can founderd horses walk on gravel?

Providing you keep her properly trimmed and shod she will have no problems. My old QH mare foundered at the age of 6, she is now 21 and the isle of my barn is garvel as is the front and back drives of it. Our barn sits right in the middle of the pasture so the horses had free access to their stalls at any time. I had this mare from the age of 7 up until 21 and probably would still have her but I sold her to a little girl for her first horse. I kept shoes on her and had her reset every 6 weeks, we'd ocassionaly put pads and a slight wedge on her but she was 100% fine, the only time she had flare ups was in spring with all that new green grass growing. Something else you might consider is a supplement to her feed called Remission it is specifically s\designed for horses who have foundered. It helps ease the symptoms when they are having a flare up and helps to prevent flare ups the rest of the time. I've fed it to my mare for 3 years and as I said spring time she'd have a little flare up but feeding the remission made it go away more quickly than just leaving her alone and giving bute. A farrier can give you a better description and idea of what needs to be done to make her comfortable, but speaking from personal experience I say she'll be fine just keep her properly trimmed and shod

It depends the severity of the founder, how bad is your horse? Gravel will not make a horse founder but a too rich of a diet, right up to stress can make a horse founder but if your horse is not that bad then I wouldn't worry about him/her on gravel. Foundered horses can often be helped as long as the founder hasn't progressed too far and can even be cured. Good luck to you.

If your horse doesn't want to walk on the gravel or frozen ground, then it hurts. She may go very slow, stumble a lot, or even refuse to move on. If the horse walks across the gravel easily like any other surface, then no problem!

If the horse is tender footed still, please read all of this. :-)

If she/he has corrective shoes on, should be OK. Your farrier should know, but your horse will tell you when she hurts

If she's (or he) barefoot, then the gravel might hurt, founder or not. Also, her hoof walls will be weakened from the founder and her feet more tender. If you are leading her across the gravel and she balks and stumbles, then it's hurting her. If you can, try to keep to the more worn areas and get across the shortest section of gravel.

If she foundered this past summer, hopefully she has a lot of new hoof growth and is just having issues with gravel.... and frozen ground.? No matter her stage, here's a whole bunch of info you may find helpful.

You can buy some Easyboots and put comfort pads (for blood circulation) inside to turn her out with. They need to be taken off at night though. If hoof boots can get her walking around more and comfortable, then her circulation will improve and she will heal faster. Check out what just a pair of front boots can do for a foundered horse in this video http://easycareinc.typepad.com/ask_the_vet_tomas_t...

Here's more info from Pete Ramey on rehab from founder and turnout in Easyboots: We do, however, often need to turn the horses out in the boots at first, which creates a few more “hassles” you need to know about. The boots were designed to be on for riding only and many models do very well for this. When you leave a hoof boot on for long periods, rubbing or chaffing becomes more likely. Now a little chafing may not seem like a big deal when you are talking about full recovery from a P3 rotation, but we need to do everything humanly possible to help the poor horse. The best ways I know to eliminate this are:

1. Use Epics. (There I go sounding like a boot salesman again. I’m sorry, but I’m just delivering you the facts as I know them.) 24-7 turnout can be successfully done with many boot brands, but with the Epics, the only thing that even touches skin is the soft, snug upper gaiter.

2. Make “socks” that cover the hair/skin with vet-wrap.

3. Sprinkle Gold Bond Medicated Powder on the whole foot before you boot it. This also drastically reduces the “funk” in the boots.

4. Be sure the boot fits properly. If it can twist on the foot it will rub.

5. Pull the boots off every day to clean, sanitize, dry out and inspect. If you do see a rub starting, put duct tape over the rub before you apply the vet-wrap sock. This will ensure any further movement will be on the slick tape, not on the horse.

6. Stop using the boots for turnout as soon as the horse is moving comfortably in its paddock without them, but continue using the boots for riding and in-hand exercise until there are no separated laminae left at all, and the callused sole has reached optimum thickness.

This is a lot of trouble, I know. It places most of the responsibility and care on the shoulders of the horse owner. Fixed shoeing will always be more convenient. The farrier comes by every 4-6 weeks, resets the shoes and the owner has no more responsibilities other than to pay the bill. But guys, this works better so it has a place too, with the conscientious horse owner who really wants to fix their foundered horse permanently.

Full article: http://www.easycareinc.com/Education/articles/pete...

If you would like some more help caring for a foundered horse without shoes, please post your questions here: http://easycareinc.typepad.com/team_easyboot/

You have 80 plus team members with experience in hoof boots, shoeing, vet care, and so much more looking for to help! We don't sell boots or get paid. :-)

More than you wanted to know, but I hope to make the difference...

founder is all a matter of degree. Has p3 rotated or sunk? If the horse is not currently lame there is no reason it should not be able to walk on gravel as long as its feet are well maintained

Is this the same horse that 'hates lunging'?

Simple answer is - make sure she has fully recovered from the founder - which - depending on the severity of the attack means as much as one or two full hoof regrowths; and then condition the feet to the surface you expect her to move/work on.

A horse that lives in a stable or a soft field has feet that are acclimatised to those conditions - if you want to work it on hard and/or stony ground you have to condition its feet which takes time - or use hoof boots - or, if you want to desensitise the feet so you can use the horse without consideration to how well conditioned its feet are - nail shoes on them.

Yes but even if the founder is old it is still painful. Watch her walk and see if she favors her feet any on the gravel.

Beore I had ownership of my anglo-arabian cross, she had severly foundered and almost died. She was extremly sensitive to gravel, but her owner refused to get her properly trimmed, and she wouldn't even think about getting her shod. But now that she is mine, she get's trimmed and shod every 6-7 wks. She is doing great now! No problems!

i would have thought so but depends on how bad she is ask a ring a vet or a blacksmith who knows the horse and they will tell you your situation