They don't call me "Queen of Founder" for no reason. Been there too often.
The problem is the rotated coffin bone. There is no way to make a "new bone" once it's rotated and pushing down through the hoof, you can't stop it. It's like a human trying to walk on broken feet. There's just no fix. So all you can do is to keep pain meds going on until you have to deal with the inevetable. We have to have more research done. They can fix stuff on humans, so there is an answer out there.
I have issues with the ones that take a situation of founder and use it to fatten their wallets, with no regard for the owner's feelings. Back then, when I went through this with more than one of my horses, as a young person, I was taken advantage of very badly. And it's left me very sour to this day. They saw me as a young girl that would do anything for her horse with a good paying job and I was very nieve.
And what gripes me sooo bad is that the farriers and the vets in some cases give FALSE HOPES. They experiment. They try to sell you bar shoes.....this bar and that bar and want to drive nails in hoofs which makes me want to strangle them. They have you buy this and buy that and say to trim this way and trim that way.....and nothing helps. And most foundered horses with rotation are only WORSE after a trim......and by the time that the pain of the trim wears off......it's trimming time AGAIN! This is a vicious circle.
You can have a foundered horse life a good life......ONLY IF THERE IS NO SEVERE ROTATION. But if you are rotated a lot......the rotation does usually get worse. It's very hard to stabelize a rotated coffin bone. But can be done in some cases. In time, the coffin bone will shoot through the bottom of the hoof, if you choose to allow your horse to live that long and go through that horrible thing.
They tell you that with all this special care, that your horse will overcome and live to have a productive life. Yes that was true, but not in my case. No one told me about rotation when it first began. They didn't tell me what the X rays showed. With severly rotated horse? Please, spare me. Spare my poor horses. Don't lie to me and tell me these things.
A perfect case besides me, would be YR THUNDER who doesn't post here anymore, and her poor little horse. They lied to her over and over, gave her false hope, the vet, the new vet, the old vet, the farrier, the new farrier.....and she bought ever word of it. And they spent all her money with no regard. Told her that this was a "new way" of trmming......."new way" of feeding....and you never saw a lady more excited in your life. Until of course the horse was so bad she had to put him down. And that destroyed her.
They get a hold of loving people like Deb, like me, like YR Thunder, and then they use us. can you imagine what Deb is going through daily with this gorgeous horse? She's got to have a heart as big as the ocean to take this on. She is obviously working herself to the bone, dumping big bucks into this horse. And I pray it pays off and this pony will be ok. I"m hopeing for a perfect ending to her story. Deb's an Angel.
I know exactly what Deb is going though every single day. She has hope, she is busting her hump over this horse and giving her every thing she has. She's out there breaking her back most likely in the dirt doing every human thing she can, so some one can take over and continue her treatments. All her efforts will have been worth it, to save this pony. This pony will have a chance at a good life again in the right hands, which is what Deb is looking for. This pony will almost be as good as new. But if anyone is lieing to her, or giving her false hope, I'd like to get my hands on them.
The answer lies in the X rays.
One of my friends horses rotated ever so slightly. That horse was saved, stabelized, and guess what? She returned to the show ring in several months. So there are success storys out there. That horse is still alive today at 26 years old.
Another one of my friends horses foundered and was out of commision for a full year and ended up being a hunter in Florida. So great things can happen.
I've read what Deb is doing. She's got this horse on a dry lot. She's got her on a diet which is perfect. She's doing every thing she can. Boy, I want this pony to run again I guess as badly as she does. And Deb, this may help a little bit.....you can use stay free maxi pads to pad the bottom of the feet and secure it with vet wrap and then duck tape. It can help with stablilty because sometimes after these trims the horse is just so scared to move. And put the horse on straight oats.
I'd love to be able to adopt this horse myself actually. But every where I turn I have plush grass and no dry lot. I've tried to make a dry lot and the grass just shoots right back up.
So Deb, I commend you for what you are doing to save this pony. You stepped in and took this on your shoulders and that makes you a very special person. God put you on this planet for a purpose and I can see that HE sure knew what HE was doing when HE made you.
