Founder is synonymous with laminitis in most usage. But it is perhaps useful to think of a horse with laminitis as one whose coffin bone has not yet rotated or deviated from the hoof capsule. A foundered horse then is a horse that is chronically affected by the condition and whose coffin bone has rotated from proper alignment with the hoof wall. Be careful about using this definition because many people use the term founder interchangeably with laminitis.

This section on founder will be expanded with diagrams soon.