Are there any horse stables in Fairfax Station, VA?

The horse should be assumed to be developing laminitis until proven otherwise. Time is of the essence in getting treatment started to halt the progress of destruction of the "glue" that attaches the hoof capsule to the coffin bone. This is still a medical emergency even if you don't see any signs right now.

There are no signs or symptoms during the prodromal phase of laminitis. He should not be fed any grains. Keep him well hydrated and get the vet there asap.

Keep him on thick, soft bedding to encourage him to lie down as much as possible. Plain grass hay is okay to feed, and soaking it for 30 minutes in hot water to remove sugars is a good idea until your vet gets there. If the feed he ate was a high starch feed like cereal grain, then an overload of starch will have caused glucose, insulin and cortisol overages in the blood which can initiate laminitis, and a significant amount of starch will have reached the hind gut and produced acidosis and massive bacterial die-off .

This leads to release of bacterial endotoxins into blood that also produce enzyme changes causing laminitis and founder. The matrix metalloproteinases (mmps) are the enzymes that destroy the basement membrane that acts as the "glue" to bind the hoof to the bone. Your vet can prescribe meds like metformin and low dose doxycycline to act as enzyme inhibitors by reducing the glucose, hormone, and endotoxin levels in blood.

Had the vet been called immediately, the digestive tract could have been lavaged to try to remove the feed excesses and given NSAIDS to reduce absorption of endotoxins into blood, but by now it is too late for that. So, I'd get the vet there asap, and hopefully you have a good equine vet who is current on laminitis research and treatment options. There is no need to wait around for obvious symptoms to show.

There is sufficient probablility for laminitis to warrant preventive treatment. With laminitis, by the time symptoms manifest, the detachment of the hoof capsule is already in progress.

My horse coliced a couple weeks ago. Do not feed him any thing including hay, just give water for 24 hours after the vet treated him. Then day 2 just the hay ration and water.

Then day 3 hay and the morning feeding of grain, and water. Day 4 you are back on your normal routine. Don't freak out if he looks too skinny.

When the vet treated him, he took out all of the unessisary stomach acid, and dislodged whatever was blocking. So he has nothing in him, but you can't tell til a few days later. If you start feeding him too early, he can re-colic.

I hope he gets better!

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