Jessica Jahiel's HORSE-SENSE Newsletter Archives

founder

From: Pat

About six months ago we purchased a small horse for my daughter - actually the horse is half Arabian and half pony and probably stands about 13.5 hands. I noticed that here right front hoof was splitting a little bit and when I had the ferrier out yesterday to trim the horses hooves, he said that the horse has founder. What causes founder and what can be done to treat founder. I always enjoy reading your newsletters and would appreciate any information that you can provide.

Pat

Hi Pat! You're going to need to call your vet out and have a consultation immediately; founder is serious, and you want to be quite sure of what you are actually dealing with. It's a medical issue and a management issue; your vet will need to look at your daughter's horse and tell you whether the hoof problem IS founder, how severe it is, what he can do about it, and what YOU will need to do about it.

While you're waiting for the vet to arrive, look in any vet book: if you can't find information under "founder", look under "laminitis." Laminitis is a disease, and -- this is ESSENTIAL INFORMATION -- immediate care can have a profound effect on the outcome of the disease. GET HELP NOW. Laminitis can be terribly painful for the horse; it can also, in many cases, be managed very successfully if it's dealt with early enough -- two compelling reasons to get help immediately.

The reason that your farrier might have noticed it first, especially if you are new to horses, is that farriers are very familiar with hooves, and the horse's hoof walls reflect all sorts of things: feed changes, concussive forcers, improper shoeing, injury, selenium toxicity.... among others! Not every ring on a horse's hoof means laminitis, some rings DO indicated previous episodes, and that's something you need to hear from YOUR vet, about YOUR horse.

The trouble with laminitis is that there are so many possible causes, and each horse, each cause, each set of circumstances will suggest different treatment. It's really important for your vet to look at THIS horse, evaluate its physical condition, its environment, its feed program, its exercise program, and its shoeing -- only then will you get the best advice, which is what you need. I won't list therapeutic modalities here -- your vet must do that, and must give you specific instructions about helping your horse. But don't wait, please get the vet out ASAP. Some of the treatments involve confinement, special shoeing, the use of various drugs, and feed changes, and the sooner you get help, the better.

Jessica

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