20/10/2026
It’s a hoof dropping off time of year already!! This is what a sloughing hoof looks like. Like a blown foot abscess but without all the swelling and redness.
As per my annual plea, I beg you to get me to your horses early, because once they’ve got laminitis the solution is mechanics NOT drugs. If the hoof is losing its connection you must alleviate the pressure on the laminae and restore correct physiological function to the hoof.
To do this you need to understand precisely the mechanics required for excellent health in a normal hoof. They can go from excruciating pain to walking within minutes. The horse in this pic had been in the ground for days when I met him and on massive doses of drugs. I trimmed his feet while he was lying down, and he was up walking when I drove away, no drugs used, simply correction of mechanical overload. And no, the secret isn’t just boots!
Here’s your final conference tip by the way, straight from the associate professor of endocrinology Dr Francois Rene-Bertin and Dr Simon Bailey: a low sugar lifestyle must be the first and foremost management technique applied before drugs like Ertugliflozin are used. 25% of horses with hyperinsulinaemia associated laminitis are euthanised, and 35% have recurrence.
Once they’ve been on the drug for more than one month they will start to get muscle loss. They should not stay on it for longer than a month. Pergolide for PPID wont lower insulin enough to stop laminitis.
A better diet is compulsory. They repeated this statement at least 12 times during the lectures. They also said Australia uses more drugs than any other country, an unsurprising fact to me.
Here’s my take: Considering the common side effects that I regularly see of both Pergolide (depression and laminitis), and Ertugliflozin (depression and muscle loss), and muscles are required for work, performance, absorbing glucose, and reducing insulin resistance, I don’t want horses losing any muscle.
I will still be advocating for a low sugar lifestyle with plenty of movement and excellent hoof care as my mainstay of treatment before I reach for the products that are the tempting quick fix. Yes I’m a terrible salesperson, I like people to make an informed choice, and I know they can solve this problem without needing to break the bank on drug costs.
ps. Survival rate and return to work in my world with grass induced laminitis is 96% for non penetrated and 80% for penetrated cases, and recurrence only occurs if owners fall back into the romantic fairy tale idea of horses grazing on green pastures.
