If you haven't seen a horse like this, you can be assured that your farrier has. Performing therapeutic work on a horse who's foundered condition was caused by excessive eating is one of the more disappointing tasks that a farrier has to do, because the cause is manageable. A client once remarked that it was "kind of cool" to see her mare with a crest (which happened to be bigger than any stud's) "'cuz it made her neck arch so nice". The poor horse foundered within two weeks.

This is the explanation found at Horseshoes.com, written by Tom Stovall, CJF:
"Any inflammation of the laminae, from whatever origin, is called "laminitis". As long as the laminae are well supplied with oxygenated blood, the balance between laminae and tendon is largely undisturbed; however, laminitis can disrupt the capillarial blood flow which supplies the laminae and can result in separation of the laminae at the junction of the dermal and epidermal laminae (between the inner hoof wall and the top of the coffin bone). This phenomenon can have serious consequences."
If the delamination is severe enough, the coffin bone will let go of the hoof wall and, with the help of the deep digital flexor tendon pulling from behind, will rotate downward - a very painful experience for the horse.
There are a lot of horse owners who find it difficult to manage their horse's food intake, because it seems so cruel to deprive them, especially when their horse pals are eating all that nice green grass in front of them. But, regardless of how you "feel", it's not a good thing to "love your horse to death".

Sadly, the only remedy for a chronic founder from overweight or high carb intake is management of the horse's diet. Most often this requires virtually no fresh grass at all, especially for those cute little mini's. The negative side effect of severely limited food intake is the possibility of malnutrition.
Nutrena has developed Lite Balance to help out in just this situation. Lite Balance has all the nutrients - vitamins and minerals - that a horse needs to be healthy, while lowering the calorie content from traditional grains, which helps out in the case of the overweight horse or pony. Lite Balance also has a very low starch content, which can help prevent the recurring incidence of laminitis due to starch overload. Horse owners can utilize Lite Balance to allow their horse access to a nutritious feed while helping to control the risk of chronic laminitis issues.
For more product information and dealer locations, visit www.nutrenaworld.com
or contact Gina Thesing at 763-263-8350
or email at: gina_thesing@cargill.com

Other Posted Articles

How to Keep Your Farrier Coming Back

What to Expect of Your Farrier

Are Your Hooves to Wet or Too Dry?

Drought, Sore Feet, and Weeds

Hoofcare for your Foal

Helping Your Aging Horse