Project PAL is a study designed at Scotland’s Rural College (SRUC) to help get to the root of laminitis; a painful condition that can affect many of our horses and ponies.

Most pony owners are acutely aware of the potentially devastating consequences of laminitis and that our native breed ponies have an increased susceptibility to the condition.

Laminitis cases are commonly linked to changes in the ponies' grass consumption, so-called pasture-associated laminitis (PAL). One of the projects aims to find out why some animals are more susceptible to developing the condition than others.

By studying the faeces and urine of individual animals, SRUC researchers hope to find out if differences in the ability of individual ponies to metabolise pasture, could help us to identify those at a higher risk of developing the condition so that they might be managed accordingly.

Grasses that are high in sugars are considered to be unsuitable for animals prone to laminitis – but currently, we don’t know what this means in practical management terms. Therefore, we will look at the species ‘make up’ of Scottish pony pastures and evaluate, among other things, the sugar contents of the different grass species around the year in order to establish associations between the chemical composition of grass and laminitis risk.

It is hoped the research, which is supported by SRUC, WALTHAM^TM, The Roland Sutton Trust, and World Horse Welfare, will lead to the development of evidence-based biomarkers to identify animals at high risk of developing the condition, in addition to establishing suitable management strategies to reduce the occurrence of PAL. This would provide valuable information for vets and horse owners and could greatly improve the welfare of horses and ponies.