Hi,
I'm a hoof care practitioner, and first & foremost, without even seeing pics of your horses or having more than vague details, couldn't do more than educated guesses. If you would seriously like critiques on your horse's feet, post some hoof pix of each of them. Directly front- & side-on from near ground level and a range of different angles of the soles & sighting down from heels is best. Would also be helpful to have confo pics of your club footed boy. Also more info on feed & lifestyle is important.
Now, based just on your comments alone, not knowing what the guy saw or what his motives were, I'll tell what I think...
[quote=frecklesbryant]I am trying to find out what are early signs of founder.
It depends on who you speak to as to definitions of founder & laminitis. Some get the terms confused. I differentiate between laminitis being the initial inflammation of the laminae, causing breakdown in lamellar connection, which is generally due to metabolic/diet related causes. Early signs of this *are generally*(but not always noticable) elevated digital pulse, extra hot feet and signs the horse is in pain, often leaning back on heels to relieve toes. Depending on the severity of it, the lifestyle & diet, to some degree, and the stoicness of the horse, these things can go unnoticed. One sign that is rather obvious but frequently overlooked & not recognised are the rings that develop around the feet, from the change in growth when the lami attacks happen. Horses can have very light rings that hardly cause the tubules to deviate in their line of growth, or they can be quite ridged and prominent, depending on the severity & longevity of the attack.
Founder is the mechanical progression of laminitis, which can come about through ongoing metabolic stress &/or mechanical stresses such as neglected or badly trimmed or shod hooves. Signs include flared feet - the plane of growth doesn't grow in a straight line from the coronet, but flares out - widened 'white lines' at the ground surface, or separation, flattish soles or ridges around the front of soles. Also the angle of the pastern to the hoof and coronary depression are possible signs.
fighting thrush and weight on him
Thrush is generally a *symptom* of unhealthy feet, rather than a cause in itself. Meaning it's an opportunistic infection that has little hold on healthy hooves. Weight problems commonly signify metabolic/dietary problems. Perhaps the horse was getting too much high starch/sugar feed and had become IR.
I say WHAT. I have never had a problem with her foundering and look fine to me. Then He looked at my 6 year old Appy who is severely club footed and barefoot. and claims he need corrected shoeing or he could brake his leg.
Regarding your pony foundering, all I can say is that people frequently 'never have a problem and don't recognise the signs of unhealthy feet until 'all of a sudden, out of the blue' the horse is dead lame & foundered badly.
Of the 'club footed' boy, this condition may be due to conformation or an injury he sustained as a foal(which has made him carry his weight differently on that foot), and it may have been exacerbated by previous farriery care. Especially if it's due or worsened because of bad farriery, it is definitely possible to improve the situation, and generally bodywork is also integral(because injury & carrying himself differently would have put other parts out of whack), it is also possible to fix the problem completely. BUT depends on the cause, the severity, etc and can often exacerbate the problems & cause the horse to be sore if the feet are 'corrected' without proper consideration to the whole horse. It is often something they just have to live with, and I suppose it depends on what you plan to do with him, but I've never personally heard of a horse breaking his leg due to a club foot. There are a number of different approaches and opinions about the condition too tho, and the above is just mine.
I feel like he was trying to screw me and make me feel like a bad mom to my horses and he could fix them and he was doing me a great big favor.
Based purely on the above info, couldn't say. He may well be trying to dupe you or he may well be just a caring guy who's trying to help your horses.
Yes they need trimmed and were cracked .... He acted like he gets his way and would call authorities on my horses so he could get my one. My paint mare is a a little over weight but always has been. we like her that way.
How frequently do you have a farrier to your horses? If they are cracked, sounds likely you need one a bit more often. How are they kept and fed? What body score would you give your paint mare & the others? Depending on those answers, I wouldn't worry about any threats of calling the 'authorities'. If you're attending your horses well, who cares?
all my horses are fat and health. My neighbor trims them.... .... I did cut back on grain on my fat mare and moved her paddock so she is not getting as much grass.
I am concerned about 'fat and healthy' being put together. Because fat is NOT a healthy state for a horse(they've actually started charging people in UK for obese horses). Yes, I know it's common, but it's a common cause of founder & other 'diseases' through IR & other metabolic problems. Grain is not a generally healthy feed for a horse(yes, I know it's traditional) and it's fermentation in the hind gut causes laminitis. It's good that you moved the fattest to a paddock with less grass, but why are you giving her grain at all? No grain and a grazing muzzle might be a good idea for her, and the other not as fat ones moved to that sparser pasture.
I think it's imperative, for the sake of their horses, for all horse owners to learn all they can of the principles & function of healthy feet and the factors, especially including diet, that influence the health of hooves. Especially if you have been confronted by someone and you don't know whether they are pulling your leg, I suggest that educating yourself would be first & foremost on the list. That way you will *know* the state of your horses feet, know what the 'ingredients' are that are leading to problems and what to do about them, know whether your neighbour trimmer is doing a good, bad or indifferent job...
On the above note, hoofrehab.com barehoofcare.com and safergrass.org are 3 of many good sites you could start with. Also with regard to health & obesity, the Royal Veterinary College have some excellent current research on IR & laminitis that is extremely important to understand. You should be able to get the report from Dodson & Horrell feed co. I also highly recommend getting onto an equine nutritionist or such. I'm subscribed to a fantastic & invaluable(& very cheap too!) service called feedxl.com which I can't recommend highly enough.