What to do to a foundered horse?

Answer 1

To help your foundering horse, get immediate veterinary assistance. Medicines can be given to reduce inflammation and pain, and a good horseshoer or farrier can apply special blocks and shoes to ease pain and help the horse heal. In some instances, surgery is necessary. Remove the cause of the founder. ex: If a horse is foundering on grass, remove him from the grass and feed hay only. 100 years ago, foundering horses were tied to a tree next to a cold stream and made to stand in it, sometimes for days.

Answer 2

It is very helpful if you know what the horse foundered from previously. If you know what set it off you can avoid that in the future. If your horse foundered on too much green grass make sure to limit his time on grass. One of our mares was borderline founder from rich, green spring grass. For the rest of her life now I actually restrict her grass by a time clock. Two hours a day is all I allow her to eat.

Besides restricted diet, foundered horses will need extra foot care. This is just as important as restricting their diet. They may need pads or special shoes for the rest of their life. Laminitis is a devestating condition for your horse and you. But it can be controlled and with careful management your horse can live a long and happy life.

*Note:A horse that has foundered before is more likely to do so again more easily than a horse that has never had laminitis.

Many people do the above because they think that grass or one of the below bullets are what caused founder, when really, eating the grass or doing whatever else was merely "the straw that broke the camels back" so to speak. What most people think causes founder is:

• diseases which affect the horse's intestines such as colic or diarrhoea.
• (too much) Grain
• Water in an overheated state
• Digestive upsets due to grain overload or sudden changes in the diet
• Sudden access to lush pasture (spring grass)
• High fever
• Colic (horses with damaged intestine)
• Retained placenta
• Excessive concussion to the feet when walking on pavement, often known as "road founder"
• Bedded on black walnut shavings or ingestion of black walnut shavings
• Excessive weight bearing on one leg due to injury of opposite leg
• Gram negative bacterial infections with endotoxemia
• Obesity

When really, these are all "the straw that broke the camels back"

What really causes founder is laminitis, which is the inflamation and/or weakening of the connection between the coffin bone and hoof wall. Then, when one of the above things happen, it "breaks the camels back" and causes the horse to get founder.

Now, what really causes laminitis is improper hoof shape and condition. In normal hoof shape and condition, the coffin bone will be level with the ground (high heels and wedges or other orthopedic shoeing prevent this and causes the coffin bone to point downward until it starts to penetrate the bottom of the hoof). And then Laminitis, when combined with one or more of the above bullets, results in founder (they are 2 different things, although most people use them interchangably, but this is wrong)

So, taking away the above points, like putting a grazzing muzzle on your horse, will not fix the problem. You need to return the hoof to its natural state. Find an expert barefoot hoof trimmer (preferably one trained in the strasser Method), and the horse must be turned out 24/7 with a herd and 24 hour access to food and water that it has to walk to to get. Also, whether naturally or artificially, the horse must move 15+ kms a day to ensure proper blood circulation is occurring within the foot to heal it. The healing process for laminitis and founder is generally long term (1-2 hoof capsule growths for simple cases--to over 2 years in severe cases of dropped coffin bones, joint adaptation and other problems), but can be healed successfully and with soundness if done correctly. The hoof must be kept in this natural state. All horses should really, but foundered horses more so. Have you ever wondered how wild horses feet stay so heathy? This is how. They stay in a natural state, unaltered by shoes and other man-made things that supposedly help horses.

Answer 3

Foundering is very painful to a horse, so if the founder is really bad, the horse would have to be put down.

It depends how badly the horse has foundered if it is really bad then u will have too put it down. But if the foundering isn't that bad it should be on complete rest and diet in a stable or small paddock with harly any feed in it. Should be on rest for about a month or more depending on how fast it recovers. But if your horse fully recovers you can slowly bring it back into light work. not to make maybe just a little trail riding and slowing go for longer till you think it fine to bring some troting and cantering back into it exercise. But don't rush into excersise till maybe you get a vet to check it over before you start.

Answer 4

Immediately remove the horse from pasture and call a vet. Founder is an imflamation of a sensitive tissue inside the hoof called the lamine (which is why founder is also called laminitis). The inflamation causes intense pain and allows the coffin bone to rotate, which can permanently cripple a horse and make it neccessary for him to be euthanized. This is why it is important to call a vet right away. They will give the horse anti-inflammatory drugs and anything else they think will help. In the early stages of founder, applying ice up to the knee will help reduce inflamation. Founder is a highly complex disease that is still not completely understood by vets and there isn't a textbook way to solve the problem, a vet can help to identify possible causes and solutions for your horse.

Answer 5

Take him to the vet immediately.