreness. But so far, so good. I will continue to monitor him at every feeding and will keep him up again if I need to. But it appears we are to the "safe" time of fall grass, and soon it will all die off and then we will be home free until next spring.

So, I know that the wonderful ladies at the Equine Cushings group would probably admonish me for letting him have any grass at all, but I feel it is important to look at each horse individually. In another situation (a severely foundered horse/pony), I would be much more careful. But for our Arthur who has had mild laminitis a few times that we were able to clear up quickly with a change in diet & keeping him off grass when it was dangerous/starchy, I feel confident that with close monitoring of his comfort, I'll be able to make changes accordingly. At his age (25), quality of life is also important, and I want him to be happy. Not to mention that moving around with the herd all the time helps keep his arthritis from bothering him. In the last two weeks, on several occasions, I have seen him trotting and even cantering to come up for feeding time, which I have not seen in a while. To me, that's what being a horse is all about - feeling well enough to be out there running with the herd, free as can be.