Case Study Founder: "Jubilee" and "Sugar"

My sister called me when I was at a hoof trimming clinic with Nancy Filbert in SC back in 2003 about two horses that the owner was ready to have euthanized. A 20 yr. old backyard Ten. Walker mare, Jubilee and her 15 yr old "baby", Sugar. I told my sister I would come take a look. I regret that I didn't take "before" photos now as they were higher in the heels than they were in the toes. They both had lots of abscesses working out at the coronet. After I took them home, it took me two trims to get down to feet that were close to what you see here. I had x-rays done shortly after I began trimming them. These horses were in a small dry lot where the owner would feed grain laced with Bute. He had been doing that for years! The "baby" had been foundered since she was less than a year old.

Jubilee LF 2003

Jubilee LF 2003 after first trim

Jubilee Winter 2005

Sugar

Sugar, the baby, was a muscular mess. She had been dealing with founder all her life! At 15, she had never been with any other horse other than her mother. Ofcourse she had never had a balanced trim, so she had extreme joint adaptation. Even after my two years of trimming, the joint adaptation was still a problem. (see photo of Sugar's two front feet) She had never been started under saddle. Just a backyard baby with no social skills. I eventually trained her and sold her. Later the new owner called me to tell me how much she loved the horse! I gave Jubilee to a friend who gave her to another friend and she was euthanized in 2009 from colic.

The x-ray shows how poorly attached the coffin bone was though you can't tell that from looking at the outside of the hoof. This is why I emphasis getting x-rays!!! This horse's coffin bone was sitting right on the floor of the hoof capsule in her worst stage. When the coffin bone sinks down, the sole appears flat or even convex and bulging. What happens in this kind of situation is the whole capsule has a meltdown. The lamina stretch out or even separate from the swollen corium which is seeping fluid that has nowhere to go. Since the hoof horn is like plastic, when the hooves get inflammed from toxic stuff in the body, whether it is from chemicals like drugs or vaccinations, or whether it is from too much grass or grain that turns to acid in the gut, or whether it comes from retained placenta, poisoning is what has happened! It is the trigger that sets laminitis off. And when the coffin bone is tipped up by high heels, founder follows. It is the erroneous belief still held onto by many equine professionals that the deep flexor tendon exerts a pull on the coffin bone causing it to rotate when in reality, it is the pain from high bars that cause the horse to consciously flex his muscles to pick his heels up from the pain. When the bars are trimmed and the heels are lowered the hoof has to recover from the damage done by pressure on the toe wall lamina. With these horses, the mechanics of having the coffin bone tipped up by extremely high heels led to damage and something triggers the inflammation. Top it all off with drugs and sweet feed and we have a horse full of toxins! This mare looked "fat" but what was really going on is she was puffy from fluid throughout her body. When I started trimming her properly, she just melted! I supported her with good nutrition which included free access to grass and hay and some whole grains. The more I trimmed these horse's feet, the better they did.

Sugar summer of 2006

Sugar's extreme joint adaptation and founder