How to Successfully Pasture a Foundered Horse or Pony

Symptoms

Laminitis can affect any hoof. It can afflict the forefeet، hindfeet، or all hoofs at once. If you notice any of these symptoms، your horse may be suffering from laminitis:

• Lameness
• Obvious pain
• Reluctant to walk
• Stiff or painful gait
• Legs stretched out، or directly under the body to shift weight off of sore hoofs
• Inability to stand
• Hoof wall grows very quickly. Since the toe grows faster than heel، foundered horses will often develop a long curled hoof. Hoofs will often buckle or twist sideways

If you suspect founder، call the vet right away.

How Grass Growth Affects Founder and Laminitis

Founder from eating forage occurs when an equine eats grass or legumes that are high in nonstructured carbohydrates (NSC). These carbohydrates consist of fructans، sugars، and starch. When a horse eats a lot of NSC، the carbohydrates end in the hindgut where they ferment and inhibit blood flow to the hoofs

While sugars، starch، and fructans are always present in grass، concentrations of these carbohydrates are especially high when:

• The grass is in direct sunlight: Starches and sugar are produced via photosynthesis which requires sunlight. Grass will have more NSC when the weather has been warm and sunny، or when it grows in full sun.
• The grass grows quickly: Fast growth requires lots of sugar. The faster the grass is growing، the more sugar it will have. Lush growth in the springtime is especially bad.
• Later in the day: NSC levels are higher in the late afternoon and early evening because the grass has had all day to produce sugar. As the night progresses، the NSC levels decrease as the plant consumes them or converts them to sugar.

Days are hot and nights are cool: Plants produce sugar during the day. During the night، the plant will either consume the sugar or convert it into starch. When the nights are hot، the plant will consume lots of the sugar produced during the day to sustain itself.

• When the nights are cool، however، it won’t need very much sugar during the night so there will be more sugar left in the plant when morning comes. Again، spring is especially bad as the days are heating up but the nights stay cool.
• The bottom of the stalk: Most of the sugar is stored in the bottom 7cm to 10cm (3-4 inches) of each blade.
• The forage has formed seed heads: Seed heads، even before they have emerged، contain a high concentration of sugar.
• After a frost: When grass frosts but has not yet become dormant، the forage will contain high levels of non-structured carbohydrates and can be very bad for horses and equines.
• Stressed plants: Drought، poor soil nutrition، killing frosts، herbicides، or overgrazing results in the slow growth of the grass. Even though the plant is growing slowly، it still photosynthesizes and produces sugar، meaning there will be the same amount of sugar concentrated in a smaller plant، which equals more sugar per bite.
• Obesity: Animals that are overweight are more prone to founder.