Foal having lax suspensory tendons issues

[wendi leigh]

My little Grace is 8 weeks old now and is absolutely perfect (in my barn blind eyes of course), except for her rear fetlock joints. When she trots or runs or even sometimes when walking there is no problem. However, when she is standing and relaxed, she rolls back onto the heels of her rear hoofs and the little toes come up in the air. The farrier has been trimming every two weeks, but this doesn't seem to be helping. The farrier and the vet both feel this is caused by lax suspensory tendons and that if we raise the heel to change the angle the tendons will strengthen quickly and she'll be fine. To do this, I understand that they use heel extensions. Nobody seems to know where to get anything like that for a mini foal though. I'm aware of the acrylics that they make to reshape the hoofs, but the farrier feels this is much too drying for her little hoof and that it will kill the frog and cause more long term problems so he doesn't want to use it.

Has anybody had similar problems before and what have you done to correct it? Are there possible other causes that I may be overlooking? I keep hearing about selinium deficiency and that has crossed my mind as well.

Thanks for any and all suggestions.

 

[Fred]

If you use the glue ons on a baby it can restrict the natural growth [widening of the hoof]. You could duct tape an extension on and it does work.

 

[Marty]

Oh my gosh Wendy, my little Timmy was the WORST case I've ever seen!

I am very glad I DID not listen to the vet and the farrier. They would have had him in braces, special shoes, all kinds of things!

Judy at Zachery Farms in Tennessee (refer to Breeders Connect) fixed us up real quick!

Yes, selenium deficiency is said to be the culprit here, I am still not certain to this day that is the problem, because I did cover my bases with the next foal, and although he was not as bad, I still had the problem so I do not know what it really is.

But I do know that about 30 days or so before my mare foaled, I did remove her free choice minerals because they kept getting rained on and I assumed she was not using them and just wasting them. Big, huge, mistake.

Anyhow, Judy simply had Jerry just trim the toe with a rasp going straight across, not making the toe round, but just squared off. We did this once a week. Then we put out our free choice minerals (Purina 12 12 ) and salt block and both mare and baby were utilizing this right away. Before we knew it, Timmy was popped right up on his feet like he should have been. By the time he was 3 months old, he was perfect.

I think your farrier may be trimming him the wrong way, so do consult Judy about that and it also does take time.

Also some breeders give a selenium shot 30 days before foaling. And there is also some seliumn/vitamin B that you can also give in the feed.

Now there is some discrepancy about too much selenium which can also cause troubles too.

Since then, with the next round of breeding, I began to change my entire feeding program around and fed Born To Win ration balancer by Purina, with Omolene 200. My this years foals once again are not perfect, they are very slightly down, you can't hardly tell, but already popped up with one rasping. So again, I am not sure what the heck we are lacking around here.

Do by all means give Judy a call. This situation is actually a specialty of hers and she will be very happy to walk you through it and help you out. Just tell her I sent ya!

 

[Margo_C-T]

It is easy to make a 'shoe' w/an extended heel out of a strap hinge. Get a small one(this IS for a mini, right?), take it apart(one hinge should 'make' two extended heel 'shoes'), bend the narrow end upward at an angle to match that of the front of the hoof, as: /___ You need to bend about an inch of it upwards in this manner. Set the hoof onto this , with the sole of the hoof resting on the long, wider part of the hinge, which should extend out behind the heel of the hoof. Duct tape it onto the hoof(don't get the duct tape onto the leg, only the hoof.) Foal should be observed while wearing this-as in a stall or small, dry, clean drylot. It may not need to be left on for long, perhaps just a day or two? Yes, it may come loose and need to be 'reattached', but overall, can be well worth the work in doing so. I recommend checking with your vet before using this, but in my personal experience, it can work VERY well.(I have used it on a mini or two, and also, helped a friend put it on a half-Arab pinto colt, and it did the job in just a few days.)

I have also squared the toes on a few YOUNG mini foals-and I do mean "square". It also worked quite well. You do need to know what you are doing, however.

Margo

 

[BeckyG]

We had the very same problem...... and found "corrective plates" worked great!!

