Laminitis
– This level starts with minor inflammation to the
lamina, the finger-joint-like connective tissue that binds
the outer hoof wall to the inner hoof capsule, and is when
the blood supply to the lamina starts being compromised
or restricted. This is the first stage of founder, is sometimes
hard to detect, and is the stage in which you really want
to try to arrest the situation. If you can stop the problem
here, there will be little damage to the inner hoof and
lamina. The damage won’t be visible for about a month,
but it should be minor when you do. There is only a small
chance that the feet will abscess, but if they do, signs
of abscessing probably won’t show up for about two
weeks.
Signs of this early stage
may include ‘ouchiness’ or tender footedness
combined with not eating or drinking quite normally. There
is usually a slightly raised temperature in the horse and
the digital pulse in the foot. It is possible the hind feet
will be pulled underneath the body to take some pressure
off of the front feet. This stage can be hard to distinguish
if you do not know your horse’s personality or behavior
patterns very well. Outwardly, it can look as though the
horse is a little ‘off’, may appear that the
last trim or shoeing caused him some foot pain, may be developing
an abscess or, if your horse is particularly stoic, may
not even be noticed at all.
What can you do to arrest
the situation here should you believe your horse is in this
early stage? Have the horse stand in a cool stream, stand
in cool peanut-butter consistency mud, stand on a closed-cell
foam rubber pad that is thick enough to support the entire
foot including the frog and commissars, take the shoes off
(if there are shoes applied), and contact your vet to see
what anti-histamines or other such substances your vet would
recommend. Contact a qualified founder specialist so they
can apply a trim to help minimize further damage to the
inner hoof. If the horse is normally stalled, remove them
from the stall so they can have full access to a sand arena,
a round pen full of pea gravel, or a pasture that has clean
mud, sand and pea gravel, so the horse can move around,
stimulate the frog and sole and can promote good circulation.
If the horse has access to these textures, foam rubber pads
and slippers won’t be necessary at this time. The
idea is to support the entire ground surface of the foot,
keep the frog and sole working to keep fluid moving through
the foot and not get trapped or built up, and help provide
comfort to help the horse continue moving to help minimize
damage, support the inner hoof, manage pain and encourage
movement in a controlled area.
How long do you have to react
after you first find the problem? Well, that really depends
on the pain threshold of your horse. If your horse is the
‘Princess and the Pea’ type, you should see
something within a few hours of the onset of the problem.
At that point in time, you’ll want to try to have
something done by the vet and farrier within 24 to 36 hours,
48 hours at the absolute most. But in the meantime, you
should be cooling the feet the best you can, have them moving
with full support of the frogs, bars and sole, and have
them moving on pea gravel or course sand if possible. Otherwise,
get some closed-cell foam pads. If your horse is more stoic,
you probably have less time to react to minimize the risk
of further damage, say 12 to 24 hours. Reason is, your horse
is less likely to show you he’s in pain, so when he
does show some pain, the problem is already setting in.
So try to move fast.
Acute Laminitis
– By this stage, the inflammation to the lamina is
greater, there is more fluid build-up in the feet, the blood
supply to the foot is being constricted and restricted,
and the lamina are beginning to loose suppleness. The horse
is moving less so there is less circulation, less stimulation
to the frog and sole and the lamina are beginning to die
off and are loosing their ability to bind the hoof wall
with the inner hoof capsule. It will only be a matter of
time before the lamina loose hold and the coffin bone begins
to rotate. Abscessing is almost a given with this stage.
Typically, the initial abscesses will be clear liquidy and
will erupt from the toe region of the sole. But signs of
abscessing probably won’t occur right away; depending
on the length of time the horse has been laminitic. Typical
abscessing occurs generally about two weeks after the onset
of laminitis. Abscessing can occur off and on until the
foot is fully repaired.
The weight and size of the
horse will begin to play a factor, especially if he is very
large or over weight. The diet should be looked into to
determine if a lower protein or lower calorie diet is in
order to facilitate steady, but sure weight loss. The heavier
a horse is, the more severe the pain and damage can be to
the feet. Shoes will also play a factor. Shoes will prevent
the inner hoof from supporting itself adequately enough
to prevent separation and rotation. So if shoes are involved,
they should be removed just as soon as possible and some
kind of support provided to the underside of the hoof.
Without providing foam rubber
pads, pea gravel, etc., the signs as described above (Laminitis
section) will become more intense and more obvious. The
horse will very likely have the hind feet pulled way under
the body and he will likely not want to move at all. He
will have a definite look of pain on his face, which can
be accompanied by sweating. The digital pulse can be quite
pronounced and the heart rate will generally be much faster.
In some cases, the horse will even lay down and not want
to stand or walk, but will still have a decent appetite
for food and water. Remember, each horse is different and
their pain tolerance will govern how much or how little
evidence you can actually detect, but there will be evidence,
nonetheless.
Founder –
This is the third and final stage to the general condition
of founder. Rotation of the coffin bone has occurred, but
can only be verified by x-rays. The original bone alignment
of the long pastern bone (P-1 or first phalanx), the short
pastern bone (P-2 or second phalanx) and the coffin bone
(P-3 or third phalanx and sometimes call the pedal bone)
has changed to where P-3 is likely either in straight alignment
with P-1 and P-2 or has rotated further downward. The once
thin white-line (which is the layer of lamina) will be getting
thicker or wider, mostly in the toe region. It likely has
started to become keratonized or ‘caramelized’.
The inner hoof capsule can become completely detached from
the majority of the hoof wall and the whole capsule can
sink or rotate downward. (Note: To date, I have yet to ever
see a coffin bone actually penetrate the sole, as many vets
and farriers will tend to warn. Physiologically, it is virtually
impossible.) By the time a horse has gotten to this stage,
the condition has been present for quite some time, perhaps
as little as a week, but more likely longer.
The horse is in severe pain
by this period. Abscessing is much more prevalent and more
frequent. The horse by now may be laying down much more
than it’s trying to stand or walk. Without proper
attention to the feet, the heels will grow faster than the
toes, the sole will continue to grow from the rear of the
foot and will push forward towards the toe, the toe of the
wall will tend to want to curl upward so that in time, the
foot can look like an elf’s shoe. Many other factors
come into play and there are many levels of severity of
the final founder state.
