The Basics About Founder

Founder in horses is sadly becoming very common due to horse owner's not being aware of the effects that an abundance of lush, sugary, grass, or a bad hoof trim can have on their horses hooves. 


Horses are naturally foraging animals,  when living in the wild they have to travel long distances to get little amounts of wild grass- which is generally low in sugar. Unfortunately owners of domestic horses tend to over feed their horses with hay, which is generally high in sugar. Not only are domestic horses being over fed high-in-sugar-hay, they are also confined by fences and aren't moving around as much as they were made to, or would in the wild.


Despite the unnatural habitat some owners provide for their horses, they often adapt and are fine.. Unfortunately, there are horses who don't adapt- those horses are the ones who suffer from Founder.


Below is a diagram (taken from http://equine-help.deviantart.com) of the bottom of a horses foot to refer to for terms.

Founder occurs when the lamellae become inflamed and produce toxins which weakens the connection between a horses coffin bone and hoof wall. The other way Founder can be caused is by a bad hoof trim. Many Farriers and Trimmers trim horses feet in a way that causes the toe of the hoof to grow too long- once again, weakening the connection between the hoof wall and coffin bone.


Here is a diagram (taken from http://edenvalleymessenger.com) displaying the hoof wall, laminae, white line and coffin bone.

The weakened connection between the coffin bone and hoof wall of a Foundered horse causes the white line  to stretch- which actually becomes visible when looking at the bottom of an affected horses foot. 
When the hoof wall and coffin bone loose their tight connection, the hoof wall begins to stray from the coffin bone creating an ugly hoof angle, and stretching the white line between the hoof wall, and coffin bone.

Once the tight connection of the hoof wall and coffin bone is broken it allows for the coffin bone to essentially "sink", and stray further from the hoof wall.

Here is an x ray (taken from http://naturespathhoof.com) of a hoof with a rotated and sunken coffin bone.

The white line drawn on the x-ray (not the White Line IN the hoof!) shows the disconnection between coffin bone and hoof wall, and the coffin bone "sinking" into the sole of the hoof.

Here is an x-ray of the same hoof shown above once treated properly (taken from http://naturespathhoof.com).

You can see in the above x-ray that the coffin bone is now at the same angle as the hoof wall, and the coffin bone no longer points towards the sole of the foot. As long as this horse continues to be trimmed correctly and on a regular basis and is kept on a specific low-sugar diet, it should go on to live a happy, healthy, normal horse life.



Dictionary


lamellae- inner hoof wall
hoof- a horses foot
Farrier- a person who shoes horses
Trimmers- a person who trims a horses foot naturally, and does not shod the horse