What to feed a foundered mini?

[VernB]

I have a mare that foundered 10 mo. ago she was terribly over weight so I put her on a diet. I took her of the diet and started feeding her a little more, but is their any kind of grain that she can have?She's an older mare 16 yrs. I clipped her yack looking coat yesterday and found that not only did she loose some weight she's a little bit thin Not bad but a little thin.

 

[Hosscrazy]

Did you have her tested for Insulin Resistance? Sounds like there is a good chance she could be IR (insulin resistant). The insulin/glucose test is a very simple blood test that your vet can do, and it would give you a lot of insight into what's going on. In the meantime, no - you do not want to feed her grain - it's very high in sugar/carbs.

The best diet she can be on is a low NSC (non-structural carbohydrate) diet. I have 2 horses that may be IR (their mother was Cushings/IR), and I have them both on an IR diet. Diet consists of soaked Mountain Sunrise plain timothy pellets (no extra sugar added), stablized rice bran, LMF Lo Carb Complete (safe for IR horses) and soaked/rinsed grass hay.

I highly encourage you to join the Yahoo Cushing/IR group, which I also moderate. There is a very easy diet you can get your little girl on that will really help her out. I have the basic diet outline in a Word document - feel free to PM me and I can email it to you.

Here's the link to the Cushings/IR group

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/EquineCushings/

Please also visit this website - it has a wealth of information on it.

http://www.safergrass.org

Also, Equus magazine published this month an incredible issue filled with information about laminitis, founder (no, the two are not the same thing) and Insulin Resistance.

Best wishes,

Liz R.

 

[Robin_C]

If she foundered from being overweight and eating grain, then she's most likely to be a "metabolic" founder than a "mechanical" founder. Unfortunately this means that she may require a restricted diet for the rest of her life to reduce the risk of further episodes of laminitis and/or founder.

Most horses who have experienced metabolic founder will do best on little to no grain. Weight can be maintained via safer feeds like beet pulp, low sugar hays, and some feeds that are specifically engineered to be low in starch and carbohydrates. Grass may need to be limited as well. Each horse is an individual in terms of their tolerances for all of these food items and you will need to be particularly vigilant in terms of what causes her to become foot sore. As soon as you notice any indication of lameness, it will be important to link that with a specific "trigger" such as: she was out on grass longer, a change of hay, a change in weather/dry/wet conditions, a change in season (especially Fall/Winter). Any one of these may affect her -- or none may. However, in order to reduce her risk for pain and further complications of her condition, it's best to play it safe and use any food in moderation.

A good start would be NO sweet feed whatsoever, or food that is heavy in molasses. It is important to reduce sugars and starches in the diet. Many of the products that are being advertised as low starch and safe for metabolic horses will be pelletized in some form or another to reduce/eliminate grains (which are high in starch and carbohydrates). Do be aware, however, that not all of these "low starch", "safe" feeds are low ENOUGH in starch and sugars for every horse. While one horse may do well on a product, another laminitis horse may suffer miserably on that same feed.

Basically our idle, mature horses do not need any type of "feed", and will do well on an all hay diet (and hopefully some grass if available and tolerated!) along with a vitamin and mineral supplement. Beet pulp is a great substitute for the "feed in a bucket" scenario and is a good place to hide powdery or liquid vitamin/mineral supplements. Another option is a pelletized vitamin product that provides your horse's "seal of approval" clink in a bucket. If your founder horse is not acutely sensitive and sore/lame frequently, you may be able to get away with "over-the-counter" grass or grass/mix hay and a general vitamin/mineral supplement such as Farrier's Formula, Select I or Select II, Vita-Key antioxident, Accel, etc.. However, there are going to be those individual horses (worst case scenario) which need much more intense management than this to stay sound, including tight control of the diet requiring scientific balancing of forage, vitamins and minerals. Under those extreme circumstances your veterinarian could be of assistance and probably just as helpful would be the Yahoo Equine Cushings group which is a veterinarian-guided support group dealing exclusively in the management of equine metabolic disorders (including founder and laminitis). The group discussions can be a bit overwhelming at first; however, the group FILES section would be a great place to start in order to better educate yourself about how important diet is to your mare's health.

Equine Cushing's Group

From my personal perspective, I have a late pregnant mare who is prone to laminitis, especially from pasture grass. I have had good luck feeding her a ration balancer which contains all the important vitamins and minerals as well as being a good source of protein. Because ration balancers are highly concentrated, they generally only require 4-12 oz per day to provide all the daily nutrients. They are low in starch and sugar because they contain no grains. Basically they are just a vitamin-mineral supplement with protein added in as a bonus. I use Purina Born to Win at 32% protein because I also feed grass hay to this particular horse. Purina also makes a lower protein version -- Mare & Maintenance -- at 12% protein which could be fed alongside alfalfa or legume hay. Most of the major feed manufacturers have a ration balancer (I believe Nutrena may be one of the few that does not) and these are definitely worth looking into. But, as mentioned above, a metabolic horse's tolerance for starch and sugar will be highly individual. Some may be able to tolerate oats and not have a reaction, where even a handful of oats may be enough to tilt the scale for a sensitive horse. It will take a little bit of experimentation on your part to determine how sensitive your mare is for feeds, hay and grazing. Just remember -- at the FIRST SIGN of soreness, withdraw anything that may be a trigger and be prepared to nail down the culprit or start over at square one!

Robin C

Looks like Liz and I were typing at the same time

:

Robin C

 

[Miniv]

Robin C basically posted a similar piece of advice that I was going to post, except her's was much longer, more detailed and from a nutritionist-medical point of view..... :lol:

My suggestion would be -- good quality grass hay and a horse vitamin/mineral supplement formulated specifically for your region.....Your feed store or extension agent can recommend the best one. Oh, and a salt block accessible wherever she is living. NO Alfalfa, NO Pasture, and NO Grain.

And, depending on the type of founder she has --- Robin made a good point -- she may have to stay on that type of diet forever.

As always, go over everything with your vet.

MA

 

[VernB]

Thanks guys, you answered my questions exactly

: I am definently going to study into this alot more. I didn't own the mare when she foundered, But I saw she was going to founder, If something didn't change quick I offered to buy the mare but they would not sell her and when she did founder It was in all four feet and she was over weight. (Poor Girl) :no: They called me up and told me to come and just have her and see what I could do

They owned her for about five years and fed her a 3 gal bucket of Hay cubes morning and night and who knows how much grain. That just makes me sick. I will definetly have my vet check her for insulin resistance.

Thank You all :aktion033:

 

[minih]

Most horses who have experienced metabolic founder will do best on little to no grain. Weight can be maintained via safer feeds like beet pulp, low sugar hays, and some feeds that are specifically engineered to be low in starch and carbohydrates.

Robin, I have a mare that is on the upswing with founder now, she has been on thyroid meds now for several months, eating only plain oats (very little, just 1 kitchen cup twice a day), because everyone else is eating, and all the bermuda hay she wants. But she is kinda on the slimmer side now and I would like her to stay where she is without losing any more. Do you feel beet pulp would be something I could add to her diet? I have been afraid to give it not knowing....