Affect of management on laminitis study to launch
A FOUR-year project to help horse owners reduce the impact of laminitis is being funded by World Horse Welfare.
The study, to be overseen by a RVC PhD student, will focus on management factors that may contribute to development or recurrence of laminitis in horses and ponies. It is hoped owners will, through modification of these factors, be able to lower the impact of laminitis, a significant equine welfare problem.
A website will be created to enable owners across the UK to register their horses and input information about risk factors for the condition. The website, due to be launched mid-2014, will gather data over a two-year period to establish a timeline of events to aid understanding of what factors may lead to laminitic episodes.
Incidents such as rapid weight gain, increased intervals in worming, box rest during the previous week and new access to grass in the past month, were identified as potential risk factors in previous laminitis research conducted by PhD student Claire Wylie, and will form the basis of Danica Pollard's new study.
Mrs Pollard, who is based at the Animal Health Trust, said: "This will be a very exciting opportunity for owners to be at the front line of equine health research and contribute to a study that aims to provide evidence-based preventive strategies to combat laminitis.
"We want to gather as much information on as many horses as possible, and we'll be trialling the website and the reporting form before launching it next year. It's really important to gather information from 'real life' situations to drive the evidence base behind laminitis, rather than relying on experimental settings."
Horse owners interested in taking part in the research are asked to register their interest via email to danica.pollard@aht.org.uk
With Strangles Awareness Week just around the corner (5-11 May), vets are being encouraged to share a survey about the disease with their horse-owning clients.
