Laminitis /or club foot?/

Sorry, I’d pass.

Founder that’s of undetermined origin frightens the snot out of me. Tough enough dealing with concussion founder, grass founder, or brought on by cushings/ IR. When you have no idea what the root cause is, you’re poking in the dark and left to a recurring episode.

While always “AO” ``` I Would Pass and Purchase a “SOUND” Horse

WHILE I AM "AO " ````

I WOULD PASS ON THIS MARE AND PURCHASE A FRESH ‘SOUND’ HORSE.

WHY RISK IT ?

GO LOOK !! YOU’LL FIND THE ‘RIGHT’ HORSE FOR YOU JINGLES & AO:smiley:

You need to run away and don’t even think about getting it.

There’s plenty of good ones

[QUOTE=back in the saddle;5883888]
What kind of supplements? Nobody has ever told me to give my mare supplements and she rotated/dropped, the whole shabang. I will gladly give her something if it will help.[/QUOTE]

I have mine on Smartcontrol IR even though she has not been diagnosed (I’m pretty confident she’s IR though) and I keep her on Magnesium (Magrestore specifically). Do I know for a fact they work? Nope. I see some changes and it makes me feel better about it. Supplements that may or may not help laminitic horses

MSM - for inflammation
Magnesium - Can help reduce cresty necks, fat pads, etc.
Chromium - may help with weight loss (mag+chromium supps are Quiessence and Remission…both are really designed with founder prone horses in mind)

Tri-Amino -for amino acid supplementation for horses on restricted grazing and limited feed

and then I like the Smartcontrol IR. There are tons more, those are just the one I have personally used.

All of this stuff is more for preventative aid than anything else in my opinion.

DO YOU NEED A VET PRESCRIPTION FOR THIS SMARTPAK IR ??

DO YOU NEED A VET PRESCRIPTION FOR THIS SMARTPAK IR ??? SOUNDS LIKE SOMETHING I WOULD LIKE TO TRY ON AN OLD HACKNEY . TIA

[QUOTE=Zu Zu;5885334]
DO YOU NEED A VET PRESCRIPTION FOR THIS SMARTPAK IR ??? SOUNDS LIKE SOMETHING I WOULD LIKE TO TRY ON AN OLD HACKNEY . TIA[/QUOTE]

No, no prescription. I start my mare on it in March and keep her on it through November. It’s fairly affordable. I think it costs me $40 a month or so but I have her on a heavier than normal dose.

Thanks guys, you have been really helpful. Sounds like I will have to pass on her… I love her very much for her good brain, so I guess if she gets sound in the next couple rounds of shoeing I will ask about leasing her, but will look for a different one to buy.

Thank you everyone for contributing!

A lot of horses are MIS-dagnosed as having had ‘laminitis’ in one foot (as this one) when all there is wrong is a mis managed,distorted club foot. So saying he had laminitis based on just an Xray when there are no other clinical symptoms is possibly incorrect. More likely this a flared club foot and thin TB soles.
There are more parameters on an XRay though that CAN (and should be measured) to help diagnose true founder besides just the coffin bone angle. Given the young age of the horse, the fact there are no outward metabolic or laminitis symptoms , I suggest a second opinion from another vet in a different practice.

1 Like

[QUOTE=Zu Zu;5885334]
DO YOU NEED A VET PRESCRIPTION FOR THIS SMARTPAK IR ??? SOUNDS LIKE SOMETHING I WOULD LIKE TO TRY ON AN OLD HACKNEY . TIA[/QUOTE]

Sounds like something I want to try on ME! :lol:

From a smartpak review on this product: “I’ve seen my mares crest go down before my eyes in little over a month ! Her “fat” pockets have all but disappeared and I’m confident she is healthier. She will be on this the rest of her life.”

Kidding of course… but seriously… how does this work?

Did the mare retain any placenta by chance? That can cause founder. I would probably take her because I would worry what would happen to her if I didn’t. My friends joke that the worse the vetting, the more I want the horse.

In any case, if a horse founders from something other than metabolic issues, i.e., concussion, retained placenta, etc. they can be rehabbed and never have another occurance. You would, however, have to take the precautions you would take with a metabolic horse, i.e., keep her off grass, watch the NSC levels in her feed, etc. I just don’t think that she is necessarily a hopeless case. I know people with horses who foundered once and those with metabolic horses that struggle almost continuosly to keep laminitis at bay. They are two distinctly different groups of horses.

