Pokey foundered

[Candice_17]

AGAIN!!! I thought we had her figured out, but evidently not. Pokey is a plump (ok, FAT) pony we have. She was foundered before we got her, so I knew to be carefull. We kept her dry lotted this spring, and fed her minimal grass hay. Summer heat allowed my other horses to get ahead of the grass in some areas, so I turned her out in those areas, on the mostly eaten grass. Well, we've had a few good killing frosts so I thought I'd be safe to let her out on the grass with the big horses, I was wrong. She is hurting bad! I've buted her and stood her in the creek for awhile today. We've got her in a deeply bedded stall now on limited feed.

Ok, for anyone who may know, since she still foundered in the fall after the grass stopped growing, do I call her a lost cause and keep her dry lotted all the time, or can I gauge the grass or keep her in some of the day and do a few hours turn out or what? I prefer not to have to buy hay in the summer, but she just may force me to. Would her insidence of founder be lesser if she were at a proper weight? How do you get a fat pony at a good weight? She gets rode and we go for drives, so she gets plenty of excercise, she's just tubby. Any help please.

[Festus]

I have a lil short fat mare that foundered years ago from a tumor on her uterus. She stays on grass & hay free choice. When we fed the others, we give her one small handful of food just to keep her coming up. When she does act ouchy , I pull her off the grass in the daytime and turn her out at night only.

[mart]

If she could eat grass hay during the summer, she shouldn`t have had a problem with it in the winter !! Is this an older mare?? Could it be arthritis instead of chronic founder ?? In an overweight mare there is so much pressure on the joints and legs that I might look for arthritis first !! She does need to lose weight for both founder and/or arthritis !! Do you have a walker that she could get some additional exercise on ?? Another possibility is an out of control thyroid that could contribute to both conditions !!
Candice,, One thing that you might try with her ( I forgot about this before) is to take a piece of styrofoam about an inch thick, and cut it in the shape of a shoe !! It needs to fit directly behind the front of the hoof and only leave the frog exposed !! Then duct tape it to the hoof so that she has a cushion between the sole and the ground !! If it doesn`t help it won`t hurt and might give her some relief when walking !! And keep her on bute for a while !!