laminitis

My mum owns a standard bred, and has had him for 6 months. When she got him he was extreemly skinny, and had obviously not been fed enough.
We keep him on about 6 acres, but as it is spring there is heaps of good pasture in there and so he hasnt been getting fed all that much, 1 x scoop weaten chaff with bout a cup of pellets some garlic and some appla cidar vinegar.
He went lame last week, so she got out a vet who has said she thinks he may have laminitis. The treatment she has suggested has just been to give him some bute, and restrict his diet, and speak to the farrier about putting shoes on him.
I have never had a horse with this ( and he isnt fat, he looks really nice but doesnt want to put on any more weight) and so I am not sure what else w can do for him, and how long we can expect recovery to take.
He has been brought out of the paddock and is in the breezway ( with my fat horse) there is enough feed to keep them occupied but not for long and they are not being fed ( neither show interest in hay or chaff so we figure they are not hungry and are getting enough) he is getting the bute and will be seeing the farrier through the week.
What else can we do?
Teri

Exercise! Once he starts to recover from his lameness, he needs more work to burn off the excess sugar that he's not used to. Even with him a bit sore, you can take him out and walk him in hand.

I would add a magnesium supplement to his diet as well. Magnesium will help him utilize the sugar in his diet and possibly help prevent future laminitis issue.

When you do turn him back out on the pasture, invest in a grazing muzzle and limit the time he's out there.

Has your vet done x-rays? They can be very helpful, even necessary for proper corrective trimming. I would avoid shoes especially without x-rays as the nails may do more damage on top of his troubles. With the high risk of permanent lameness if treatment isn't done properly, even *I* would invest in x-rays for this, and I'm as cheap as they come.

I agree with the exercise on soft ground -- firm sod would be great I would think.

Start by getting yourself an education. The Horse magazine has a free webinar on laminitis that is really really informative. The Horse: Videos It takes about an hour to watch, but it's a great lecture from 2 laminitis experts and really explains it well.

Knowing what caused laminitis is very important because if it is diet related it is generally due to a metabolic condition that needs to be addressed such as insulin resistance. Other causes would be things like getting into the feed bins, systemic disease, toxicity or concussion (too much or too fast work on hard surfaces). If it's not a dietary cause then changing the horse's diet isn't necessary.

Diagnosis is also very important. Lameness and heat in both front feet (or occasionally both hind), x-rays which show a change in the position of the coffin bone. X-rays should always be taken to see what the hooves currently look like and to help access further change in the future (or lack of change)---you need to know what the inside of that hoof looks like today.

If you aren't comfortable with your current vet's recommendations/diagnosis, get a second opinion from someone who is known for being good in the area that you are concerned about. See an equine vet who treats lots of lameness for something like this.