Front legs bend backwards?!

Hi,

a friend of mine emailed me these pictures of her newborn filly. The filly is only a couple of hours old. Pictured are the front legs from the front and from the left side.





As you can see, her front legs seem deformed, they even seem to bend backwards. I have never seen anything like this and was wondering if anyone knows what the reason for these bad legs could be and if there is anything they can do?

I know that this kind of deformed legs can happen in dwarfs, but the filly does not show any dwarf characteristics that I know of.

Any input is appreciated!

Thank you.

Carina

I have no experience but you can start reading this post from the last few days

for some insite from people with experience

front leg problems

This looks like a bad case of lax tendons....a common issue with new borns. First thing is stall confinement and as bad as hers are I'd probably go for splinting to give the tendons time to strengthen while they get stronger. 48 hours on then remove and see how she looks, then on again for another 48 etc. usually only takes a time or two, but might take more for her. Her legs actually look normal in the pix except for the lax tendons.

email if you have questions

Charlotte

p.s. also, after 7 days old it's a good idea to give a supplement like Foal Aid or Rejuvenaid....contains vitamins ADE & selinium etc.

I think they will likely be fine in time. Sometimes foals are born with wonky legs and just need time on them to get them strengthened up. Good Luck!

That baby has a more serious problem than lax tendons........IMO. You need a vet involved. The vet will probably want to splint. With legs like that, you need to get aggressive ASAP or the knees will be permanently damaged.

MA

editted for typo

I respectfully disagree- I have had a filly with legs easily as bad as that and possibly worse.

Luckily for the filly I had a Vet who just told me if I had seen as many calves with this problem as he had I would not be giving it a second thought.

He told me I could keep the mare in a stall and soft splint the legs if I wanted or I could just turn them back out- either way the foal would be normal by the time it was due to be born- it was six weeks preemie- guaranteed.

I did soft splint the legs as the mare was not mine and I was worried, but the foal was so strong by the time it was a week old it was fighting me and the splints were not necessary anyway.

So I turned them out and she went form strength to strength.

The Vet was right- by the time she was due to be born I had forgotten the legs!!

It is scary, very scary- but I would not suggest splinting- that is a road to loads of problems.

Give her a day or two and see how she is.

I would of course talk to a vet but you might also want to contact Tony at LIttle America he had a foal like that ( I am 99 percent positive it was him) and I do believe the foal is fine now

Yes I have seen this before, a friend of mine had a foal with this problem, I had never seen it before and felt bad for the little foal. Just as Jane described, is exactly what my friend did, with the exception that her vet gave the foal a selenium shot. I was amazed how the legs did end up straightening!

I've also had one nearly that bad (though they did not tend to knock inward towards each other as seen from the front, they did bend wackward), and my vet came to look.

He was against any splinting or stall rest. He said turnout would help her more quickly. We also reviewed my feeding program for Selenium as well as overall minerals. This mare's foals were always somewhat lax, but nothing like this one filly, who is absolutely normal, now, and was within 24-48 hours.

I would suggest consulting her vet, though, because every case is different and we are only viewing a few photos and of course I am not a vet, just stating my experience with a similar looking condition.

Liz M.

I think we ALL agree on one important thing..........GET A VET INVOLVED.

MA

Of course, it's always wise to ask your vet. : But, I have seen many foals who have been born with legs this bad, and worse (Tony G posted lots of pictures of one), who were completely normal within a couple of weeks WITHOUT any intervention at all.

Here is Tonys pictures..hope he don't mind!! :

I don't mind at all. Saved me the trouble of finding and posting it. The colt was allowed to run in the pasture with his dam with no intervention on our part AT ALL.

How's your foal doing this morning?

Hello everyone,

thank you so much for the many replies and your kind advice. According to my friend, there is already some improvement from yesterday, so that's a good sign. The vet had a look at the little girl but said she wouldn't worry as of now.

Thanks so much for your help!

I had a foal like that once. Within three days it was normal without any intervention.