pregnant mare with cresty neck and longer heels!

Question
I was reading a Q/A on your site re cresty neck. I have a native mustered Kaimanawa mare with a cresty neck but its soft not hard and lumpy !!!! and longer heels (which you suggest is a symptom of founder) and am wondering if shes foundered in the past do I trim those excessive heels to the norm again?? All my horses are barefoot and I trim them. Can I ration her heavily like a non pregnant mare? We are getting out Spring flushes through so tonnes of water and then warm days and huge growth so I am starting to worry. I trim short heels but didn't know how to approach her in this case. She is just tamed and I can do her front and working on her back end. I have only had her 8 months so yet to deal with this foundering season coming up in NZ. I really appreiciate your thoughts.

Answer
Hi there!  

While I am not familiar with the breed I cannot comment on the cresty neck. I have a mustang mare with a large 'crest' but its not a founder crest - its just her conformation. A "founder crest" is very hard and lumpy ... while a 'normal' crest is smooth muscling.

I also can't advise you on her diet. You might want to inquire of your vet for that. Generally a good base diet is founded on hay with a good, organic vitamins supplement added with free choice minerals and salts. If you need to add grain of some sort to that to help her maintain calories and health, that would be the call of your veterinarian or equine nutrition counselor. Some horses maintain nicely on just hay and vitamins while others do need extra calories from a low sugar/low carb concentrate pellet added to the diet. Fat added to the diet can also maintain calories and energy.

As for hooves, foundered or not in the past makes no difference - her hooves should be trimmed to good form for good functioning. You can bring the heels down so the frog has passive contact with firm, level ground and active contact with the ground during landing of the hoof. A GENERAL guideline to length of heels is 1/8 - 1/4" above LIVE sole at the seat of corn. But, if her heels are extraordinarily long then you might want to do less actual trimming but more frequently to get them where they belong. This would help her from getting sore in the heels from getting too short too quickly. Be sure her toes are backed sufficiently so the breakover is adequate and the weight bearing of the hoof is towards the caudal 2/3rds of the hoof.

Hope that helps some.

:) -- Gwen