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  Discussion on Can high ambient temperature cause founder?
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Member:
klhanson

Posted on Thursday, Aug 9, 2007 - 12:09 pm:

My 6 year old quarterhorse was just diagnosed with founder. He is from Alberta, Canada (1st 2 years), then Dillon, MT (next 3 years), and is now in Phoenix, Arizona (past year). This is his first full summer in Phoenix. When I purchased him, Digger was somewhat overweight (about 100 pounds, but is now at a normal weight. He eats Bermuda grass and has one cup of beet pulp with a scoop of electrolytes in the summer at night. He also has 2 cups of soaked alfalfa pellets at night.
2 days before he foundered, the farrier stated that it looked like he may have some evidence of laminitis. I was not there, and did not know until he actually foundered that the statement was made. Both the farrier and the vet feel that Digger founded due to the high temperature and humidity, rather than health issues or feed. The vet stated that he had seen 6 horses founder that week, and when he came back 2 weeks later for follow-up x-rays, he said that 10 more horses in the area had foundered.
I have searched diligently, and cannot find any specific reference to temperature of the ground and ambient temperature causing founder. Obviously, I live in a very hot climate, and, short of selling the horse (and breaking my heart) I am at a loss as to what to do to prevent this from being an annual occurrence. There are no x-ray changes, either initially or in follow-up, but the front feet are still somewhat sore, despite anti-inflammatories. He had been barefoot, but now has shoes on the front for the laminitis. I also don't understand why the shoes were placed if there was no rotation of the coffin bone. Was it due to continuing soreness? Can heat cause founder? Did the electrolytes prevent him from being able to adjust to the heat? He has salt licks and uses them.
Member:
octavius

Posted on Thursday, Aug 9, 2007 - 12:34 pm:

Kristin - I've been wondering the same thing myself. There has been very little rain with intense heat this spring and summer here in Maryland and my vet warned me that he has never seen so many cases of laminitis.
Member:
jojo15

Posted on Friday, Aug 10, 2007 - 9:03 am:

i'm a staunch believer in barefooting horses, but i can see why the vet might have recommended shoes, if aluminum, it would dissipate the heat from the ground to the sole, i guess just enough. This is only a common sense comment though. Some just believe shoeing the horse is best in these circumstances. (i normally disagree).

Foundering comes from imbalances so i guess the extreme heat put your horse over the edge. sounds plausible, though i live in Florida never really heard that as a REASON for foundering. (road founder yes) instead of just that "being" the reason, wonder if that and the alfalfa pellets might have done it, plus something else that your not thinking of at the moment. stress? new move? just the fact the horse already is laminitic is enough to founder. too bad you didn't know so you could have anticipated.

Are you new to the area? i would tend to accept those that know the area, like vet and farriers assertions that its the weather. Sometimes the heat of the ground is painful to the touch. i just burned my hand on the gate the other day it was so darn hot. i'm sure desert heat is just as brutal.

overweight and laminitis do go hand in hand so also wonder if that was possible before you owned him, just the age doesn't make sense you normally see that in older horses. so way back before you owned him he had it...

Your feed regime sounds good. Except for the alfalfa pellets. does the horse really need them? and just give a little T+A hay instead or bermuda?. Now that he's foundered i would take him off everything, soak the beet pulp to remove any sugars, stop the alfalfa pellets, and just feed a low nsc hay...Did they pull blood to see how those numbers looked?
Member:
shanson

Posted on Friday, Aug 10, 2007 - 9:46 am:

I don't see it mentioned in Dr. O's laminitis/founder article, but I'm sure he'll comment. Based on the article, I'd focus on cutting out grains. The article does mention widespread belief that horses who drink a lot of cold water after heavy exercise can founder, but this is uncertain.
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Friday, Aug 10, 2007 - 12:28 pm:

Founder can occur for no reason at all that you can put your finger on, certainly stress of any kind can increase the likelihood it will happen. We cannot predict if this might be a yearly problem with the horse but if we assume your horse has foundered and that heat contributed heavily to this, prevention would center around keeping the horse cooler next year. Not knowing your current management specific recommendations are hard to make but you will find some ideas at Horse Care » Routine Horse Care » Summertime, Caring for Your Horse in the Heat.
DrO
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