Well, on the evening of Friday, May 14, exactly 15 minutes after booking plane tickets to travel to TX the following weekend to deal with major family crises, I went out to check on the horses and discovered Ranger lame. I instantly knew it was founder. He had the typical founder stance, though only when trying to walk. He would shift his weight back then take a step. Hoping I caught it early, I immediately put him in his stall and called the vet. Isn't it lovely how these things always happen after hours or on weekends...or minutes after you book non-refundable plane tickets to go cross-country a week later??
The vet had me start him on Bute and Banamine. I put a ton of shavings for soft footing in his stall and tried to make him as comfy as possible for the night. The sweet husband even darted home from work to help me, as I was border-line panicked and psychotic from my mind reeling with thoughts of the plane tickets I just purchased, what to do with a foundered horse while trying to also deal with all our family issues back home, living over an hour from the vet, how was I possibly going to keep this horse up for months on end, and the worst...our best trail horse possibly having to be put down. That's how my mind works....I can think of a million things at once and instantly overwhelm myself. That's usually how I deal with bad situations. I have a tendency to over-think things and examine the situation from a thousand perspectives and play it out a thousand different ways in a manner of seconds. Its exhausting, really. Lucky me, the hubby was there just in the nick of time, to reassure me that everything would be fine and we would figure it all out as it came along. For those of you not well-versed in "horse" founder (lay term) or laminitis (more scientific term) is a condition of the horse in which endotoxins produced in the digestive system by, typically, an overload of carbohydrates cause inflammation of the soft tissue (laminae) inside the hoof and around the bottom bone in the foot (coffin bone) push on the coffin bone and force its rotation downward. The coffin bone is a triangular shaped bone (when looking at a posterior or anterior view of the foot) and rotation causes the point of the bone to press into the soft tissue underneath and the sole of the foot. It is extremely painful and the horse will try to shift its weight back onto its heel to alleviate the pressure and pain on its toe....creating the typical founder stance.
Ranger seemed better the next morning, but I knew we were far from being out of the woods. I was positive the laminitis was brought on by the spring grass and my horse's penchant for gobbling up everything with the biggest mouthful he can get. We went in the following Monday for x-rays and they showed a minor (approx. 3mm) rotation. His left foot was slightly worse than the right. Whew! We might just be able to make it out of this alive. I was relieved but still knew how unpredictable founder can be. We also learned that at some point in his past (before he came to us), Ranger had previously foundered. Had we known this, we would have been far more careful with his spring turn-out schedule. I feel partly to blame, but what's done is done, I guess. We were shocked, but the x-rays clearly show what is called a "flare". This is where the tip of the coffin bone flares out from bone disease attributed to the pressure put on the coffin bone during rotation. I will try to find some photos on the web and post them with permission. So, surprise!...could things get any better? We reluctantly, but with the blessing of our vet and the reassurance of a life-saving boarding facility owner, found a place to board Ranger while we were gone. All was well until I tried to contact a farrier, recommended by our vet to shoe Ranger. The guy was very knowledgeable, but was totally unwilling to really help us and work us into his schedule. Apparently, founder and the fact that my horse could die from this condition wasn't serious enough of a situation to warrant this guy's time....even after we offered extra money and to trailer our poor pony over to him!! Thanks for nothing! I even tried my regular farrier as I was getting to the point of desperation with it going on 2 1/2 weeks without Ranger being shod after founding, but he was out of town. I finally called a friend who gave me the name of another farrier who was super nice and ultra-accommodating and could deal with my horse's condition. Note: not every farrier is qualified to shoe a foundered horse....almost anyone can learn to tack on a shoe, but when real problems arise, a farrier with a good deal of successful experience with founder is worth his/her weight in gold. I talked with him on Monday or Tuesday of that week and by Friday, Ranger had pads and new shoes. The gentleman even went by our vet's office to look at the x-rays and speak to the vet in person! He was another life-saver.
The husband had already made it home from TX and took Ranger back to the vet for his second set of x-rays. It wasn't the report we were hoping for. Ranger was a little worse in both feet and the coffin bone in his left foot had actually sunken. This happens when the soft tissues in the foot remain inflamed and leave the coffin bone nowhere to go after it rotates, forcing it to drop further down in the hoof capsule. Not good. However, with continued stall rest and Bute (anti-inflammatory) as needed, Ranger has continued to improve with a only a couple of bad days in between. His last x-rays (3rd set) showed no change from the 2nd set! Hooray! We are still monitoring him closely as we are concerned with two times in the past month when he has come up dead lame. The lameness lasts for less than 24 hours, but is worrisome because each set-back lessens our chances for a full recovery. We are going on 2 weeks now with no lameness. I even got him a grazing muzzle and have been given the ok to take him out for short walks and let him nibble a little grass through the muzzle (which is near impossible, but frustrates him so that he stays busy trying to work the grass through the tiny hole at the muzzle's bottom). It is hilarious to watch him try to shake the muzzle off. Poor baby....he is so tired of being couped up. He has bent almost every one of my arena panels in frustration from being without his usual turn-out time. We go back to the vet in a couple weeks and get new shoes, possibly with different pads. Please pray we will have good news and Ranger's x-rays will not only show no further deterioration, but will show significant improvement! I will update as things progress.
"Mom, please take this thing off and give me some of that yummy hay!"
Trying to work the muzzle...
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