You may know laminitis by its more common name of Founder. It is a very painful inflammation of the foot that occurs in horses most often in the spring. It usually occurs in the front feet first and causes tissue damage. Bad cases of laminitis can result in the breakdown of the bones within the foot.

The symptoms of laminitis are usually easy to spot. When the front feet are affected the horse will stand in the classic "Founder Stance". Which is pulling his hind legs well up underneath his body to carry the largest part of his body weight and get it off his front feet. When all four feet are affected, generally the horse will spend a lot of time on his side and many horses will refuse to get up. Glassy eyes, labored breathing, and unresponsiveness due to extreme pain is common with this problem. Usually the feet will feel hot and the hot feeling can be felt up the leg to the fetlock area. Laminitis scars the hoof, each attack leaves a ring.

There are multiple causes for laminitis and are all preventable. Overgrazing on lush pasture (particularly overweight horses), overeating grain, eating lawn grass clippings, or drinking large amounts of water when overheated are the most common causes. Less common reasons for the disorder are a mare retaining the afterbirth, hard or fast work on a hard surface or standing too long on a hard surface. If you think your horse may have laminitis, identify what is causing it, remove that situation immediately and call a veterinarian. Careful attention to feeding habits can go a long way to preventing a reoccurrence of laminitis. Keep the foot in as normal a shape as possible with regular visits to a farrier. Your vet may recommend corrective shoeing.