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Foundered horse HELP!

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Foundered horse HELP!
  • A friend of mine wants to give me a Hanoverian mare whom has foundered. She sent me X-rays and pictures of her rocker shoes. The mare was doing level 4 dressage and learning to jump. I fell in love with the horse and recently lost a horse, and my current horse is too small and being offfered for sale, and she offered to give her to me. She is 7years old. It was a grass founder as the mare wasn't being riden as her owner was consintrating on the mares Sire more and she ended up getting too fat. She caught the founder right away and no surgury required. Vet says there is no rotation of coffin bone. There is a few small gas pockets that still need to grow out. The lady is giving me this horse because she does not have the time and she doesn't trust her staff with her as it was their misjudgement that had her founder in the first place. Her vet says she will be completly sound in 5-6months and ready for slow exercise. She was on butte for about 2weeks and stall struck with hand walking to keep her from going nuts. Now she is still stall stuck as all the fields this lady has is lush spring grass all year long. We tried to turn her out in her indoor but all she wanted to do was run. (we kept a lounge line on her to try and keep her from running. I have been going out every weekend and taking the mare on a 4mile walk. She is sound enough for that. She has not been pacing in her stall anymore since i do that and her stable hand walks her for an 1/2 hour. She is on a diet now. We have a feild at my barn that a wild mustang dug up. We are going to grade it before she comes and have her turned out there with another boarders horse whom has foundered.
     
    I love this mare to death and I am being pressured for a Yes/no answer before Devon horse show which is the 22nd as the owner doesnt trust her staff to take care of her as they already tried to turn her out without a muzzle. She will be at Dressage at Devon horse show with her stud and two colts all week long. The mare was surpossed to go but then she foundered. She is thinking of bringing her down with the stallion and colts and dropping her off at my place before going to Devon.
     
    My plans are to event this mare when the time comes right. But i will be working with my vet and ferrier on how soon i can work with her. I cannot ride for a few months as I have mono and my liver, spleen, and apendix are inflamed and no contact sports includes riding. So not riding her wont kill me too bad lol.
     
     
    Let me know...
     
    heres the X rays
     
    (i apoligise i dont know which foot is which)
     
     
     
  • Talk with your vet and farrier about what they think is a normal course of action for her given the situation.
     
    If you are up for the challenge, both emotionally and financially then go for it.  It sounds like you know what you are getting yourself into.
  • I'd take her in a heartbeat. I've had foundered horses before, and they came out of it just fine and were sound again. Exercise seemed to help more than anything.
  • Yes I would take her to.
  • I would take her and remove all grain from her diet... letting her exercise is good for the hoof circulation!!! I would also be soaking and draining all hay, hay nets work great for this ... adding in some remisison will also help
     
  • Its laminitis when there is inflammation of the laminae, its founder when its progressed to a rotated coffin bone. From experience, looking at the x-rays, it does appear that her coffin bone has rotated a few degrees.  If you are truly interested in taking this mare, I would ask if you can have a different vet, one that you hire, look at the x-rays. I have had 2 horses euthanized because they foundered and they were at the point of no return on recovery - the first foundered as a result of his cushings disease and he foundered in all 4 hooves, the second mare foundered in the fronts and we almost had a turnaround on her recovery, and her hooves both started sloughing off from her leg (basically falling off). 
     
    If this were me, I would not take the mare. I have dealt with founder before and would not knowingly take a horse with founder in its history.
     
  • Moot point as this thread is old but I  had to chime in.....I am not a vet but I also see slight rotation of P3 in both radiographs.  Personally, if she were a nice mare, I would take a chance with her as the degree of rotation is minimal. 
  • And keep in mind..if the coffin bone has rotated, the horse will NEVER be 100 percent sound.
     
    One of my pet peeves is ppl (no one on this thread) who claim that a horse is sound because it's currently symtomless. A horse that is sound has no problems. No special feed needed, no special shoes, no special treatment to keep it "sound". If it needs that extra care to keep it "sound" it's not "sound".