I think my four year old paint horse has founder but I'm not sure. My Thoroughbred mare had it last year but my friend noticed it right away. How can I tell if my paint horse has founder?
2007-01-05 13:26:20 · 15 answers · asked by moose_luver 2 in Pets ➔ Other - Pets
Founder is when a horse gets too fat.
2007-01-05 13:32:54 · update #1
Founder is the end stage of laminitis. If the horse looks lame and his hooves are hot, especially in the front, call your vet IMMEDIATELY. Don't mess around with this, it's EXTREMELY painful. Founder can be deadly but if it's caught in the laminits stage, it can be treated. If the laminitis has progressed to founder, the horse will stand with its front legs and feet stretched forward. Kind of like it was leaning back to stretch like dogs and cats. It's trying to take weight off its front feet. Founder can be treated but it's a long, painful and costly recovery. If you even suspect that this might be laminitis, DON'T (and don't let your vet) take a "wait and see" type attitude, your horses life depends on it. Good luck.
2007-01-05 13:40:18 · answer #1 · answered by Give life. Be an organ donor! 4 · 18⤊ 1⤋
Horses Foundering
2016-12-18 17:18:52 · answer #2 · answered by donegan 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Founder is a disease that occurs when a horse comes down with laminitis from ingesting too many carbohydrates and sugary starches. Laminitis causes a fever that effects the inner laminae tissues of the feet and causes founder. Obesity is an entirely different issue. If your horse has laminitis, you can prevent founder by soaking the feet to lower the temperature and filing away the very tip of the horses foot to relieve pressure on the toe. Your horse will have a fever and his hooves will feel warm to the touch. He may be lame and irritable or uncomfortable from the foot pain. If founder occurs then the hooves Will hollow or dish out and ripple lines will appear known as fever rings. There is no cure for founder once laminitis turns into founder, just prevention of laminitis. You just have to trim the feet every 4 weeks as they will grow faster and maybe apply bar shoes if the horse is lame. The rings will grow out and the horse will sound up but healing takes time. Be sure not to let your horse out to pasture of spring grass until lit is about a week old and do not feed rich hay with alfalfa without mixing it with timothy. Do not over feed your horse grain and oats and do not let them gorge themselves or become obese as this can severely increase the risk of laminitis, which leads to founder when left untreated. Good Luck.
2007-01-05 13:46:21 · answer #3 · answered by ml_lansing 3 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Founder has nothing to do with weight, although a fat horse has a higher risk.
Founder or laminitis is a fever in the feet caused by swelling of the soft tissue allowing the coffin bone to rotate. If it rotates far enough, it'll fall right through the bottom of the hoof. It's pretty much fatal at that point.
Lots of things can cause founder - overload of protein usually caused by too much grain or a sudden overload of rich alfalfa or green grass, over watering a hot or dehydrated horse, riding hard on a hard surface like a road, illness with high fever, occasionally even a long trailer ride.
I once road foundered a horse working at a livestock auction - too many hours in the heat on a hard surface.
Once a horse has foundered, it will be easier to founder him next time.
Symptoms: Shifting weight, unwilling to move, lameness, heat in the feet, seeking puddles or water to stand in, sweating.
Signs of past founder: toes that grow faster than the heels, a thick white line, separation of hoof wall from sole because of deterioration of white line, fever or feed rings on the hoof that show the toe is growing faster than the rest of the hoof, intermittent lameness, tenderness on hard surfaces, flinching to pressure just in front of the point of the frog.
Good luck.
2007-01-05 14:14:30 · answer #4 · answered by SLA 5 · 3⤊ 0⤋
Its a bit hard to say without standing right in front of him but... symtoms of founder will include increased temperature in the hoof and coronary band as well as increased digital pulse, swelling of the coronary band, continual lifting of the feet every few seconds, they will stand with their front legs out in front and hind legs up underneath them. Your horse from your pics has what farriers would term to as broken back where the toe is too long and the heels low. This can be caused also due to bad conformation (my horse has that type of hoof) and does cause more problems than a horse with a nice shaped hoof naturally. The only way to positively identify the coffin bone angle is with xrays which are pricey. We usually rely on the hoof angle measured by a hoof protractor or someone with experience and a great eye to align the coffin bone when shoeing. When a hoofwall has a bulge, dish or a seperation of the laminae the hoof angle will not match the angle of the hidden coffin bone.
2016-03-14 02:10:00 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
My mare had an Abcess in end of June High pulse rate and not heat my Vet say 1 of 2 things Founder or Abcess but I'm leaning more toward Abcess so we pull her of pasture I just started letting her out while I'm there of course she is very happy to be out .
My vet never did blood work or xrays my farrier say he doesnt think she founderd. So do I let her out ?
2014-09-08 13:57:09 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Feel his neck on the top if it is very hard and i mean real hard that is a good indication also if when it walks it will walk like it has sore feet. solution to the problem pen it and feed it less of a good quality feed and get some of the weight off also if it is foundered it will founder again. If this has happened before you may not be able to ever ride this horse again. have a vet check it out Please for the horses sake. good luck.
2007-01-05 13:46:58 · answer #7 · answered by Mr Zip 2 · 1⤊ 3⤋
A good way to check founder, is if your horse is not acting normal, and maybe lying down alot. Also if your horse rolls, and when it gets up it doesn't shake its body, then that's an immediate sign that your horse is sick! Always check that, because it has been prooven that after a horse rolls it always shakes itself off. Even the slightest bit! But if your horse doesn't shake at all, then its definitely sick!Not one particular sickness, but it can be sick with anything! SO ALWAYS REMEMBER TO CHECK IT!!! Even if after your horse rolls it gets up and starts galloping, just make sure that it shakes off. They can take a few minutes to shake the dirt off them if there is something else on their mind though!
2007-01-05 13:52:01 · answer #8 · answered by Shannon 1 · 1⤊ 3⤋
1
2017-02-27 18:43:24 · answer #9 · answered by ? 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
absolutely call a vet.
Founder is VERY painful for a horse and if not caught quickly can kill it.
2007-01-05 13:47:10 · answer #10 · answered by flywho 5 · 0⤊ 1⤋