This has some great info! Ugh, she seemed totally better over the past few days and then today seemed like she didn’t want to move at all and very stiff on all her feet but especially the right front. I tried to pick it up but then she seemed to be in pain on the opposite front— put her hind legs underneath herself and almost fell over trying to get her weight off of her left front. I didn’t get that on video but from the video I did send of her walking, the vet is “heavily leaning towards” thinking it’s an abscess. I just don’t understand why she would seem to have pain in both front feet if it were just an abscess.
I’ve been there too and it’s so stressful when you don’t know. It does sound like an abscess and you’re soaking. Maybe sore in the left due to being sore on the right .
If it were me I’d have the vet out. I’d get xrays and pull blood. I’m so sorry.
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@lm1089, in some of the pictures you posted, she looks like she could be walking on her soles. Of course, that could be the angle of the camera- it’s hard to get a good picture sometimes. Bounding pulse is an indicator I like to rely on, but will share we had a terrible abscess that blew out the top. The horse was crippled lame, never had a pulse…the veterinarian found it when he picked up the foot and punched through the top of the coronary band by accident.
I was listening to this on the way into work this morning and thought of you. It’s really good. Your situation is hopefully/probably just an abscess but she talks about the great value of getting xrays.
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I just wanted to mention EMS or IR does not have to be a horse that is overweight or have a crest. I have a pony that is 3 years old with a body score of 5, no fatty lumps, no crest, no increased thirst, is not hungry all the time (actually stops eating several times a day to relax), has lots of energy, so really not many symptoms of EMS (he was a head scratcher for my vet at first since he didn’t point to EMS at all). Had his blood pulled as he had laminitis after his Rhino/Flu as a 2 year old and then had a laminic episode again at 3 after his spring shots (and he was not on pasture either of those times) and he had rotation in both feet and insulin levels of 92. So you really never know! Apparently vaccines for him are his trigger for laminitis so he needs to have flunixin a few days before and after a shot and we are going to try IN for his rhino/flu in the spring. Spread out all of his shots as well.
Its good to get a baseline of xrays and pulling blood is always a good idea. My blood work in Ontario is just over $500 and rads were $300 so not cheap, but at least I know whats going on.
I also had his diet evaluated by Dr. Kellon (he is on 0 grain - he was on only a handful of low NSC grain for over a year - less than 10%, but still had very high insulin levels so we totally removed it). He is now on 10g metformin 2 times a day (20 x 500mg tabs - he is about 850lb - 14h pony), soaked hay, hay cubes and flax to get his meds into him, amino trace +, Heiro, salt and W3 oil. No treats at all and of course 0 grass. He has been sound for 6 months now and I’m able to ride him (which is the best medicine for lowering insulin, but of course they have to be sound). I get his bloodwork rechecked next week so hopefully it shows a huge improvement! His feet are also trimmed every 5 weeks and he has front shoes and pour in padding.
Hope you can get some answers for you girl soon as well!
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WOW. Your whole post has my mouth hanging open. A 3 yo with NO signs. And what a beautiful beautiful horse. Thank you for sharing.
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I never would have thought it either. Mt vet that pulled his blood and took his rads said its called Non-Obese EMS (and is genetic) and is more on the rare side. But when I received and email back from Dr. Kellon, she said its not that rare so ? I guess we are just the lucky ones as we bought him back as a yearling (is family bred) and our plan is to finish training him this year and he is to be a lease pony for the hunter ring. Now this will be tough as he has to be in the perfect program/diet and what kid doesn’t want to give their pony a treat??! UGG!
So poor guy can never have treats, or grass and must be kept at a body scale of 5 and worked as much as he can (he is young of course - turning 4 this spring) so I do work him about 3-4 times a week on the flat. We just started over small jumps last week, but working him will be the best to control his insulin now that he is sound.
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I’m so so glad I decided to x-ray/pull blood! Her x-rays showed rotation in both feet with the right worse than the left 
waiting on the bloodwork to come back and I’m expecting a long road ahead, but the farrier and vet both think she can be brought back sound and the farrier said he’s had very good success with it in the past on horses with similar rotation.
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He’s stunning. I’ve heard so much conflicting info about horses that have foundered and whether they can ever be ridden — it’s good to hear a success story. Hoping the best for him that he stays sound for a very long time!
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OMG. Yes, thank goodness you did that. I’m so sorry but so good to know. It will be a journey and we will be here to support you. And wow she’s not even overweight. I’m so curious to hear her insulin number.
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Does he have heart bars? How long do they stay on or is it indefinitely? The farrier says he wants to do heart bars on my mare after seeing her x-rays but I’m not sure what to do after researching and seeing so many opposite opinions on shoes and scary stories both ways 
If you are happy with your vet and farrier, have them consult with each other and then follow their recommendations.
Also, write down any questions for vet and farrier as you think of them. Then you’ll remember everything you want to ask.
