We rescued a foundered Percheron gelding - we have had him him about a week and a half, had been foundered for 4 weeks before we brought him home. Because his appetite was so poor when we got him here, and he is so thin from the ordeal, we put him on Alfalfa, and now his appetite is good. He eats 6-8 flakes of Alfalfa (PA grown) a day. The vet also recommended hay stretcher, which we are usually dead set against, but we started him on it (@ 16 oz a day) - 12% protein there. Because of the pain in both his fronts, he stands under himself in the rear (when he is standing), and will sometimes shake. He gets free choice salt and water, and 4Tlbs of MSM a day. He is obviously stall-bound except for the 1/2 hour or so a day he is allowed to roam the barnyard (he goes right back into his stall on his own when he is tired out). We have not yet x-rayed his feet, but the farrier agrees it is a severe case. I had a quarter horse that foundered even worse than this years ago and she came out of it, and we hope the same for this horse. Dietary wise, are we doing the right thing by him? What else would you suggest?

Sorry to be so long in responding - your message came in just as I left town. Good for you to take in this horse! Your diet is very low in starch and sugar, which is great, but I would highly recommend that you start adding fat to his diet. Being a Percheron he could very well be "metabolically different" and prone to equine polysaccharide storage myopathy (EPSM, also called PSSM and EPSSM). In fact, part of his issues could be from muscle rather than his feet - at some point you really should have x-rays of his feet. Knowing for sure what is going on there will help your farrier to correct it if he has foundered. Meanwhile, a fat supplemented diet will help to safely add weight, help his muscles if he is an EPSM horse, and will not contribute to founder issues. I'd aim for a gradually increase until he is getting at least 3 cups oil (soy oil, canola oil, corn oil, etc.) per day. Be sure to also add a vitamin E supplement since he is not on grass most of the time, and selenium if your area is deficient. If his muscles are an issue you may see him begin to move around more and more comfortably within a few weeks to months. It takes about 4 months for full fat adaptation, though, so you want to give this type of diet at least 4 months to evaluate for effect. There is a genetic test on pulled mane hairs at Minnesota that detects many (but not all) EPSM draft horses http://www.cvm.umn.edu/umec/lab/Advances_in_PSSM/home.html . A positive test would definitely help you here. Again, keep working with your veterinarian and farrier as well. I hope this helps, and please let us know how things go!