> Yes, sometimes one is faced with selecting the lesser of two evils. It's > not an easy decision to go against a horse's natural desires, but in the > case of a horse that you KNOW will founder on the grass, it's the only > humane choice IMO. I *could* try Rocky back on grass since he's on the > pergoglide, but I'm not ready to assume the guilt if he founders again > because of this decision.
I second that. My Stella foundered when she was 14 and I kept her off green grass for the next 9 years, letting her out in the pasture only when the grass was dead and brown. She did well until the vet that said she needed green grass for digestion so I let her out for 15 minutes or so. She eventually foundered again, and again and again. I kept her in and tried all kinds of diet combinations. By last August I was at wits end, she had been sore for 8 months and the new vet wanted to put her down. By mixing the advice of the Equine Cushings group ( she was diagnosed for Cushings when she was 20) and Katy Watts of Safergrass, I got the right diet for Stella ( now 25) and she has been founder free since September. She did have two abcesses in Sept and November. I keep my fingers crossed every day but she is sound now and I try to keep horses in with her at least 12 hours a day. Her life may not be perfect but she is happy and when sometimes she runs out with the other horses to the pasture and the green grass, she runs away from me for a minute and then races back into the big paddock. I think she knows what is good for her. Ann Cassidy Bodega, CA
