founder question

[yellerroseintx]

I am curious as to the different reasons a horse has foundered. I am familiar with the ones that have cresty necks.. are overweight...all the signs that point to a possible problem and easier to identify....what about a thin horse, no crest..obvious founder feet . What are the different causes? Do you treat differently for a thin horse vs a fat lumpy one? I have tried to read up online and only come across a few articles that have spring grass as a culplet, a retaINED PLACENTA...BUT REALLY NOT A LOT OF INFO OUT THERE THAT I CAN FIND....OOPSdang caps........sorry...all seem to be geared to the cresty more obvious type of founder than the other causes and treatments. Are different types more chronic than others..or is founder...founder no matter the causes? And treatments the same no matter the founder?

 

[pepperhill]

My understanding is that there are many different causes for founder, but the end result is basically the same and should be treated the same.

Where the various causes come into play, is when you are trying to prevent it from happening again. If a horse foundered on fresh green grass, then you want to make sure not to put that horse back out on fresh green grass again, etc. (By the way, speaking of that issue, if you wait to put your horses out to pasture until the grass is at least 8 inches tall, they will rarely founder on it. By the time the grass is that tall the sugar content has changed and it isn't so rich.) If the horse foundered on grain, then you will really have to watch that in the future.

 

[Marty]

Here Kathye. Pete Ramey has endless articles. Just keep following the links

http://www.hoofrehab.com/

 

[JourneysEnd]

Pete's site is one of the best.

In a nutshell - Laminitis is always brought on by something else. IR, carbo loading, retained placenta, colic, etc.

Laminitis is inflammation of the sensitive lamina of the hoof. While the lamina is damaged, the coffin bone can rotate down. This is founder ( like a ship going down ).

No matter what causes it - founder is founder. How it's treated depends on the horse and the amount of rotation.

Some methods work on one horse, but don't help another. The most common practice is to relieve the inflammation and begin to try and realign the coffin bone by lowering the heels. Recovery can be a long process.

Big horses don't always survive it ( too much pain ) while most minis can.

 

[nbark]

Don't forget to include throwing a high fever, that also causes founder, that's how I lost my big guy.

 

[jayne]

My mini mare had liver issues and was given prednisone and that threw her into a terrible founder. She's still with me, but her feet will never be the same.

Jayne

 

[shorthorsemom]

Don't forget Cushings connection too. My pony was not cresty, not overweight and on a dry lot and on limited hay. We found out the cushings connection by bloodwork later after he foundered.

 

[SilverDollar]

Great information posted. I am a Pete Ramey fan, too.

He has saved more horses and ponies than he'll ever know. Princess my pony is an extreme case of laminitis/founder but if you watch our corny little video, you'll see that recovery really is possible. We had scheduled to put her down but she "told" me she wasn't ready to give up. She is a sassy mare so we gave it one more shot--that's when I discovered the whole diet, trim, medication combo. Diet was key for us since she is IR and Cushing's. She's back to being a sound, happy, spunky girl. By the way, she's 27 years young!

Princess the Pony

 

[MiLo Minis]

The big difference between a fat horse foundering and a thin horse foundering is that in the recovery (such as it might be) process you don't have the extra weight to contend with so you are a step ahead.

 

[yellerroseintx]

I just wanted to thank you all for such good information.