Fall Laminitis
🍂Let’s settle in and talk about fall laminitis, because it deserves way more attention than it gets. Everyone panics about spring grass - and sure, spring grass is dramatic - but fall grass is the quiet villain. It’s the one that smiles politely, pretends it’s harmless, and then blindsides your horse with a metabolic sucker punch. September is the month where the environment sets up the perfect trap: cool nights, warm sunny days, and grass that’s stressed enough to hoard sugar like it’s preparing for winter survival.
🥬Here’s the part most people don’t realize. When temperatures drop overnight, the grass can’t use the sugars it produced during the day. It’s basically stuck. So instead of burning them for growth, it stores them. And then your horse walks out at 8 AM thinking it’s just another peaceful morning on pasture, completely unaware that the grass is loaded with non‑structural carbohydrates. That “harmless” fall grazing session becomes a metabolic ambush, especially for horses who already toe the line with insulin resistance or have a history of laminitis.
🍬The horses who get hit hardest are the ones you already watch like a hawk: the easy keepers, the cresty‑necked ones, the seniors, the horses who seem to gain weight just by sniffing a flake of hay. They’re the ones who walk into September with a target on their backs. And the signs aren’t always dramatic. Sometimes it’s just a slightly shorter stride, a little hesitation when turning, feet that feel warmer than usual, or a sudden attitude shift that makes you think your horse woke up in a mood. But those tiny changes matter. They’re the early whispers of a problem that becomes much louder if ignored.
🥸The frustrating part is that fall laminitis is preventable - but only if we acknowledge it exists. That means being intentional about turnout during those cool‑night/warm‑day cycles. It means using grazing muzzles even when people give you the “but it’s fall” side‑eye. It means keeping forage consistent and choosing hay that won’t send your horse’s blood sugar on a roller coaster. It means making sure your vitamin and mineral support actually matches your forage instead of guessing. And it means paying attention to the subtle signs instead of waiting for the dramatic ones.
🥰Your horse doesn’t care what month it is. Sugar is sugar. Their feet react the same way every time. Fall laminitis isn’t a seasonal myth - it’s a seasonal reality. And September is the month to stay ahead of it.
🍁Happy Feed Scoop Friday-Go prepare your ponies!
