On 2/13/07, Karen Thomas <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > I feel sure that Sundance, my first equine soul-mate, had foundered not long > before I got him, but I didn't have him vet checked. Even if I had, I doubt > anyone would have picked up too much wrong with his feet, without x-rays. > He was in perfect health for the next 8 years before the next laminitis > attack occurred, and those 8 wonderful years. After the second attack, his > feet were fine within a couple of months...but the Cushing's that caused the > attack had to be managed for the remaining five years of his life. I owned > him 13 years. The foundered feet were only a problem for maybe two months > of that time. The Cushing's was a problem for the last five years.
I just wanted to say that if it is something like IR or Cushings it's not always as easy as you and Sundance had it or Star and I are having it right now. Honestly, I'm not sure I'd buy another horse that I thought might be IR or Cushings. We've tested Star and she's IR, Cushings I haven't tested for, but the past 6 months has been heartbreaks galore. I now have 200 bales of beautiful hay in my loft that she can't eat unless I soak it, and soakign hay in the below freezing temps is near impossible (it wasn't appreciated sitting in the living room last weekend! ;) ) She can't go out in summer without a full muzzle on, so she normally stays in the dry lot with a companion. I rotate the companions, but she gets ulcery from that treatment. It's a tough disease to manage, and Star is easily managed compared to others I've heard of... Laminitis is certainly treatable, if it's a one time occurence, but by golly gee if you've got a chronic case on your hands it's a royal PITA. Steph -- "Brutality begins where skill ends." "Correctly understood, work at the lunge line is indispensable for rider and horse from the very beginning through the highest levels." Von Niendorff
