Treating Founder (Chronic Lamintis) without Horseshoes, Section 17

Faster-loading version with "thumbnail" photos
(Click on small photos to see larger versions)

As Dr. Strasser has pointed out, a constantly maintained wild horse trim, coupled with plenty of exercise and constant freedom to move, is your best line of defense against laminitis.  She finds that all foundered horses have high heels and some degree of heel contraction.  Trimming as she advocates will spread the heels and enhance circulation enough to provide more reserve circulation to better withstand laminitis triggers.

Here are some laminitis triggers:

1. Any systemic upset, such as fever, colic, or getting into something toxic, can trigger an attack.  Drinking too much water when hot is another way.  Obesity greatly increases the probability of founder.   Gorging on grain can do it.  Gorging on the new spring grass is another way.   Bedding on black walnut shavings is an example of a toxic trigger.  Over-use of steroids is another systemic trigger.  Many of these can be avoided.  Many of these seem to be related to digestion.  Retained placenta after foaling another trigger.  I have also heard of several incidents where vaccinations, particularly rabies, triggered laminitis.  We MAY be over-vaccinating, and there may well be a connection between "spring shots" and founder occuring more often in the spring.

2. Some medical conditions can make a horse more likely to founder, such as low thyroid.  Low thyroid can result from a pituitary adenoma, or Cushings Disease--a slow-growing benign tumor, which leads to low thyroid, high cortisone levels in the blood, rain rot, pot belly, muscle loss, increased urine output, poor vision, and a propensity to founder.  Another sign is a long, curly coat slow to shed out.  The tumor grows slowly and the signs develop gradually.  The tests are ACTH and Dex suppression.  There is medication available to control it, but it is expensive.  (Permax, around $100/month, which makes them less likely to founder and reduces some of the other symptoms.) Dr. Eleanor Kellon reports getting similar results with Hormonise on Cushings horses, however, which contains vitex agnus-castus (chaste berry), and is available at Emerald Valley Botanicals: http://www.emeraldvalleybotanical.com/products.html
   
   "I published the first article on use of Chaste tree berry (aka Vitex agnus castus, aka Monk's Pepper) in Horse Journal in December, 2000.  I agree the liquid extract has more predictable results.  Extracts are always much more potent, and hopefully manufacturers make at least some effort to purchase from the same sources, while powders are prone to lose potency over time and vary quite a bit from batch to batch.  I do have clients using berries that they grind fresh each day.  Takes a considerable amount, average of 2 oz for a full size horse.  The original HJ article spurred a larger trial by the Laminitis Trust in the UK.  See http://www.laminitis.org/Vitex%20trial.html "
   
   There is a email list for discussing Equine Cushings:  http://groups.yahoo.com/group/EquineCushings/
   
   For more information on Cushings, Insulin Resistance, and Hypothyroidism from Dr. Kellon, Click HERE
   
   Some of the symptoms of protein backing up into the system  because poor hoof mechanism not allowing rapid hoof growth and protein utilization, as described in Dr. Strasser's book, mimic many of these signs, interestingly enough.

3. Malnutrition is a subtle thing.  A horse can be 300 lbs. overweight and still have serious mineral deficiencies; in particular, magnesium.  I recently  checked with the agricultural lime dealers in my area, who tell me that the only lime available in my area is calcium carbonate.  To get dolomite in large quantities for spreading on large fields, you have to go to a quarry in Northern Ohio.  So even if you are keeping your fields limed, it is not enough.  Add 1 Tbsp. daily of food grade calcium carbonate and an equal amount offood grade magnesium oxide.  (The magnesium needs to be balanced with calcium to prevent calcium loss in the bones.)

4. Mechanical triggers, such as overwork on hard roads, can be lessened by trimming in the short toe-low heel style I have been writing about here.  Road founder may have an chemical aspect as well--higher lactic acid levels due to over-exertion.

5. Excessive iron in their drinking water can be a culprit.  I had mine drinking out of a dug well when I had the most trouble.  I have since hooked up the barn hydrant to a cistern, which gives them rainwater.  I had the water tested, and the cistern water is superior on just about every count to the well water.  (One caveat on cisterns and rain water, though--Linsey McLean of www.vitaroyal.com says that rain water is getting increasingly contaminated with nitrates and the "acid rain" problem.  There was a very slight trace of nitrates in my cistern water test, but the concrete holding tank must have counteracted any acidity, as the pH of the water was OK.  Linsey says nitrates inhibit thyroid activity. Anyone building a cistern should incorporate a drain so they can drain the water periodically and clean the tank...and put in filter boxes between the cistern and the downspout where you can run the water through sand, activated charcoal, etc., before it reaches the tank.  I did put in a drain, but I am sorry I did not insist on filter boxes when the cistern was built.)
   
