Where I board my horse, there is a horse that that has all the telltale signs of foundering. His digital pulse is throbbing, his feet are super hot, his feet have awful laminitic rings, he is walking runs on soft grass, but he turns lame and won’t walk on gravel. His laminae looks pinched, and there is tons of brushing all over his feet. This isn’t my horse, and I’ve never seen or met the owner. Should I say something to the barn manager? Or will that make me seem like a know-it-all?
Thanks 
Yes, you owe it to the horse to at least say something to the BM. You are describing a horse who has foundered, and is currently laminitic.
What do you mean his “laminae looks pinched”?
It doesn’t make you a “know it all” to point out he’s got hot feet with a bounding pulse, which especially incombination is a red flag situation which calls for a vet, or at least doing something about it. For the owner and/or BM to not do anything about it is abuse. Unfortunately all you can do right now is mention it to the BM, but at some point, you do have the right (and some will say the responsibility) to call authorities if nobody does anything for the horse.
Good luck on this. That is a terrible position for anyone to be in 
Yes! Absolutely yes! The more eyes the better! This is a serious medical condition. I’ve reported far, far less to the barn owner/manager!
Thank you for the quick reply. By the laminae looking pinched, to me it looked like it has scrunched up on the top of the hoof wall by the rings, and pinched together. I can get pictures tomorrow. This horse doesn’t have a stall because it is on pasture board, therefore no one can see his feet when they go to feed him without careful examination. I will contact the BM and hopefully they can get in contact with the owner to make the switch back to drylot.
This poor horse was just thrown onto fully grassy pasture due to the owners request. The barn manager pleaded to transition him like the rest of the horses, (15 mins every day and increase it every week), and the BM listed all of the health concerns around the owners plan. The owner of this horse said he hasn’t has problems before and shouldn’t have them now.
Okay thank you! I was so tempted to just put him in the empty dry lot and call the barn manager after the fact. I couldn’t pick up the horses feet because he is just so skittish, but my guess is the bruising is super awful and nasty
Sounds like the barn manager has a clue, so I’m sure they know what’s going on. Owner is the problem. But a sympathetic word to BM about “that poor horse, he really looks uncomfortable” probably wouldn’t hurt.
Does the boarding contract day anything about giving the barn manager or owner automatic permission to call the vet in an emergency? It’s SOP in better barns in my area for precisely this kind of situation. Founder this bad is certainly an emergency.
the BM has the ability to contact a vet with the owners permission. I gave my permission to contact vet or farrier during emergencies when I met the BM. The owner of this horse declined that option in pretty sure
Unfortunately for the horse, I think this is a case of MYOB.
Sounds to me like the barn manager DOESN’T have a clue. The BM needs to “manage”. She knew better than to throw a horse out to pasture like that. There should be a set procedure to introduce all horses to full time pasture. Sounds like there were some guidelines, but that they are not a set procedure. Since when does the horse owner dictate bending rules at a boarding facility? The BM listed all of the health concerns around following the owners plan to just throw the horse in the pasture. She chose not to be the Barn Manager at that very moment when she let the owner bend the barn’s standard pasture introduction rules and threw the horse in the pasture.
There is also this same post in Off Course
There isn’t a set procedure for pasturing. I agree the BM should’ve done things differently, but this horse is new, and apparently the owner said he would be fine
Yes sorry, I needed help quickly
MYOB?
Guessing it stands for mind you own business. Not your horse so not your problem ,let owner worry about it and, barn owner. Sorry i wouldn’t get involved.
That’s more of where I am standing, I just don’t want to see him suffer
All you can do is voice your concern, unfortunately. It is the BO’s responsibility to discuss things with the owner, and if the owner still doesn’t do anything, then the BO does have the right and obligation to do something to prevent further suffering, including calling the owner’s vet, at the expense of the owner.
This is no different from if the horse sliced open a body part - it is an emergency situation.
But you, sadly, have no legal ability to intervene more than just saying something
The barn owner decided this was an emergency, and moved him to dry lot
Awesome.
It’s more emergency than that though. That’s just Step 1 of of a more involved plan - I hope she will recognize that. But at least that’s done.
I think this poses a really good question- when to intervene, especially in a situation where the horse belongs to someone you don’t know. I think we all have a duty to let someone in charge of the horse know- for example, a boarder at our barn in the pasture noticed that one of the horses had a minor issue. We have staff but they are super busy and this was able to be reported in quickly. It’s not okay to let a horse suffer- if the owner chooses to not deal with the situation, that’s one thing. But I feel I owe it to the horse to at least alert the owner to something I feel is amiss. How are you going to feel if this horse ends up in REALLY bad condition because something that could have been prevented was allowed to get out of control? Sometimes people (no matter how long they’ve been around horses) don’t know simple signs founder or whatever.
Go to the BM. Tell her to come check the horse. Get him in ice and have the BM call the vet and owner. If the owner is a reasonable, adult they will appreciate your concern.
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