Your horse is reluctant to leave the stable, their hooves are noticeably warmer than usual, and within minutes your concern turns to panic. At such a moment, most people want one answer: what to feed now without making matters worse.
With laminitis, feeding is not an addition to treatment. It is part of first aid. Unsuitable feed can fuel the metabolic problem, while a well-planned ration can ease the strain on your horse's body and help bring inflammation under control. In practice, this is precisely why a horse with laminitis cannot be fed “as usual, just a little less”.
The biggest mistake I see owners make is thinking in terms of a single product. Yet feed for horses with laminitis means more than a bag with the right label. It means the entire feeding system: hay, grass access, extras, a carrier for medication, weight control and regular feeding. Only this complete picture provides safety.
If your horse has a new episode of laminitis or is recovering from a crisis, you need clear principles rather than general slogans. Below, you will find a practical explanation of why some feeds help while others harm, plus a ready-to-use approach for the acute and chronic phases.
Laminitis in horses - when diet becomes first aid
A laminitis diagnosis very often comes suddenly. Only yesterday, your horse seemed “a little stiffer”; today, they place their feet cautiously, are reluctant to back up and seem genuinely hurt by turning on hard ground. At such times, it is easy to focus solely on the hoof. This is understandable, but incomplete.
Laminitis is a problem that often starts long before it reaches the hoof itself. Before you see the characteristic stance and pain, your horse's body has usually already been struggling for some time with excess readily available carbohydrates, excess weight, metabolic fluctuations or ration errors. This is why food becomes one of the first tools for helping.
What owners usually address too late
In practice, the same responses recur most often:
- Reducing only hard feed. This is not enough if hay or grass is also a problem.
- Allowing a “token” amount of grazing. For a horse in an acute episode, this is often a risk not worth taking.
- Giving treats out of habit. A carrot, apple or handful of mix can undermine a carefully planned diet.
- Restricting food too abruptly. Your horse needs to lose weight safely, rather than be deprived of fibre.
Laminitis leaves no room for feeding improvisation. If you do not know what causes harm, the safest assumption is that anything adding extra sugar and starch does.
What really works
Good nutritional management of laminitis has two simultaneous goals. First, it reduces the metabolic burden. Second, it maintains normal digestive function and the mental comfort of a horse already under considerable stress from pain.
The best decisions are usually simple: base the diet on appropriately selected forage, remove cereal concentrates, choose fibre and fat as energy sources and manage the whole ration's balance rather than one bag of feed.
Why feed can trigger laminitis - NSC is the main enemy
Laminitis very often has a nutritional and metabolic background. Polish veterinary sources closely associate it with excessive intake of non-structural carbohydrates, or NSC. For prevention in at-risk horses, the level generally considered safe is below 10 to 12% NSC, according to the MagWet publication on the link between feeding and laminitis.
What exactly is NSC?
Put simply, NSC means sugars and starch: the part of the ration that supplies energy quickly. Horses need energy, but a horse prone to laminitis does not tolerate an excess in this form well. If you think of the digestive system as an engine, fibre is calm, steady fuel, while excess sugar and starch act like overly aggressive turbocharging.
The problem is not simply that your horse “eats too many calories”. A large sugar and starch load disrupts metabolic stability. In sensitive horses, this increases the risk of worsening processes that ultimately damage the hoof laminae.
Where the excess comes from
The most common sources of trouble are ordinary, which is exactly why they are so dangerous:
- Cereal-based hard feeds. Oats, barley, maize and muesli-type mixes can quickly raise the starch content of the ration.
- Molasses and flavouring additions. Horses enjoy eating them, but a metabolism affected by laminitis will not thank you for this gift.
- Young grass and the grazing season. In Polish practice, increased incidence is often observed during grazing periods.
- Hidden sugars in hay and extras. Even good hard feed will not “fix” forage with excessively high sugar levels.
Why “less feed” alone does not solve the problem
Owners often reason that if a horse had too much energy, a smaller portion should suffice. This only works partly. If the ration still relies on the wrong type of energy, the problem remains. A horse with laminitis primarily needs a different energy source, rather than simply less food.
If the feed label does not reassure you, look more broadly. The key question is not “is this feed for a laminitic horse?” but “does the whole daily ration remain low in sugar?”
Three pillars of safe feed for a horse with laminitis
Good feed for horses with laminitis does not rely on one “miracle” ingredient. The overall formula matters. Polish feeding recommendations for horses following laminitis advise replacing starch energy with fibre and fat. In practice, this means high-fibre chaff without molasses, grass pellets with NSC below 10% and added fats.
Structural fibre
The first pillar is fibre, particularly fibre that extends eating time without adding a large sugar load. Chaff based on fibrous ingredients, without molasses or a cereal “boost”, works very well in feeds for horses with laminitis.