   For Dr. Dan Pitzen's article on the relationship between excess iron in the water and laminitis, click on the link below: 
   http://www.animalsafetyproducts.com/drpitzennutritioniron.htm
   (If the link above quits working, Click HERE)
   
   Dr. Eleanor Kellon also has an interesting article on the relationship between too much iron, and laminitis and insulin resistance: 
   Iron Status of Hyperinsulinemic/insulin Resistant Horses
   
   Just how safe IS your horse's drinking water?  The best nutritional program will still be undermined by polluted drinking water.  For a comprehensive water quality test from Lehman's Hardware, that fabulous place full of 19th century stuff catering to non-electric living, CLICK HERE   (Go to "Water Dept., then to "Water Filters," and finally to "Water tests.")
   
   
   
   (You can also find treadle sewing machines, hand pumps, kerosene lamps and refrigerators, wood stoves, sleigh bells, and so much more at Lehman's!  My favorite place to go shopping, in the heart of Holmes County, Ohio's Amish area!  To get OUT of their site, doubleclick on the BACK button rapidly.)

6. Pregnant mares:  Extra calcium taken immediately before and after foaling can help prevent retained placenta, and many other stresses related to delivery. Retained placenta is a common cause of laminitis. An oral calcium gel, one dose given within 24 hours before foaling, and a second dose within 24 hours after foaling, can help prevent: prolapsed uterus, long labor, mastitus, ketosis, retained placenta, hypocalcemia relapses. This is a prescription drug available through vets, and has been mainly marketed for cattle.

7. I have gotten some feedback that DMG and/or MSM may be of some preventative value as well.  The connection between lactic acid build-up, DMG and laminitis warrants more investigation.  However, this is not a substitute for mechanically restoring full hoof mechanism with a correct trim and enough movement.  The letter below mentions the 4-point trim not working alone, but I have no idea if it really was an optimum trim.  Further, people on the naturalhorsetrim list have been reporting getting harder hooves and faster hoof growth after adding MSM to their horses' diets.

   From Diane Kowallek dkowallek@att.com -- ".... my pony continued to founder....He would founder on less than a minute of grass... So I went to the library and picked up every book they had on lameness and diseases and horse care.  They all said the same thing, which was basically nothing. But then one old old book said that when a horse founders, he gets a tremendous amount of lactic acid buildup in his system... I had just gone through an equine supply catalog and under the description of DMG, it said it reduced lactic acid buildup...The results were great.  The next spring, he was able to graze for 30 minutes without any problems.  If I pushed it past that, he would get a pulse in his front feet, but within less than 24 hours, it would be gone.  Once the spring grass was gone, he was able to graze for an hour... I ran out of DMG and decided not to get any more, because I thought maybe it was the 4 point trim that did the trick.  Within two weeks, he was lame.  Within a week of going back on it, he was fine.  Unfortunately, I got lazy and didn't give it to him all winter, and this spring was his worst.   I've got him back on DMG and he is gradually getting better.  My vet said he has heard of MSM working on several ponies.  Last year I told several people on the internet about DMG and they all wrote back and said it helped their horses."

---

Back to home page--Table of Contents

Article in sections with "thumbnail" photos for fastest downloads:
   1           9          17   
  2          10         18  
3          11         19
4          12         20
  5          13         21  
6          14         22
7          15         23
        8          16         24        
NAVICULAR

Article in sections with full-sized photos for print-outs:
   1           9          17   
  2          10         18  
3          11         19
4          12         20
  5          13         21  
6          14         22
7          15         23
  8          16         24  
NAVICULAR

To Strasser case studies--thumbnail photos for faster downloads
To Strasser case studies--large photos

Please sign my guest book!              Photos of my pets              My farm
Share Barefoot success stories on this page
Buy or sell used HORSE BOOTS            Natural board Barn Listings

Click here to subscribe to naturalhorsetrim
(I strictly moderate this listserv to weed out "fluff.")

Send Email to Gretchen Fathauer, or call (740) 674-4492

---

Copyright by Gretchen Fathauer, 2013.  All rights reserved.