Many horses that develop laminitis are overweight or obese. We know that the vast majority of laminitis cases are caused by high insulin levels. The correlation has always been obvious and it didn’t take long for an assumption to arise that obesity is a laminitis risk factor and causes elevated insulin.  There’s just one thing: It’s not true.

Have you ever felt like your barn smelled worse than it reasonably should? We are not talking about normal animal smells — I mean, who doesn’t love the smell of sawdust and fresh hay?

But cold, wet rain on a 32 to 40 degree day is the hardest weather for horses to stay warm because they get wet to the skin. Horses will often seek out a shed or shelter to get out of driving rain, to shiver and warm up. When it’s really cold, 20 degrees or below, horses are generally outside, eating hay and not bothered because their fur is doing its job.

Check gates and perimeters: Close or block any gates that might secure a perimeter around the loose horse. Be aware that frightened loose horses might jump things they might not ordinarily jump.