foal legs

[Miss_Fortune]

Ive noticed that a lot of newborns & really young foals seem to be camped out. I hope thats the correct term. Is this normal, do they usually straighten out? Should I look at the parent legs?

 

[mizbeth]

YES, lots of them are not strong on their legs when first born. It takes days/weeks in some cases may take longer to straighten. I think if the foal is several months old and still showing signs of conformation incorrectness then I might ask questions, or simply pass on the foal until he matures. Some just take a while to "come together", especially the more refined ones.

There a lots of factors that can influence a foals development as well. Parents history of developement, proper feed, worming, farrier work, and I'm sure other things I can't think of right now.

Beth

 

[Mona]

This last colt here...the one where I bought the mare heavy in foal, and she foaled before we got her home, his back legs are VERY, VERY weak too. It seems when he has them out far enough behind him, they are OK, but when he has them more under him, they are VERY lax. What do you guys think? Will he come up on them on his own, or do you think he needs help? I was thinking he might benefit from Janell's "Magic Shoes", but want to give him a chance first, so do it on his own. Are they too severe to be helped? Would a shot of Vitamin B help? It is only his back feet that are affected in this way. I should also add, he was a full week old in these photos.

 

[Black Magic]

We had a foal at the equine hospital that had legs doing that when he was nursing.. (only time you'd find him up on his legs), and the vet wrapped the back legs to help give him support. I'm not saying this was the right thing to do... I'm just telling you what I saw. We also would pull the foal up by his tail.. (this was a TB foal), and encourage him to stand correctly, and then we'd check the wrap to make sure that it was actually lending support. This TB was over three weeks old...

Just letting you know what I saw...

Hope your baby is doing better soon..

God Bless,

Lynn W

 

[tuffsmom]

Mona, when I got my Tuffy at 4 months old, his feet looked exactly as your colts do in the picture.

My hubby did the magic shoes about every 1-2 weeks, and right before Tuffy passed as a yearling he was doing awesome...standing & walking on his hooves (not his pasterns!) and his hocks were back to normal also (the weakness in his pasterns was causing his hocks to pull apart :no: it affects more than just how they walk/stand!)

ETA-- As you can see from my avatar, even though he had problems it never slowed him down!! That little sucker could MOVE!

 

[bitsy]

Mona, we had a filly several years ago that looked just like this. The vet said if they weren't straightened up three weeks (which they weren't) that we would design some little heels for her. Which they did for me out of pvc pipe. She wore them for around 10 days and she was fine! It was amazing. Good luck.

 

[Miniv]

Two issues begin discussed here.

Basically, it's not uncommon for newborns to either be cowhocked or have lax tendons. The cowhock problem will straighten as the foal developes muscles. The lax tendons also will improve with exersize unless the problem is extremely severe. Our vet has given us a 2 week window for lax tendons before getting aggressive.

Mona, your foal should be trimmed, give plenty of the necessary supplements necessary for your region, and exersize. Your colt may or may not improve during the two week period, so be prepared to put on those "magic shoes". In my opinion he is marginal at this point. I've seen them worse, believe it or not.

MA

 

[mizbeth]

Ditto to Maryann, Mona.

Were both of your photos taken at the same time? Day? One photo looks like trimming his toes leaving his heels to get longer would work just fine with plenty of excersize. The second photo is disturbing somewhat and makes him appear as tho., he will need additional help. I would still trim his toes and make sure he has plenty of room to run and play.

Good luck!

Beth

 

[Mona]

Thanks everyone for your opinins and suggestions on this colt. Beth, yes, both photos were taken the same time. I deliberately chose these two because they shoed them looking so different from each other, trying to show you what I was referring to when I said they look worse when they are under him more, and less severe when they are back further.

 

[MountainViewMiniatures]

Where can you get the magic shoes? My bay colt was born tha way but he is almost totally correct now at 4 weeks -just when he gets tired

Thanks

 

[Little Bit]

:saludando: Hi Sharon~

I just found this thread tonight, don't get a chance to read this forum much anymore.

Please contact me at this e-mail addy if you would like more informati0on on Little Bit's *Magic Shoes* that I design... [email protected] or please feel free to call me at: 979-877-0117

Janell