Has anybody experienced this? Happened to my friend and it’s been very difficult. Looking for others that have gone through the same thing.
I certainly hope, and presume by now the Vet has come out and assisted/explained. I have read that if there is a problem with any retained placenta, rather than it all being expelled, that it can be one of the things that can cause this.
Did the entire placenta come out? Did she or the vet check it?
This happened almost 2 months ago. Vet and farrier are working closely together, Cornell and Penn have been consulted. What I am looking for are other people who have gone through this. The mare just doesn’t seem to be able to stabilize and is still in quite a bit of pain.
I can only speak to it from having a friend go through it. Post-foaling check done and nothing retained, but mare foundered badly. She literally tried everything but in the end there was nothing that worked and the mare was euthanized 
As everyone else has posted, when some of the placenta is retained, founder occurs. It’s horrible. Prayers for the mare.
I was hoping to find somebody else who had this happen and had a good outcome. My horse foundered but he was IR and this case seems so different. My horse stabilized pretty quickly but her mare just keeps going up and down, one day she seems better then the next day she can barely walk. It’s just so frustrating.
My mare foundered after foaling. She was six years old. She is now 27 and, when I had her feet checked at time of purchase a few years ago, the vet could find no rotation any more. So, yes, there is hope.
We did have this happen to us 5 years ago. Foaling was perfect, no retained placenta at all. We worked carefully with our vet and farrier. It was rough going for a while, but we eventually got the mare stable. Among other things we had very good luck with Soft Ride boots and the different inserts. We also had the mare on Remission, Quinessence and Herio products at different times during her recovery.
What has your friend/vet etc tried so far?
My mare foundered while oregnant from salmonella so totally different, I think. What helped her most was dental impression material stuffed into her feet, then you duct tape a diaper onto the bottom of the foot.
Iv drugs also helped.
It’s a terrible disease. Hope this has a happy ending.
Friend’s mare foundered post-foaling. Suspected that it was actually underway before foaling but mild and not pick up. Foaling was uneventful, no retained placenta, but she foundered badly. She was booted, padding and impression material was used. Tons of meds. But she was in a lot of pain and lost a lot of weight. Eventually the mare was euth’d when the foal was 3 months. Expensive, frustrating, and sad
Going up and down before stabilizing is not unusual. Several important things can help the mare such as controlling pain and maintaining circulation in the feet.
I found after using bute initially for a week or so that Devil’s Claw (herbal) can really help diminish the discomfort. Also I’ve used LaminaSaver, don’t know what’s in it but I was desperate to help the horse.
Vit. E can help w/ circulation as well as CQ10 (human pills).
Soft ride boots are the best for getting them comfortable enough to walk around. If money is a problem you can start out with Lily Pads taped and vet wrapped on the hooves. Lily pads are available from Centaur forge farrier supplies. Also keeping them out and about, not in a stall, w/ a quiet buddy will help them move around.
There’s a great yahoo group online which can help an owner through this and also make suggestions. I think it’s called Equine IR and Cushings group.
It will take several months for most horses to start growing new, improved and healthier hooves and could take up to 8-10 mo. for the total re-growth and re-attachment of the laminae. Once the horse is over the acute stage I start them on a good, quality hoof supplement as they do make the hooves grow faster.
A trimmer/farrier with lots of knowledge about founder should be the only one trimming the horse. I have done it both ways, barefoot and with shoes. IMO barefoot was better for the horse and to help improve circulation better.If you can have the trimmer tweak a little once a week initially it helps to get and keep the proper balance. Sometimes the trim can help a horse improve almost overnight because they’re more comfortable.
My experience has been that very, very few farriers and vets are up to date on the research in treating founder. They tend to still treat in the traditional ways that prolong the horse’s discomfort and do not always lead to a favorable outcome.
She’s tried the impression material and the soft rides. When I put the soft rides on my horse it was instant relief, this mare had no relief. She’s been getting her x-rayed weekly and the latest was today and it was bad. Her right front sank more and it looks like she’s about to come through the sole.
The vets at Cornell and Mid-Atlantic want her to get her tendons cut but she really doesn’t want to do that, but she might have no other choice.
Now it’s been 8 or 9 weeks and she can’t keep the mare comfortable. Banamine and bute gave the mare and foal ulcers so she has her on previcox which isn’t really cutting it.
Will Devil’s Claw be safe for the foal?
My farrier has brought multiple horses back from the brink of euthanasia with clogs - when NOTHING else worked. He grinds out the part of the clog that touches the sole so there is no pressure and some horses can’t even tolerate impression material there. I’ve seen them work miracles.
Yes, it happened to one of my mares as well, many years ago. Despite everything we tried, we lost the battle as she wound up with sinkers and could not stop it. I hope your mare will make a turn around. We never gave up until we knew we’d lost the battle.
Yes, once, with positive outcome. Older mare (more frequent, IMO), no retained placenta. We vetted, medicated, etc., but (again IMO) I believe the earlier you diagnose, and the earlier you get the temperature in the feet down, the better the prognosis. Me? I spent three nights sleeping in the back of a station wagon, holding her lead rope, while she stood in a 50 gallon bucket of ice water (she wouldn’t tie). As you might imagine, the foal and I got really friendly, even if I didn’t get much sleep.
The old timers (where I grew up, I’d never even heard of something called a veterinarian until I was 16 years old - we did our own, including castrations) stood them in the creek. It works, for those of you that still have a creek.
The later you start, and the further it has progressed, the worse the prognosis. IMO. I’m not a vet.
I remember that there was a mare that foundered after foaling - and it was all chronicled on Face Book.
Here is the link:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Help-Raise-Taxes/177157922345336
She needed drastic shoeing and some pretty extreme measures to save her.