This matters for more than metabolism. A horse on a weight-loss diet with restricted movement can easily become frustrated. Structural feed provides longer chewing, more saliva and greater satiety. From a practical perspective, this is often the difference between a calm horse and one that starts eating bedding and searching for anything edible.
Protein that supports muscles
The second pillar is quality protein. When focused on sugar and starch, you may forget that a horse recovering from laminitis is often also on an energy-restricted diet. If you restrict too aggressively, your horse may lose muscle as well as weight.
Safe mixes therefore need ingredients that support protein balance without unnecessary extra starch. In practice, fibre-based formulas with protein ingredients typical of low-sugar diets work well.
Fat as a source of calm energy
The third pillar is fat. The aim is not to make the diet “fatty”, but to obtain some energy from a source that behaves differently from cereals. A small addition of fat improves palatability, reduces dust and helps maintain condition without abruptly burdening glucose regulation.
In practice, feeds deriving more energy from fibre and fat than starch are simply more predictable for metabolically sensitive horses.
How to read ingredients sensibly
Do not look for one magic word on the label. Look for a combination that makes sense:
- A fibre-based foundation. Chaff, structural plant ingredients and no heavy cereal contribution.
- No molasses or a very cautious approach to flavourings. A simpler formula is usually safer.
- Energy from fibre and fat. This feeding approach better suits a horse following laminitis than conventional cereal mixes.
In a laminitis diet, proportions matter more than an individual ingredient. Feed should be metabolically calm, satisfying and suitable for longer-term use.
Which feed should you choose? Look for The Laminitis Trust approval
It is worth basing feed choice for a horse with laminitis on more than a marketing name. For me, a practical safety filter is The Laminitis Trust approval. If a product has it, you receive a strong indication that its formula was designed with particularly metabolically sensitive horses in mind.
What matters when buying
Polish materials about laminitic horses emphasise that restricting NSC is crucial. Hard feeds for these horses should be cereal-free or low-starch, while the entire ration, including hay, must remain low in sugar. This is well summarised in the MaxxHorse description of feeds for laminitic horses.
This means that when choosing a bag, look beyond “light” and consider several things together:
- Whether the feed is cereal-free or clearly low in starch
- Whether the manufacturer states low sugar and starch levels
- Whether the feed's form encourages longer chewing and calmer intake
- Whether the product has independent confirmation of suitability for laminitis diets
Practical examples from the Spillers range
Products such as Spillers Happy Hoof, Spillers Happy Hoof Molasses Free and Spillers High Fibre Cubes are sensible choices in diets for horses prone to laminitis. This type of feed comes closest to what I expect from a safe ration: plenty of fibre, little starch and a sensible role complementing forage rather than competing with it.
It is particularly valuable that Spillers feeds intended for horses with laminitis are identified as having The Laminitis Trust approval. This simplifies things considerably for you. You do not have to guess whether the marketing matches feeding physiology.
When each form works best
Not every horse will eat and tolerate the same things.
- Happy Hoof-type chaff suits horses needing longer eating time and “bulk” in the feed bowl.
- The Molasses Free version is a sensible choice when you want to minimise the risk of unnecessary sugars added for flavour.
- High Fibre Cubes can be convenient for horses that eat cubes more readily, particularly when served soaked.
One practical point: even the best feed for horses with laminitis will not be safe if your horse also receives unsuitable hay, has uncontrolled grass access and eats several “harmless” treats daily. Approval helps, but does not replace considering the entire diet.
A step-by-step feeding protocol for laminitis
With laminitis, it matters not only what you feed, but also when and why. Feeding differs between a horse in an acute painful episode and one whose inflammation has been controlled and whose metabolic stability needs rebuilding.
Practical recommendations for owners of horses with laminitis suggest a hay allowance of 1.5% of body weight for a horse on a weight-loss diet, with the whole diet, including feed and hay, containing a combined total of less than 10% sugars and starch, according to the VETfactory guide for owners of horses with laminitis.
The acute phase
In new laminitis, the priority is removing sources that may continue fuelling the problem. Your horse should not receive cereals, conventional mix, treats or “just a moment” of grazing. Safe forage and the simplest possible controlled feeding approach become the foundation.
If you are uncertain about hay quality and specifications, take a conservative approach. In practice, owners often soak hay and divide the allowance into several smaller portions throughout the day to limit intake surges while maintaining digestive function.
In acute laminitis, the goal is not to “give your horse something special to eat”. The goal is to remove everything unnecessary and risky.
At this stage, a safe bucket feed usually serves one purpose: carrying medication and supplements. Damp, fibrous ingredients without molasses work well. If you need a practical commercial option, unmolassed beet pulp or low-sugar fibrous feeds served wet may be suitable.
