We have been dealing with reoccurring lameness in a pony that has foundered and wondering if anyone has any tips/remedies that we haven’t tried?
History: Pony foundered 1.5 yrs ago. X-rays showed 7 degree rotation. We padded his feet/ put shoes on/ and put him on isoxuprine and remission. Pony became sound a few weeks later and eventually returned to work. Sadly, pony appears to be foundering again for unknown reasons. He currently has reverse shoes with pads, gets isox, pergolide, and lamiguard. He gets 1 handful ration balancer and is only fed Triple Crown Safe Starch Forage. He gets about 1 hour a day turnout on a dry lot (zero grass). Xrays don’t show more rotation, but vet suspects he is dropping.
He is much worse without shoes and pads, he gets worse the longer he is outside on the harder ground.
Any suggestions???
Sorry Buglet! It is horrible.
Check blood work, iron levels? Weeds? Is it possible someone has been feeding him treats? Was pony vaccinated recently? Any other stresses?
How old is pony? Any sign of Cushing’s or metabolic problems? How is pony’s weight?
What does it mean that the xrays show no more rotation but the vet thinks he is dropping? Is the coffin bone dropping without rotating? That is one presentation of founder, so could have drop without rotation.
Does the pony have a laminitis episode now or just continued dropping?
The best outcome for shoeing or trimming a foundered horse is to actually undo the rotation over time with therapeutic farrier skills so that the new hoof grows out in correct alignment to the coffin bone.
I’ve seen evidence of this being accomplished but not at first hand. I think it may not always be possible.
My guess is, once the bone is rotated (really it’s more the hoof capsule that rotates on the bone) and if the horse continues with that rotation in place, he stands a good chance of getting worse over time.
So sorry. I had my old retired horse go through the same last year – foundered two years before, he looked super for a year and a half – did all the right stuff, then out of nowhere he foundered again and nothing we did stopped it.
I would update the bloodwork and run the IR/Cushings test again to see if the pergolide dose is correct.
I would also limit activity, bed deeply and use SoftRide or other boots if you can, keep icing him.
Jingles for a good outcome for yours. My vet said that despite the dry lot, even something like weather changes/winter can trigger some horses. Nothing in my horse’s diet had changed and he was dry lotted just like always. don’t be hard on yourself…you were doing what you could. I thought maybe the frozen ground of winter pushed mine over the edge – just the stress of standing on a harder surface than normal. He had been 3 degrees in one, none in the other before and we’d improved the 3 degrees, so I don’t think the prior rotation was a huge stressor. Laminitis is still a real mystery in many horses. He’d been fine the previous winter.
Ditto on running Cushings/IR and the softride boots. How is his weight and does he get the Safestarch Free Choice? Spikes in even low sugar foods can trigger an episode. A.e. not using hay net or feeding the Safestarch 2x per day for example vs. slow feed all day/night to keep levels even.
I have a 10h shetland that cannot tolerate any Triple Crown products. He gets laminitic type symptoms on all of their feeds. It’s really odd - also urinates a ton on their feeds. Remove the TC and I have my pony back. He gets a handful of Alam and a low NSC hay.
I would get him in pair of Softrides immediately with the orthotics for laminitis. They are a lifesaver and will make the pony more comfortable. They are expensive but work wonders. I’m in NoVA if you want to borrow mine for a few days to see if they help…my pony is a large 14.2 Connemara so not sure if they’d fit yours, but you are welcome to try them - just PM me. (seriously) Could meet you somewhere.
My large pony foundered in the hinds and it started “mechanically” (poor shoeing/nails) He has never been shod again but recovered and is sound in trail boots. He was 13% in one foot, about 11% in the other hind. Mine is also Cushing’s/IR which didn’t help - not sure which came first - but vet believed his metabolic condition threw him over the edge on some mechanical shoeing issues.
So sorry and jingling for your pony. Laminitis sucks.
We have run blood twice and it didn’t show anything abnormal. Pony is in great weight (not fat and not skinny). He gets the forage fed to him in 6 different feedings so that he cant just gorge himself on it. Pony is only 11yrs old so this is heartbreaking. We did notice that the latest episode presented itself right after we had crazy weather changes. I will try the soft ride boots to see if that helps. Thanks guys!
I am no help on what to do, just going to add some Jingles!
did you check his iron levels? I think this is a special test you ask for. It isn’t part of the normal CBC profile. Not sure if it’s different in the US.
High iron levels was a trigger for my horse.
You tested for Cushings twice, or you ran a normal blood panel? Or, better yet - what exactly did you test for?
