Foundering

Christine-C · Well Schooled

Foundering

Emiry · Advanced

I think green grass, specially spring grass high in sugar and stuff can cause founder. I do not know much about it, but I would not feed an excessive amount of treats. Just ration the treats and give a bit more than usual, and don't buy any new ones, and they will be gone before you know it.

Marlene · Advanced

It depends on the horse, and it depends on how much was too much for that horse's system. I look after an elderly mare who can eat all day on fresh rich pasture, and downs my alfalfa hay like it was candy. My own younger, easy keeper Arab has to be restricted from full time pasture and rich hay, and grains even when working regularly. He just can't use all that extra goodness. He has had a couple of incidents of mild laminitis on grain and once on pasture last year. If I wouldn't have whipped him off the pasture as soon as I realized he had overdone it, he could easily have progressed on to founder. It is the end product of laminitis gone too far. It can be caused by colic, because it is so stressful it can go to their feet. Physical trauma such as road founder on a horse not used to working hard surfaces and then suddenly trotted to hard and long on a road. Whereas another horse that has been carefully conditioned such as endurance horses or wild mustangs might run over a hard surface with no trauma. Race horses, if worked too much, not allowed to recover after races can also suddenly develop founder from the stress.

-- Edited by Marlene on Monday 27th of June 2011 10:53:28 PM

Queenrider · Advanced

Founder is the result of untreated laminitis. Look it up on the internet. There are many causes.

Nikki Salo · Grand Prix

Christine, I'm wondering if the treat bags have a limit per day on them?

Christine-C · Well Schooled

I'm not planning on feeding tons of treats to my horse I was just curious. Another reason I ask is because one of the horses I use to ride, got out of his stall and was found eating out of a bag of apples, and my coach said it was lucky he was found, otherwise he could have foundered from to many apples.

@ Nikki, I believe they do have feeding instructions on the treat bags I will look it up next time I'm at the barn!

MagsNMe · Advanced

Founder is not the result of "untreated laminitis". Founder is the common term for the rotation of the coffin bone due to the loosening of the laminar bonds as a result of laminitis. My then 4 year old had an extreme acute bout of laminitis which was vigorously treated, however, the damage was such that she then foundered. Over 20 degrees rotation in one foot, 12 degrees in the other.