Laminitic pony

[newbeginnings22]

Seemed to have found the perfect pony.... however has had one previous episode of laminitis ( resolved after 5 weeks) this was following a lengthy period of being turned away.
Current owner gives daily muzzled turnout.
Happy for me to speak to their Vet etc...
although I have horse owning experience, I have none directly of laminitics/ems/cushings
Wwyd? Avoid like the plague or take the risk on an otherwise amazing little pony
Further info. Pony would be initially kept at livery until our home stables built. Good "horsey" friend network for advice. Most saying go for it

Has pony got EMS or cushings? If cushings then you can test and medicate for.
Personally it wouldn't put me off because I know how to manage it.
Basically needs low starch/sugar diet, soaked hay, reduced grazing etc plus exercise. Don't let pony get fat, slightly underweight is much healthier than overweight and use winter to get rid of weight ready for Spring.
The only thing is I would want xrays of feet to ensure no pedal bone rotation has occurred.

@twistyizzy thanks for advice regarding X-rays!
I'm familiar with the basic principles... it's just I'm worried I spend my life worried about it 🤔

@twistyizzy I was going to discuss ? Ems/cusgings with vet. Owner hasn't mentioned either I'm speculating

It definitely does need careful management eg soaking hay, the feed you give, shoeing etc but if PPID (Cushing) then Prascend goes a long way to preventing it.
It certainly wouldn't put me off as long as xrays came back OK

100% test for EMS and PPID

I have one with EMS and it’s an absolute nightmare.
I wouldn’t touch with the biggest bargepole in the world.

What's your turnout options at your livery yard?

Personally I would probably only take on a pony that's had laminitis if I had good all weather turnout off grass.
I personally don't believe in stabling horses so I would want somewhere where they go get plenty of exercise whilst having little or no grass. I would then be feeding soaked hay multiple times per day.

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@namechange92571 they do have "starvation paddocks" turnout so to speak.
Lucky in the respect that if/when we moved the pony to our own place I could easily have a non grazing turnout area.

@WiseBiscuit this is my gut instinct. But the pony is as perfect as I could hope for otherwise 🤦‍♀️

Mine is a 21 Yr old PPID horse and I manage him fine. EMS can be a bit more complicated but it certainly wouldn't put me off if pony was perfect in every other way

Most of what I would question has already been posted above so won’t repeat.

What is your grazing like at home? Roughage or lush? Could you create a track system? Who would pony be out with? Needs to be a good match management wise. Forage- can you source rougher hay as you will need plenty when limiting grazing.

Was weight an issue when the episode occurred or could it have been concussion type through being worked too hard without conditioning? Conditioning also reminds me to ask about your ground type - very stoney might exacerbate things.

@BitzNBobz we only have 2 acres at home. Lush former farmland.
Excellent point regarding companion being compatible. Plan was/is buy a pony and when our facilities ready move home with a companion
As our facilities are just in planning stages I haven't looked into hay supplier as yet

If you only have 2 acres you are pushing it for 2 ponies anyway.

I’ve get one oldie with Cushings. He gets lami regularly. It’s a pain to manage, painful for him and costs a fortune in vet visits for bloood tests, medications and Bute. I wouldn’t buy a horse that has prone to laminitis

@twistyizzy 2acres is plenty space wise for two ponies if your prepared to put some form of surface down and not have grass.

Maybe create a paddock paradise track around your land? Keeps them moving and allows you to restrict/control food intake.

Yes only if a track surface is put down but as a paddock 2 acres isn't sufficient

Thanks for the input thus far. Apologies if I've missed replying to any advice. I'm On the damn app and can't figure out out to put posters comment in my reply to address each point

Having had 2 with lami back in the day - 1 pony and 1 horse I wouldn’t touch it with a very long barge pole .

I worked for a long while at the Laminitis Clinic, so feel somewhat expereinced enough to reply.

Don't do it.

1 - I bet it's had it more than once
2 - Moving it from where it's managed on to different grazing completely could be a trigger
3 - if it's Cushings, it gets expensive to treat
4 - EMS has a variety of products you couldtry, but Metformin isn't cheap which is what the vet would generally advise.
5 - the stress and worry takes away enjoyment

The list could be much longer i'm sure!

I've got 10 acres to use but across winter and summer, i never use more than 2 acres for my 3, who are strip grazed March - Nov.
Depends on the land - ours grows and recovers so fast!!

We have an old boy (kids pony age 24) with cushings who had undiagnosed lami before he came to us four years ago and has had two flare ups the past two aprils (not full blown but feet getting sensitive and other mild symptoms).
We manage him by stabling in April on soaked hay and then out at night muzzled once the symptoms pass. He's on 1.5 prascend a day which gets quite expensive.
He is an absolute doll though and I don't regret buying him, though I do spend a disproportionate amount of time worrying about him!

We’ve got 5 (3 big horses, 2 ponies) on less than 3 acres and still too much grass.

The old criteria of 1.5 acres for first horse and 1 per additional horse as a minimum often doesn’t work for the metabolically challenged.

My EMS pony needed 6 weeks of Levothyroxine and that was horrendously expensive.

I bought a 12 year old Shetland pony that had had laminitis, she was as fat as a barrel.

I simply managed her weight, built a small paddock and had one of my other horses graze it down. Muzzled her in the big field and always brought her in at night, she never had it again and lived to 32.

So, yes, I would.

I personally wouldnt.. but my risk tolerance might be lower than yours. Why start off with issues there are so many nice horses for sale about? Is this your 1st horse? Its hard enough getting to grips with being soley responsible for a horse nevermind needing to have a keen eye / forsight for preventing triggers. If they get these issues along the way fair enough but its a frustrating process took a friend 12 months to get to grips with managing her ponies EMS for it to be enjoyable. They have to clip out their ponies legs and be washing them with medication/ careful excercise routine rain or shine to keep on top of it and even then it flares up and they are back to square 1