What is Meant by the Term "Foundering?"

© Ilka Robertson, DVM and David Hood, DVM, PhD

first posted on the Internet in The Hoof Project Web Site

The term founder or foundering refers to a disease of the horse's foot; it is also known as laminitis and has a long history in the horse world. It dates as far back as the Greeks who referred to it as "barley disease" because they saw an association between the feeding of barley and the development of the disease. The Romans also recognized founder (laminitis) and associated it with long traveling times on hard surfaces, similar to what we now call "road founder." Other names used for the same disease include "foundid," "pumice foot," and "fever of the feet." Laminitis can be a devastating and career-ending condition for a horse and therefore has attracted great attention in efforts to both treat and prevent the disease.

When using today's common terminology of "laminitis" or "founder," there is usually a distinction made between the two with regard to how long the disease process has been occurring. Laminitis usually refers to the early stages of the disease. By definition, the word means an inflammation (-itis) of the laminar (lamin-) tissues within the foot. Inflammation is the body's response to an insult or injury. It causes the affected tissues to swell, develop heat and redness, become painful and possibly lose function. This can be compared to accidentally striking your thumb while using a hammer. There is a definite development of redness, heat, pain, swelling and possibly even temporary function loss due to this injudicious use of a hammer!

The laminar tissues within the foot are folds of tissue that connect the coffin bone, or third phalanx, to the inner hoof wall; in a sense, partly suspending the coffin bone within the hoof wall capsule. There are hundreds of tissue laminae present within the foot. When the disease is in its early stages, it involves, in part at least, these laminar tissues. The inflammation of these laminar tissues results in varying degrees of lameness (see question regarding stages of laminitis).

The terms foundering or foundered usually refer to the more chronic or long-term consequences of laminitis. In this case, the horse has already suffered from the acute stage of the disease and now has changes present within the foot that make it mechanically unstable. The horse will also show varying degrees of lameness; there can also be physical signs of hoof damage, as well as changes on x-rays (see question regarding stages of laminitis). Chronic laminitis and founder are often used to define the same phase.

This article has been reprinted with the permission of The Hoof Project.

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