Personally, there are few equine diseases I am intimidated by and laminitis is certainly not one of them. I don’t find it all that complex to manage. In fact, IMO most health concerns are management related. I did rescue a 30 inch tall Cushing’s pony with chronic founder/laminitis, but we just introduced her to the K.I.S.S. diet and she never had another problem for all her years with us. We put her down at age 45. We’ve had a lot of horses over our family’s history and my personal 35+ years of doing this and we’ve always kept to a very simple high fiber/roughage diet, ample exercise and maybe our horses get some beet pulp in the winter with maybe a pound or less of extruded feed mixed in, some no-calorie minerals. We have next to nothing for problems and the vet has never gotten rich off of our family. It’s just not conincidence to go back 50+ years of records in the family and find the same thing over and over and over again - healthy horses living frequently well over 25+ years of age, even into their 30s and with few disease concerns.

Having an IR horse / cushings horse / founder or laminitis horse is simple to deal with, but you have to be willing to make the necessary changes with your feeding habits. It’s a plain, simple high-fiber, low-starch diet and that’s that. Pick up low-sugar tested hay and feed in ample quantities.

It’s all in the management and how you look at it.

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Me too:cry: I would never consider buying a horse with laminitis. It is just not worth it going into that nightmare knowingly :no: Save yourself the grief!!!

Anything can set off a laminitis attack, including spring or fall shots.
Hoof form can also play a very large roll especially if the horse is worked on poorly maintain feet. Long toes thin the sole and make for un happy horses.
If the horse was metabolic he would probably be in worst condition, especially with long toes and in shoes.

Was it a one time occurance that was never properly addressed? That would be my guess if there is no rotation in the xrays.
Try a new farrier/barefoot trimmer that knows what they are doing or at least gives a damn. You may be giving up a very good horse because of lack of proper care.:yes:

In my experience, almost all diagnosis of “mild laminitis in only in the right foot with no obvious symptoms” is just a mismanged club foot. And give the description of the farrier, that would be my guess, without seeing the radiographs.
Too often “founder” when diagnosed simply from radiographs without the presense of clinical symptoms is really just bad shoeing. :yes: Seeing the radiograohs would be a big help.

1 Like

Yea, she’s a great horse and I would make changes to her lifestyle if I came to own her. She was/is not worked very often, turned out in a grassy pasture, the farrier does not do a great job, and her feet are typical bad TB feet, could use a supplement.

I’m not sure if she retained any placenta when she gave birth back in the end of July, I think she had some tearing but that’s all I know of. We were thinking the added weight of the pregnancy may have made her sore, but she wasn’t diagnosed with laminitis until my first post in this thread, beginning of October.

It’s been a few months now and I haven’t been out to the barn very often, but after a few shoeings she’s improved, but still owie when ridden on hard ground or on tight turns.

[QUOTE=Patty Stiller;6009614]
In my experience, almost all diagnosis of “mild laminitis in only in the right foot with no obvious symptoms” is just a mismanged club foot. And give the description of the farrier, that would be my guess, without seeing the radiographs.
Too often “founder” when diagnosed simply from radiographs without the presense of clinical symptoms is really just bad shoeing. :yes: Seeing the radiograohs would be a big help.[/QUOTE]

This is all true:yes:
Not all farriers are Farriers in the true sence of the word.
But you don’t need xrays to determine bad shoeing.:no:

What is the “true sense of the word”?

Didn’t Mick Jagger write a song about that? :confused:

[QUOTE=Tom Bloomer;6012222]
Didn’t Mick Jagger write a song about that? :confused:[/QUOTE]
Don’t know, always prefered to play “hillbilly” music myself, so I never listen to Mick Jagger.

Question Tom, Where did you get the name Blackburn? I had a horse from I believe the King Ranch in the 60’s. His family’s names were all Mr. Blackburn(s) I had number 9. Nice horse.

[QUOTE=Rick Burten;6012170]
What is the “true sense of the word”?[/QUOTE]

When used as an adj,

  1. not false, fictional, or illusory; factual or factually accurate; conforming with reality.
    Hope that helps you :wink: