Most horse owner's have heard of the words Laminitis
and Founder. Some owners have personally
experienced the pain and discomfort their horse goes through, as well as
the overwhelming emotional issues it raises to us as horse care takers,
and the physical, as well as emotional toll it takes on our equine
friends. Many have chosen to end their horses suffering not knowing
there were alternatives, and that once through the healing phase or
process your horse should be able to live a fairly normal life.
As someone who became all too familiar with laminitis and founder I want
those of you who are coming to this page to know that there is hope - it
is not a "death sentence" as most vets and farriers would lead you to
believe, even if the coffin bone does penetrate the sole. Laminitis can
be stopped and done so using natural products, homeopathics, herbs and supplements. It is
time and patience, as well as a change in diet, and an experienced bare foot trimmer that will save
your horse.
One of the most valuable sites I can refer you to in regards to educating
yourself on hay and how hay may exacerbate laminitis and founder is http://www.safergrass.org/.
Not only is there leading edge research, there are informative articles
on Founder, Laminitis, Insulin Resistance and EPSSM. This site is an
excellent resource, and starting place, for those needing to make
changes in their hores diets! Another site is www.balancedequinenutrition.com
which has a section on the NSC (sugar and non-soluable carbohydrates) in
feed stuffs, concentrated feeds and even carrots are listed. Some
horses are laminitic or have foundered due to diets which may be too
high in sugars and starch.
What actually causes most laminitis cases is still not clearly
understood, even if it is from, or following, a systemic illness, even
after many many years of studies, the trigger mechanisim still illudes
vet's and scientists. There are many theories, and most point to an
inflammatory process within the body, including Cushing's and Pre-Cushing's conditions, some believe it starts with an
unhealthy gut or digestive tract, which can be compromised from too many
vaccines or chemical wormer's.
The Earth Song Ranch products can help to
prevent this by keep your horses gut healthy with regular use. Other
disorders that are known to cause laminitis are Cushing's Disease and
Insulin Resistance (Metabolic Disorder), EPSSM is also suspected which
may also be brought on with the amount of oil needed, and feeding the
wrong kinds of oils, in the horses diet to prevent more tying up
episodes. One of the suggestions for treating EPSSM is high doses of
oils or fats which may also set up an inflammatory condition and actually cause
laminitis depending upon the oils/ fats used.
The one thing Earth Song Ranch can do to help is provide you with our Equine-Zyme
product to keep your horses gut/intestinal tract healthy and with regular use
it may help to prevent them from getting feed related episodes of laminitis
or grass sickness which comes on in the spring. It can also be used after vaccines
and chemical wormer's to re-establish gut flora. If you go to our Articles
section and scroll down to Equine Feeding
Recommendations you can read more about what we feed our horses, and
other recommendations for working horses as well.
There is no need to go bankrupt treating your horse for this condition
with huge vet and farrier bills for X-rays, expensive shoes and pads,
(most horses can get by with barefoot trims and slip on boots) or for
expensive drugs and pain killers that may slow the healing process, there are healing herbal tintures that can easy the discomfort.
There is another way, and it does take time and dedication, but for
those who love their horses the way that I do, that is the sacrifice
that we are willing to make! There are a number of groups now training
and certifying "bare foot or natural trim" people who do not need to
slap on shoes to help your horse, but are there to balance his foot,
make him more comfortable, and are able to help him without causing him
more pain for the most part. Can you just imagine what it must feel
like for the horse with really sore feet to have a shoe nailed on?
At the bottom of this page are some resources for you to click on to
various sites and decide what is best for your horse as there are
several methods to choose from, and you can go to the various website
and find a natural trim person in your area.Go to my contacts page and you will find more I recommend, one being Kenny Williams, he will travel and from photos he can help your farrier with appropriate trims.
This dis-order called Laminitis and Founder is more then just a foot
problem as my friend Lisa Ross-Williams of Natural Horse Talk has pointed out to me, and which she writes about on her
educational website. It is really a "whole body issue" it is a
systemic or even a metabolic issue, and can even be a long term mineral
imbalance, all of which need to be addressed from the insides out, from
the tip of their ears to the bottoms of their feet; from the hay you
feed to the supplements and everything in between everything needs to be examined and addressed for the health of your horse.
Again, be sure to check the NSC Values of your concentrated feeds,
grains, and pellets by clickin on this link to Balanced
Equine Nutrition, they also have a great article on Insulin
Resistance and Laminitis which is a must read for anyone who has a
laminitic horse, or suspects Insulin Resistance in their horse.