The chronic phase and stabilisation
Once pain is controlled, the harder part begins. You feel the crisis has passed, making it easy to relax the rules. This is precisely when relapses occur. Following laminitis, your horse needs a long-term diet that seems boring only from a human perspective. For their metabolism, such predictability is a huge advantage.
Hay with the lowest possible sugar content remains the foundation. Hard feed, if needed at all, should complement the diet with fibre rather than replace hay. Spillers Happy Hoof, Spillers Happy Hoof Molasses Free or Spillers High Fibre Cubes work well in this role when fed according to your horse's needs and the balance of the entire ration.
This usually also involves:
- A balancer or vitamin and mineral concentrate for horses on restricted calories
- Hoof support matched to the clinical situation
- Body weight control and regular condition assessment
- Ongoing cooperation with your vet and farrier
A feeding protocol for acute and chronic laminitis
| Laminitis phase | Main goal | Forage | Hard feed | Key supplementation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Acute | Reducing the metabolic burden and safely maintaining digestive function | Controlled quantities of hay, often soaked and divided into several portions in practice | Only a safe carrier for medication, preferably damp and fibrous, without cereals or molasses | Whatever your vet recommends, plus basic support consistent with the whole ration |
| Chronic | Stabilisation, weight control and rebuilding hoof horn quality | Low-sugar hay as the foundation | Low-starch fibrous feed, such as chaff or pellets with a profile suitable for laminitic horses | A balancer, hoof supplements and additions matched to test results and the horse's condition |
What you should monitor
Rather than looking for one spectacular change, consider a set of signs:
- Comfort when moving. Is your horse more willing to move and shifting less weight off the forefeet?
- Feeding behaviour. Are they calmer and less frustrated?
- Body weight and measurements. Are typical metabolic fat deposits gradually decreasing?
- Hoof quality over time. This requires patience and regular specialist assessment.
In more difficult cases, Equine America Lamigard TRT may also be considered as support, but I always treat such products as additions to a well-planned ration rather than solutions in themselves.
The most common feeding mistakes you must avoid
Most problems with a laminitis diet do not come from bad intentions. They come from small concessions that seem innocent. These most often set your horse back by several weeks.
Mistake one: “just a little grass”
This is one of the most common myths. You remove oats, buy safer feed and then turn your horse onto a grassy paddock “for a few minutes”. The problem is that, for a metabolically sensitive horse, small departures can matter more than grand declarations.
If your horse is in the acute phase or has only recently come through a crisis, grazing should not be a spontaneous decision. Stabilise the situation first, and only then consider grass access.
Mistake two: trusting the “light” label
Not every feed described as light suits a horse following laminitis. Sometimes a product has less energy but still contains ingredients unsuitable for a low-sugar diet. In practice, choosing feeds developed specifically for horses with metabolic problems is safer than following a fashionable slogan on the front of the bag.
Good alternatives are fibrous feeds from a dedicated laminitis range, such as Spillers Happy Hoof, Spillers Happy Hoof Molasses Free or Spillers High Fibre Cubes.
Mistake three: starvation instead of a plan
An overweight horse should lose weight, but not by cutting off fibre. Excessively severe food restriction worsens welfare, increases frustration and may lead to loss of muscle mass. A better approach is precise portion control, suitable forage and a balancer rather than adding “a little oats for vitamins”.
The most dangerous mistakes are those that sound sensible. Less food, a little grass, one carrot. With laminitis, these small things make the difference.
Mistake four: treats outside the ration
Apples, carrots, pieces of bread, a handful of mix “after riding”. All of this must count as part of the ration rather than simply a gesture of affection. To reward your horse more safely, use a small amount of their own fibrous feed, or offer contact, scratching and a calm routine instead.
Summary - 5 golden rules for feeding a horse with laminitis
The most important rule is simple. Control the balance of the whole ration, rather than just the bag of feed. Your horse can receive good feed for laminitis and still be fed poorly if hay, grass or treats remain a problem.
The second rule is to base feeding on fibre rather than cereals. Energy for a horse following laminitis should come mainly from safer sources that do not overload metabolism.
The third rule is to choose feeds with a clear laminitis profile, ideally products such as Spillers Happy Hoof, Spillers Happy Hoof Molasses Free or Spillers High Fibre Cubes, particularly when they have The Laminitis Trust approval.
Fourth: do not work alone. The best results come from cooperation between you, your vet, nutritionist and farrier.
Fifth: be consistent. Laminitis does not tolerate shortcuts, and the hoof rebuilds more slowly than you would like to see. A good diet does not produce dramatic overnight results, but it is often what determines whether your horse returns to stability.
To choose feed and supplementation for a specific case, discuss the ration with the VETfactory team. Following laminitis, details matter: hay type, the form of fibrous feed, portion control and whether the entire diet genuinely remains low in sugar.
