Yeah, but what I mean is that I've never heard of a horse foundering without an associated episode of colic, either before or during. I've also never had anybody give me a realy good layman's description of what actually causes founder, have you? I think it has something to do with having too much food in stomach, which allows undigested food to pass on to the small bowel where it causes some kind of problem that I can't remember which results in too much of something getting into the blood which causes swelling of the laminae in the hooves which cuts off the circulation to them and eventually kills them causing them to allow the bones in the hoof to rotate or drop. Now I may be totally wrong about all that, but that's as close as I can get to it off the top of my head. Feel free to jump in there at any time and correct me.
I don't know if the regional grasses make this much difference, but up here in the spring, they will founder long before they would colic. Here horses can founder within a day on too rich a pasture (or a break in to a grain bin for that matter). Founder is a sudden overdose of much too much protein. The protien overdose will manifest itself in laminitis and breakdown of the soft tissues of the feet. If the soft tissues break down, the coffin bone (named that for a reason) can rotate irreversably and in the extreme, come through the bottom of the foot. I'm surprised, given the lushness of the pasture I've seen in Inge Cav's property, that this isn't a problem in the south. It sure is up here. The key to avoiding founder is to cross fence if pasture is lush, or limit them to pasture for a limited time per day followed by dry lot with a bland hay through the rest of the day to balance the diet.
The hard part here with the pasture I have is that in the lush spring months, I have to worry about too much grass, and in the late summer it all dies, and every week in between is a different pasture and diet management decision based on how much rain it's had, how fast it's growing, or whether they've eaten it down and there isn't much left on it.. I only have a few weeks all year I can let them go 24/7 without any supplemental management.
I only associate colic with bad hay, molds, bad plants and toxics, usually not good grass.
Estrogen, with as much property as you have, I would think you should be able manage a pastured horse rotating between two fields of about an acre each throughout the growing season.
I havent' read through all the posts but thought I would add something to the colic/founder discussion. A horse doesn't have to to colic in order to founder, I have a cushings pony that will founder if you look at him cross-eyed. Also, if he gets too hot, like on 100 degree days, I have to hose him down 2 or 3 times a day or he will founder.
As a matter of fact, the first time he foundered the only thing we can figure out that got him was the heat. He wasn't on grass, wasn't sick, wasn't worked hard, etc. None of the usual causes of founder.