it has been 6 months since i have removed shoes from my 8 year old mare. My farrier says that her feet are doing well and that all she needs is for her hoof wall to grow stronger but that her feet are definitely tough enough. she still walks on the gravel and rocks as though it is painful and it breaks my heart to watch her i keep considering re-shoeing her but then i remind myself that this pain is a cause of her being shod in the first place. lately i have been noticing that her feet have been a bit warm. i have trouble distinguishing heat and swelling because i can never tell if her hocks are swollen or not (she has arthritis) so i have never had much confidence in saying whether or not anything is swollen or if it is just warm. so with that little info i shall start. the other day i was talking to the barns farrier (i have a different farrier from this one) and he sprung the info on my that the rings in my horses hooves ( which i really hadnt noticed up to that point) were caused because she foundered in the past before i bought her. i have only owned her for 6 months. (i made the decision to remove her shoes because i had been working with her for a year and i though it would be overall healthier for her to go without them) so when the barns farrier told me this i freaked out at first and he told me that she is fine now (which i dont understand because i thought that founder was a long lasting effect thing and she was never treated [that i know of] for founder) so now i have been thinking, is that why the soles in her front feet are so low to the ground? is that why she is so sensitive on the rocks? is that why her hooves are so warm?
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also the barn manager doesnt really seem to have a big caution for switching horses over to things slowly, there was one time where he completely put different grain in her bucket, i do not think that he gradually switched her over to sweet feed and i do not think that he was very gradual with switching her from all hay diet to grass at night and hay during the day diet. thank you very much if you read all of this and i would appreciate any opinions about this. and please just let me know any ideas that you took away from all this info.
Laminitis is one likely possibility which would explain the rings, but other metabolic conditions can show up as hoof wall rings.
Heat is not an accurate indicator of whether or not laminitis is present. In fact, laminitis isn't even an inflammatory process as was formerly thought. It is actually brought on by excessive formation of enzymes that degenerate the membrane attaching lamellar tissues to the coffin bone. Often the pedal pulses will be palpable, but not bounding as many still think, and there may be no elevation of heat present in the affected hooves. Signs and symptoms can be varied in laminitis and founder, so whenever there is suspicion, it should be investigated by your vet.
pets question and answers,www.5d2d.com The only way to determine whether your horse has foundered, which indicates a rotation of the coffin bone associated with laminitis, is to have xrays performed. I would advise you to do that, and then if there is rotation, the hooves can be managed with correct trimming (preferably by a qualified barefoot specialist).
If the horse has foundered, then the vet can advise you on medical management, which will typically include dietary restriction of soluble carbohydrates. Once laminitis has occurred, the horse is more prone to future episodes.
Save your pennies and call a vet to come out and give you a real evaluation.
When a horse founders, the laminae heat up and split away from the inside of the hoof causing the coffin bone to rotate downwards. How quickly the founder was caught and the degree of the rotation are the two determining factors in the horse's recovery. Horses who have foundered and recovered will often have a "ring" going horizontally across their hoof wall. This indicates that they did founder (as the other farrier pointed out) but have recovered and the hoof is starting to grow out again. Sometimes a horse will founder in only one front leg, but often it is in both. However, they don't always founder the same degree in both which is why one ring may be thicker than the other.
pets question and answers,www.5d2d.com When a horse is actively foundering the hoof is HOT to the touch, they often have a temperature, and there is a pulse in the back of the hoof. They will be VERY lame and trying to walk on their heels to alleviate the pain.
If a horse has foundered before, chances are they probably will again if you aren't careful. A variety of things can set off founder: stress, a sudden change in feed, and too much green grass are the three biggies.
The only way to tell how badly your horse foundered is to get x-rays of the feet which I would highly suggest. Any vet can do this. The x-rays will tell you how far the coffin bone rotated from it's original position. The more rotation, the worse the founder was. Some horses only have a very faint rotation and are fine for the rest of their lives.