In our case..... our Vet worked with the farrier to create 2 plates. The plates were glued on each hind hoof. We kept our colt (and his mom) in a paddock so that he still got exercise, but was somewhat restricted. (Otherwise he was running all around the pasture having a great time

: )

We kept them on 2 weeks. They were removed and a new (bigger) set put on (to allow for hoof growth). Two weeks later the 2nd set were removed.

BTW.... Making plates from a hinge (as Margo suggested), sound to be much like the plates made by the farrier.

This is a pic before correction. He actually "rolled back" more than that -- at different times. Sometimes he seemed to be pretty much standing on the back of his legs, not really on his hooves at all. (but I could not find any pics) Oh... he also needed trimming, too!

=>

This is with the corrective plates on. (They are actually hard to see in the pic..... but you can see the corrective effect.)

=>

And..... this is him several months later.... All grown-up and standing straight!

 

[Marty]

I don't mean to hijack this post but since so many others are having this problem, what do you all think the problem is?

 

[wendi leigh]

Thank you all for your replies. I've put out a mineral block that has selenium in it and I have a call to get the farrier out this week. We'll try squaring off those rear toes and see if it helps. We had tried building her little plates out of bar stock that sounds similar to what Margo describes with the hinges, but I couldn't get them to stay on with elastic wrap. The hinge material is probably lighter weight and maybe the duct tape works better than the wrap. I may be emailing you all for more help if the next go round doesn't show improvement.

Thanks again,

Wendi

 

[Becky]

My feelings on a lot of the leg issues we see in miniature foals at birth are a vitamin/mineral deficiency.

I had more problems before I started feeding Progressive Nutritions Diet Balancers and now have very little. My breeding herd also has access to the Progressive Mineral blocks 24/7. For any foal I have that might have leg issues, I've had success with Progressives' Rejuvenaide, a vitamin/mineral supplement for foals. It comes in a liquid or paste version. Buckeye also makes a similar product.

And for a problem as you describe, keeping the toes shortened has also been a big help.

Good luck!

 

[Margaret]

Hello, I had a filly this year born with lax rear tendons.. The mare was aquired eariler the year before, and I believe the previous owner did not supply adequate minerals for her.

In any event if mineral shortage is the problem be sure to get the block that is "not" the salt combo, as the horse may not take all it needs to avoid the salt.. I like the Purina brand called 12-12, and it does have selinum in it. ( I supply a seperate salt block on the side.)

With our foal it took a while to see her up like she should have been, but a series of toe rasps were required to aid her in standing up on her toes.. If you wait to long then you can develope little rockers, but even that can be corrected.. please feel free to post pictures if you want.

 

[Carolyn R]

I had a filly with this issue. My farrier trimmed her hind toes to make her stand in a position he referred to as "camped out" to me it looked kind of like a show stance. She had less toe, so she was forced to place her feet back further to keep her natural balance, rather than up under her. He also made what I referred to as "glue shoes". They were out of a quick drying epoxy material. He used it on big horses too. He cleaned the hoof, sanded it, and cleaned it again, then applied the glue with a caulking gun, he used it to lift the heal, and applied the coating to the outside of the hoof, but made sure to leave the sole/frog open to prevent bacteria from forming. He would only leave them on for 2 weeks at a time because foals feet grow so quickly they need to be checked often. We did this two times, she had them on for about a month, it fixed her up really well. We also made sure she was getting the selenium she needed too.

Good luck,

Carolyn

 

[Field-of-Dreams]

My two week old colt is back like that. Texas isn't supposed to be selenium deficient, though...

Becky, where do you get your Progressive Mineral blocks?

Lucy

 

[Becky]

Lucy,

I get my Progressive Mineral blocks at my local feed store in Oklahoma City, OK, Red Earth Animal Health. I just checked Progressive's website, Progressive Nutrition, and there are a number of dealers in TX.

The mineral blocks come in both an alfalfa formula and a grass formula depending on the type of hay you are feeding. What I like about them is not only do they have the right balance of minerals, but they are also high in vitaminis A, D and E which are so important to tendon, ligamant and bone development.