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Wow, that’s a bit of a surprise but at least now you know for sure what’s wrong. I looked back at the photos you posted . . . I was looking to see if I missed the classic laminitic ridge. I still don’t see it but maybe it was rasped down?? Or maybe it happened too recently to be visible yet??
My horse had a laminitis attack 9 years ago. One thing I learned then is that there are multiple approaches to dealing with the problem. My vet said basically “First we’ll try this and the horse will let us know how he likes it. If it’s not working we’ll try something different.” My horse was in Redden Ultimate glue-on shoes for about a month until the initial attack subsided, then he was transitioned to Redden 4 point rail shoes for 8-9 months. This worked well for him and he recovered completely and is now barefoot with hoof boots when I ride, but another horse might need a different approach.
Ditto what @skydy says to have vet and farrier work together. I hauled my horse to the vet clinic for the farrier to work on him. The vet took x-rays before and after to be sure the shoes were angled correctly.
I’m really pulling for your mare. Laminitis will give any horse owner nightmares.
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There are lots of success stories! Maybe not as many as heartbreaking stories, but lots of horses do recover. Mine was 12 when she whacked the crap out of a splint bone. Stall rest was prescribed. Overloading the other front leg caused basically a ‘road’ or concussion founder. When that got more painful than the whacked splint leg, the whacked splint leg took all the weight and foundered too. Long story short - after a very long recovery, she’s happy, sassy, and sound at 18 and working on all kinds of footing … barefoot! The transition back to barefoot wasn’t the easiest (breaking boots, needing boots when she hadn’t needed them after the last trim, etc.) but last summer I heard words from my farrier that I never thought I’d hear, “She walks across the gravel like she’s got 4 shoes on.”
So it can be done. It can’t always be done. But some horses recover well and (knock on wood) don’t have further problems beyond the extended time it takes to grow a new foot (and ime, it takes a lot longer than a year to grow out a truly healthy, solid, fully sound one).
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Good idea! I’m always too focused on trying to remember what my questions are to actually listen and absorb the answers so I’m definitely going to do that next time.
I’m not 100% on this vet. I recently moved to a new area so it’s my first time using her— the farrier I chose to go with is brand new as well but highly recommended. The vet still says she thinks my mare’s recent lameness was caused by an abscess and hasn’t been much help in terms of what I should do if her hoof is actively progressing— just that I should manage her diet which I’m already doing. She says the lameness would be worse and last longer if it was due to the laminitis, but I’ve seen many people say their horses present with low grade lameness and just stiff movement as symptoms too. And shoes vs. barefoot is the million dollar question I’m debating right now— I want to go barefoot cost wise (and the vet said she would try that first), but the farrier says there is a higher chance of fixing the problem with shoes. It’s all pretty confusing to me! But yes, the plan as of now is to have the farrier and vet come out together to work on her next week and do nerve blocks and shoes.
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I’m so glad it has turned out well for your guy.
I’m curious when you say the vet took x-rays before and after— does this mean every single time he was shod for the full 9 months? Will do whatever must be done, but I’m having a hard time with the idea of spending 400-500 every farrier visit. It sounds like from what the farrier said she also may need nerve blocks before shoeing.
Yes, vet took x-rays both before and after each shoeing. The first x-ray was to see the coffin bone and decide how to adjust the shoe. The vet and farrier would look at the x-ray and discuss how to make the shoe fit. The second x-ray was to confirm everything was as it should be. Shoeing was done every 6-8 weeks and cost about $150-$200 for x-rays, vet, and farrier. This was 9 years ago so I don’t know what it would cost today. My horse didn’t need nerve blocks but the vet did give him light sedation. He wore therapeutic shoes for 8-9 months and transitioned to regular shoes for a few months after that, and then went barefoot with hoof boots for riding on gravel roads and rocky trails. My horse had good vet and farrier care, but most of all he was just really lucky. I hope your horse will do as well.
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From what I’ve experienced through friend’s experiences and from listening to podcasts, there are different paths to rehab. Not everyone does shoes. You can boot and trim possibly.
Here’s a webinar with Dr. Deb Taylor from Auburn Univ all about laminities treatment and prevention:
I cannot recommend enough listening to some podcasts to get various opinions. Alicia Harlov’s Humble Hoof podcast is incredible. She interviews vets and experts on the subjects and all worth a listen. Here are several on laminitis:
If you wanted to go the boot route you do a consult with this woman:
Here’s a podcast with three owners who rehabbed their horses:
Here’s on of the world’s leading vet researchers on laminitis treatment:
There’s a lot of good info out there and let me know if you want more. There’s another awesome podcast interviewing the two women who got the ECIR group going. Let me know if you want me to find that.
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Here’s the podcast with a vet and human doctor - two women from the ECIR group about diet. It’s such a worthwhile listen and help you get started on the diet changes you probably need to make.
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Thank you! I listened to the podcast you posted the other day and am looking forward to listening to that Metabolic one especially.
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