Diet & Laminitis
- Jenny Paterson
- 5 days ago
- 3 min read
Salt, Potassium & Nitrogen
If ever there was ‘laminitis weather’ it is what we are experiencing over most of NZ right now! Consecutive days of cool, cloudy, rainy weather keeps grass green and favours clover growth. When interspersed with HOT sunny days this creates high risk conditions for all equines especially those prone to laminitis and other issues caused by such grass.
Most owners of 'at-risk' equines are aware of the need to remove all green forage from their horses diet and make sure they are getting their daily essential minerals including salt.
The late Dr Thomas Swerczek DVM PhD and his colleagues in central Kentucky had, since the early 80’s and particularly in 2001, observed in thousands of thoroughbred mares, not only high incidences of reproductive issues (MRLS -Mare Reproductive Loss Syndrome/abortions/ difficulty birthing /limb deformities/deaths), but also serious digestive problems (intestinal displacements and torsion of the large colon), microbial overgrowth in the gut and LAMINITIS.
The results of forage analyses revealed high potassium and nitrogen concurrent with low sodium. They correlated with post-mortem findings of increased potassium and nitrate in body tissues thereby strongly suggesting such forage had induced electrolyte and mineral imbalances in the horses grazing them
.
He also observed that the same conditions caused grass tetany and staggers in cattle and other herbivores including horses. Over several decades what they referred to as ‘clover years’ were all particularly problematic.
Based on these findings, the forage of the mares on several of the farms had dietary protein lowered by not fertilising with nitrogenous compounds and eliminating supplementary alfalfa.
In addition higher levels of SALT were fed to hundreds of thoroughbred mares. The result by the following year was that the incidences of ALL the above problems in the thoroughbred mares/ Boer goats and cattle was reduced to virtually zero and this trend continued in subsequent years.
Why is salt so helpful?
There are multiple reasons but here is the relevant one for this subject:
Salt is ‘sodium chloride’. Sodium is the POSITIVELY charged cation for which the NEGATIVELY charged nitrate ion has the greatest affinity. However in the absence of sufficient salt, magnesium and calcium ions are rapidly depleted in the efforts to excrete nitrates, causing acute deficiencies of these minerals.
The metabolic consequences of the excesses of potassium and nitrate were serious and included laminitis. It is not a coincidence that we see spikes in the numbers of laminitis cases here in NZ - most often in horses grazing pastures consisting of cool season grass pastures which include clovers. Any grass when it is green and growing under these environmental conditions, whether it is horse-friendly or not poses a significant risk.
This is why ensuring adequate salt intake for your horse is particularly important and is ‘Step one’ to helping our domestic horses cope with the green, high nitrogen and potassium, vegetative grass or Lucerne (alfalfa) - which they are not adapted to consume all year round, but which we nevertheless expect them to be healthy on.
Add salt to feeds rather than relying on salt licks.
Dr Swerczek also "found that pregnant mares affected with the MRLS were prone to abortion and other reproductive issues, digestive issues and laminitis if they were being fed high-protein alfalfa hay IN ADDITION to grazing pasture forages high in white clover that is also high in sulphur amino acids".
For the warning signs check here:
Comments