It is a lot about nutrition and our horsekeeping methods, its about over
vaccination, over worming, too many sugars and starches in their diet,
hays too high in soluable carbohydrates, too low in valuable,
needed, minerals and an unhealthy gut, as well as somethings that the
people we entrust to take care of their feet just don't know about which
can cause mechanical founder as well. Earth Song Ranch can help with
balancing out your horses intestinal flora and also help to keep it healthy for the life of your horse!
There are internet groups with members from all over the country who
have, and share, lots of really great information on Founder and
Laminitis, one is Equine
Founder and is also a Yahoo group.
I never thought, in my wildest dreams, that my horses would be at risk,
they have an excellent diet including organic hays, got minimal, whole
re-cleaned un-processed oats (a hand full per day), are not vaccinated (I use Nosodes) they are
not chemically wormed unless absolutely need, have regular turn out, but little did I know that
I had a young horse with a metabolic dis-order (genetically caused) that
would not only almost cost her her life, but cost her emotionally by
affecting her feet, making her feel even more vulnerable, as she
recovered from what I was told was Equine Polysaccharide Storage
Myopathy (EPSM) "tying up" from the inability to process the sugar and
carbs in her feed stuff), however, that is not exactly what she had, but whatever the reasons and from a miss informed vet and his treatment she then foundered. Not fair for
such a great young horse!
What I have come to learn from this personal experience is that
Laminitis and Founder can be a "preventable" dis-order for many horses.
Although some founders can be mechanical, most are caused by common
triggers such as a grain or sweet feed overload, too many carrots or
sweet treats, hay that is high in sugar and starch, alfalfa, alfalfa
pelletts, and in mini's and ponies, as well as some sensitive horses, it
can be caused by rich spring grasses high in sugars. Some founders can
be caused by medications, also a serious health crisis can also trigger
a laminitic attack, as can colic or a retained placenta. In my
research I have come to realize that many hays we feed are way too high
in sugar and carbs and are we, in not knowing, creating a new generation
of horses with chronic laminitis and founder!
For hay analysis I have used www.equi-analytical.com
they are one of the few labs in the country testing for sugars, and can
also do a hay and ration analysis for you as well to balance the various
nutrients which your horse may be lacking in his diet. Another site is
Balanced Equine Nutrition, and they have a listing of all the pelletted,
concentrated and complete feeds and their NSC values, which is very
important to consider when feeding a metabollically challenged horse.
In further of my research I find that it is also appearing, more and
more, that metabolic issues such as Cushings, Insulin Resistance,
Thyroid imbalances, as well as suspected EPSM/EPSSM and EPM are also
"likely" to bring on an episode of laminitis which may, or may not, lead
to a full blown founder. All are painful and dibilitating. All for the
most part can be managed, most nutritionally and supplementally!
Changes in diet must occur for most horses, including soaking hay, no
sweet feeds, no carrots, and maybe only an apple per day. If you go to
my Articles section of the web site you will find what I recommend as
Feeding Recommendations and it has a lot of useful information to begin
with for your horse.
Horse owners, especially those who have to board their horses, usually
settle for the "customary" alfalfa hay, and a scoop or two of sweet
feed, mostly for the convenience of the boarding stable owner/ operator,
those owner's will not be able to continue do allow that to occur and
save their horse health.
There are natural ways to help a horse - nutritionally, supplementally,
herbally, homeopathically and with natural barefoot trims, especially
once he is in a full blown attack. There are also specially made "horse
boots" to help with foot discomfort during the healing process. One of
those sites is Horse Sneakers
- they have a boot called "Hoof Wings" that are custom fitted to your
horses feet, and really help them to get around while they are healing.
Another boot getting excellent results is the Renegade Hoof Boot, that
is the one I use.
While I am on the subject of boots I also want to tell you abut a site
that carries theraputic magnetic bell boots. I have personally tried
these boots on Destinee Rose and saw results in a matter of a couple of
days, she had much less discomfort and they seemed to bring more
circulation back to the feet. They are not something you leave on all
the time, and are not something to turn them out in, that is best left
to Boa or Simple Boots. They are reasonably priced, and Mary Ann
Simomonds, who developed these boots, is someone I respect and I can
recommend to you. Her site is Mystic
Horse and that site has been linked to my site for a long while!
For now I would like to direct you to a few sites which have a lot of
information for those seeking an alternative to the traditional "shoes
and pads" so you can do what is best for your horse, make informed
decisions, and find a bare foot trimmer in your area of the country who
best suites your needs. If you go to my "Contact Us" section you will
find the information about a bare foot trimmer I use in Souther Ca. his
name is Chuck Mills:
Pete Ramey
Jamie
Jackson
Keith Seeley
Natural
Horse Talk
Bare Foot Trim
Martha Olivo
Eddie Drabek
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