There is BIG money in laminitis supplements and it’s easy to see why. Don’t we all wish we could just give our horse a pill or supplement and make it all go away? Even those already testing their hay, limiting pasture intake, exercising their horses, and making sure their overall nutrition plan covers all the bases find it may not be enough. We still long for something that would make life easier and go back to the way we kept horses before. We just have to keep trying to find that magic pill or potion. If we think we have stumbled onto the supplement of our dreams, we don’t want to let go. We can delude ourselves into thinking THIS thing is going to end the emotional roller coaster that is owning a horse with chronic laminitis.

Laminitis is a symptom of several diseases that may not be noticeable in early stages, like Lyme, EMS, and PPID. Metabolic laminitis is so multi-factorial that researchers are just now getting a basic understanding of the dietary-genetic interactions that trigger it. Even when you are not aware of doing something different, lots of things may be going on in the background that affect the NSC content of the diet, which in turn influence insulin levels that drive laminitis and hoof pain.

My kitchen counter in full freak-out mode.

We all freak out and lose our objectivity when we deal with our first case of serious laminitis. I sure did. When my regular vet and farrier proved unhelpful, I was frantically looking on the internet to find solutions. I fully understand how desperate owners are willing to buy remedies and feeds sold with very little science supporting their use, and base their marketing on big promises and testimonials from grateful clients. Then, as the initial shock wore off, and all the remedies bought in a rush proved to be unhelpful, I gradually got my logical, skeptical brain back. That’s when I was able to start experiments with various solutions, using my experience as a professional agricultural researcher. I tried to only change one thing at a time, journaled changes and observations, tried to find objective, quantifiable measurements of success or failure, and tried on/off/on repetitions when I was not sure if something was working. It is a useful approach that everyone should try, because every animal is different and there is no one-size-fits-all solution.

When you think you have found something that helped your horse, it’s normal to be ecstatic. We WANT something to turn this around. However, my experience in analyzing statistical data from research trials in my own business made me a born again skeptic when it comes to deciding when a product really works. Early predictions of efficacy often do not make it through statistical analysis. There are often too many confounding factors. It’s the same with laminitis.

Do you record weather data for solar radiation, rainfall, soil moisture, and temperature? All these can make a big difference in the amount of sugar ingested by a horse at pasture. Did you change the amount of exercise? Get a different batch of hay? Change paddocks, so your horse is no longer eating the toxic weeds that made his feet sore? Was there a change in the biomass of the pasture due to a change in growing conditions? Was there a change in the type of plants currently available? Some plants prefer cool temperatures in spring and die off during hot weather, or vice versa. Did drought kill off the grass and leave only deep rooted perennial weeds? Where only some of the hay bales full of a high sugar weed? Did drought cause the footing to turn into cement? Was there a drought breaking rain? Is the ground now soft and your horse is more comfortable as a result? Did your horse get a new trimmer or different type of shoe? Did you get busy and change the interval in hoof care? Did you get a new horse in the pasture that bullies or plays with your horse so it doesn’t eat so much? Are the horses moving a lot more because the bugs are bad? Did the bugs get better and your horse is no longer stomping flies? Is autumn over and the seasonal rise of ACTH is no longer affecting your horse with undetected PPID? Did the neighbor kids finally stop feeding your horse cookies over the fence? Did the boarder at your barn that felt sorry for your horse and fed him more or something different when you were not there finally stop? Did you run out of those shavings that had walnut in them and you didn’t notice? Do you base your horse’s subtle changes in soundness or body condition on the opinions of your friends or other boarders?

When our horses get laminitis we purposely change several things (hopefully) and often times many things all at once. Other factors change that we don’t have any control over, and may not even notice. This is why clinical efficacy studies for a product or drug require strict protocols and standardized procedures. They must be done by non-biased scientists (often blind to which animal is treated vs. control) with a number of animals with the same condition, qualified and quantified by the same test protocols, under the exact same living conditions, routine and diet, with results based on quantitative, objective data. Clinical studies are the only way we can determine if something really works.

Field studies are when a company provides free product to users, then contact them later to see if the person thought it was helpful. There is no supervision, no trained observers, no standardized diet, routine, or housing. If numerical data is generated it is often done by different labs with different test protocols that may not produce equivalent numbers. Again, as a skeptic, I doubt that an emotionally involved horse owner can be objective enough to evaluate product efficacy. I know the farmers that I gave free product to do field studies were not. Yields shared to buddies at the donut shop often did not stand up after I analyzed data from digging and weighing replicated strips of potato rows.

Glucose and insulin levels before and 2 hours after 1 kg alfalfa Chaffhaye for breakfast. (yes, Kaliber’s insulin was always very high)

Sometimes we have to do our own comparisons because the funding for research pertaining to backyard horses is very limited. It might go like: use Supplement X for 3 weeks on, 3 weeks off, several times. Take lots of notes, pictures, and measurements to decide if it works on THIS horse. Only then is it responsible to say “hey, I tried Supplement X and my horse is not laying down all the time now”, or “insulin levels in normal range for the first time in years”. I did this with alfalfa Chaffhaye, a fermented, moist, bagged product that I thought would be a good carrier for my horse’s supplements. I wanted to see if this product raised my horse’s insulin. I had a local vet pull blood before and 2 hours after a meal of the product. After getting these results, I was comfortable using the product, and even recommending it for others to try. DO remember that every horse is different, and don’t assume your horse will react the same.

A lot of times, people say ‘but my horse is better now and I’m afraid to change anything’. Fine, if you are wealthy. But if you are on a budget like most of us, spending $100 a month on supplements that aren’t really helpful is preventing you from spending it on thing that has PROVEN worth, like testing hay for NSC, buying hay in bulk when you get a good test, testing insulin more often, getting a second opinion from a vet more interested and experienced in endocrine disease, or a more experienced hoof care provider. Do the math to help you make your decision. Take away one thing at a time, just like you try to add one thing at a time.

In the meantime, ask supplement makers to provide data generated from properly set up and controlled clinical trials to back up their claims. We all have to make the effort to let them know we are not going to be manipulated by their promises and testimonials without even attempting basic scientific studies. Use products under the supervision of your vet, who may have an interest in recommending it to other clients after she gets involved in taking insulin samples before and after adding a given supplement.

Supplement X really helped my horse’s laminitis, you should try it!