When a horse is standing and rocking back on its heels……………you always start to worry about laminitis (a.k.a. founder)…

 

Not a happy word to use around the equine-world…

It’s guaranteed to make horse owners run for the nearest closet or dark box.

 

Unfortunately in the past, we’ve already dealt with founder here on the farm……………foal-founder to be exact…

……………and yes, there is an assortment of flavors when it comes to laminitis…

It all has to do with the intricate, minute bones inside a horse’s hooves.

Those little bones are suspended in a web-like, suspensory-structure.

 

 

That structure can start to break down if the “perfect storm” gets started…

Crystal clear on the subject now?

 

 

Good…

Here’s a short-cut…

……………Founder is bad.

But there’s also a sliding scale of badness to this affliction (isn’t there always?)…

**********Here’s the skinny on Laminitis**********

For as hard as a horse’s hoof looks on the outside, it’s a very fragile house-of-cards on the inside.

And a horse is only as good as its (4) hooves (and a few other important body parts as well).

Now, back to Mason…

He appeared to be rocking back on his heels…

 

 

 

That is the traditional sign of a horse trying to get their weight off of their toes———because their toes hurt…

 

 

 

 

Time for primal screaming and hair pulling………………..aaaaauuuuuuuggggggghhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!

Founder “usually” occurs in the front hooves……………but it can happen in any of the hooves.

 

 

Here’s a good question:         Why, Mason, Why?????

 

 

The ground was dry, the air was dry, your food hasn’t changed, the weather hasn’t changed, your hooves have been trimmed, you haven’t been injured or stressed…

 

 

In the past, Mason has stood almost knee-deep in mud and been all right?

Why now!?!

 

 

NOTHING HAS CHANGED—MASON!!!!!

What????     Did you just not like Addy getting all the attention???

What!!!!

 

I’m exhausted…

 

And so,       Dr. Wonder arrived and did the necessary pokey, pincer tests on Mason’s hooves to check for tenderness.

 

(What I really like about Stevie Wonder is his intuition……………he has an instinct about horses……………something you just can’t learn from books.)

Mason wasn’t super reactive to the hoof tests………….but he reacted enough.

……………Dr. Stevie prescribed “Bute” (Phenylbutazone).

Dr. Wonder asked if I needed some?

More Bute ?              Pshaw!!!

Every horse owner has a stash of Bute somewhere…

(Apparently) I happen to have an inventory of four (4) jars, that I didn’t know I had………(?)

……………I can “stash” livestock-meds real good…………..

Expiration dates?……………no problem……………

(……………plus FYI,  SMZ’s are good for UTI’s……………sounds like a bad alphabet soup, doesn’t it?……………)

So with my Bute-scooper in hand……………I started top-dressing Mason’s feed…

 

 

But Why, Mason, Why?

 

 

 

 

 

AND THEN———Dr. Stevie Wonder (to add injury to insult) told me I had to paint the bottoms of Mason’s feet with iodine……………..awwwww, come on!!!

(……………Patrice & I have to cajole Mason (the thoroughbred, racehorse stallion) to pick up his owie-feeties, so that I can pick them clean (with a sharp pokie-pick) and then paint them with stinging iodine……………???)    REALLY???

I told Dr. Stevie to say nice things about me in my obit……………he said that was Paolo’s job……………but that he would drink at my wake…

……………Dr. Wonder is like the little brother I never wanted……………