Well... our 11 year old bay quarter horse gelding has foundered. He has never had the problem before, but is experieincing quite a bit of pain. Got him off the pasture and stalled.

Any advise on this situation would be appreciated.
Andy

there are some realy products on the Market.
He is something you might feel a little crazy but go on you-Tube under Horse foundering and there is a product on there that they explain just how to take care of this problem.
I also would call a Vet to be on the safe side, the sooner you get to this the better the Hose will be.

I agree on calling the vet, but having a REALLY GOOD farrier who is experienced with foundered horses from now on can't be overstressed.

Do you know the cause of the founder?

Thanks guys,
I called my vet from the onset and have given the horse a couple of days of pain killer injections and I am currently giving him daily dose of anti-inflamatory medicine. He seems to be a little better, but I just don't have any experience with this.
I do not know the cause, but assume it is from grazing the lush spring grass. Lots of rain this spring has caused the grass to come in very fast.
Andy

Did your vet X-ray or will he to determine the extent of rotation of the coffin bone?

If you don't know already, it is typically carbs that lead to or worsen founder, so darn sure watch what and how much you feed him. I've seen quite a few foundered horses that were still usable as long as you're careful. However, once they've foundered once, they do seem more apt to founder again. Best of luck.

No x-rays yet. He is stalled and on very limited hay rations and I am continuing giving him Bute. I let him out in the corral to stretch a little each afternoon and he seems to be improving. What worries me is the threat of foundering again.
Andy

Yeah, you'll have to watch him closely the rest of his life. I'd mow the pasture before I let them out in it again, while it's still young and green.

Bad Luck

My QH mare foundered many years ago - now shes about 27 and still going strong, so there is hope.

With just about any serious horse injury TIME is the best healer, just keep him on hay and keep him amused. I kept a variety of items to put in the round pen (horses are seldom stalled down here) and it made a big diffrence, I used road cones, a big ball and other stuff.

My mare was in the pen for at least 5 months so you've got to keep them from going nuts.

Best of luck

Foster

Thanks guys,
The horse is doing a lot better. I am letting him out in the corral during the day with another gelding to keep him occupied. I am mowing pastures now before letting them out.
I will keep a close eye on him.
Andy

Also, when you turn them out on fresh pasture start with short graze times and gradually increase it.

ghostbird

keep some appel vinegar in store for when it happens next time, the appel vinegar stops the horse intesten to accept more sugar aka carps for 3-5 days, you can also get the vet to give them an injection that does pretty much the same.

" when you turn them out on fresh pasture start with short graze times and gradually increase it."

this is the best advice there is, and if you cant do that give him about a half liter of appel vinegar before you let him lose for the first spring rush.

best

peter

Are you talking Founder or Colic, there is a difference..Founder can be a result of colic, but you need to treat the colic before the founder..but its probably too late now as I just read the date of your post.

Call your VET NOW! You want to stand him in cool (creek or rivers edge) water ASAP, to keep his hoofs from getting soft etc. I would take him off of any feed period, water yes. I did feed my horse a little oats only for several days. However, do as the VET suggests.

I once dug an 6 inch shallow pit right in the middle of a private stable to save a man's gelding which got foundered. I told him to get a dozen bags of ice asap and we put the ice in the watered pit until the Vet came. It helped to save that animals feet. Now that was in 1979 and his gelding was a very expensive($8000) halter. It kept on winning for several more years afterward. horse.

We're fortunate enought to have Sandy Lorree as our farrier, a recognized expert in the field of founder treatment. It takes a long time, but a horse can be successfully rehabilitated with proper foot care. One of my wife's horses foundered, due to insulin resistsnce and she's showing her again

http://www.ehow.com/about_6626...aminitis-horses.html

Grizz

quote:

Originally posted by Blue Dog:
Call your VET NOW! You want to stand him in cool (creek or rivers edge) water ASAP, to keep his hoofs from getting soft etc. I would take him off of any feed period, water yes. I did feed my horse a little oats only for several days. However, do as the VET suggests.

I once dug an 6 inch shallow pit right in the middle of a private stable to save a man's gelding which got foundered. I told him to get a dozen bags of ice asap and we put the ice in the watered pit until the Vet came. It helped to save that animals feet. Now that was in 1979 and his gelding was a very expensive($8000) halter. It kept on winning for several more years afterward. horse.

This is the recommended immediate first aid treatment. Works if you find them early enough, but once the coffin bone rotates, too late.

Grizz

I once knew an Amish man who had a way to cure those foundered horses after a year or so of his treatment.

Hey guys,
It's been a year since my horse foundered and since the thread made it back the top I thought I would give an update. X-rays early on revealed extremely little, if any, coffin bone rotation. This was again confirmed with X-rays at a later stage.

Both of the horses front hooves developed a really bad abscess and were treated intensely. I have a very good farrier who is experienced with foundered horses and worked in sync with my vet. We kept "hospital shoes" on the horse for quite a while. These shoes have a plastic plate under the shoe with a smaller plate in the middle which is held in place with screws and is removable with a tool similar to a golf cleat tool. This allows for packing the infected hoof with cotton and antiseptic and changing out the packing regularly. This was a strict regiment for about four months which also included removing the shoes, trimming the hooves and reinstalling the hospital shoes. After the abscess cleared up we kept these shoes on him to keep out dirt. He just received his first set of regular shoes last month.

The horse was slowly allowed back on a closely mowed portion of my pasture, and now is allowed to stay there full time.

I am happy to report that "Cowboy", my wife's bay quarter horse, is well and has recovered fully. Both the vet and the farrier are amazed at his recovery given the severity of his ordeal. He is, of course, closely monitered for any sign of a repeat founder.

Thanks to all offering advice.

Andy

Im glad things worked out for you. The hospital plates come in handy sometimes, I made a pair for a horse 6 weeks ago because of a severe abcess. Glad you got him taken care of.