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Taya

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Hi I had a foal born here 6 weeks ago. He was born with some leg/hoof problems
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I have been working with my vet, an although a horse vet is a bit at a loss at what to do. He was hoping theyd come up on their own but its not going to happen.

We have tried homemade shoes they were made of steel??? and bandaged on. I took them off yesterday and refuse to put them back on!!

Sorry this photo is over a week old, his hooves have now been trimmed as I have now found a wonderful farrier who is willing to help me with this little foal. The trimming did not help at all.

IMG_4363.jpg


Please I desperately need some help and advice on getting this little guy right.

The front ones are bad but nothing compared to the back ones!!

Sorry the photo isnt great (his front legs arent usually under him either) hes constantly on the go lol

Also what causes this to happen?

Ive never had one born like him?

His dam was fed the same as the other mares whos foals are all fine.

Is it hereditary?
 
I wish I could help but many on here will be able to give you advice. I just wanted to say good luck with him!
 
I can see a clear definition between the old the new growth on his back hooves. Is the new hoof growing in feel the same as normal hoof? It looks different to me for some reason at least in the pic.

He certainly isn't as bad as some others but I understand your concern. Are there any other abnormalities with him? What little I can see of him he looks to be very mature in his body for a 5 week old. Is he growing faster than what you'd normally expect?
 
Hi Shauna thankyou very much for your well wishes!

Hi Star Ridge yes the new growth does appear to be growing the same as the old growth unfortunately.

He is growing normally from what I can tell, he is very stocky (but that is the lines he is bred from they are very "quarter horse type" minis. Everything else about him appears normal im assuming you may be thinking dwarfism? Which is something im not very familiar with. I can pm full body pics of him but dont really want to put them on here.
 
Two years ago we had a colt who had feet like that. Even in Sept he was still dropped behind. We kept him trimmed up and by spring he came up and is fine now, even winning his class at a horse show that fall.

Keep your hopes up!!

Lucy
 
What I have done with a few foals over the years is work with the farrier to set things right. He used the racetrack style Superfast shoe glue... and we carefully glued little "skis" onto the back hooves made out of slats of cedar shingles, in one case. Tongue depressors in another. They only extended far enough to to keep the foal from rocking back on his heels - and it helped his tendons, ligaments and muscles re-adjust to do the job on their own.

An even better idea - [SIZE=18pt]Magic Shoes[/SIZE] - they are not just for dwarves - check out the photos and contact Janell here...

http://www.littlemagicshoes.com
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Thanks Field of Dreams, it very saddening to see my little man the way he is, just want whats best for him
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Tagalong I think from what you have said my farrier may have suggested the wrong thing! He said to bandage the "shoe" on but it really seems to defeat the purpose! as the heel goes down again even with padding underneath, gluing seems a much more clever option. But to surely make myself sound stupid lol how do you get the shoe off?

Thanks so much for the link "Magic Shoes" maybe the answer for us
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(what a marvelous invention !)

Does anyone know what causes this condition?

Is it hereditary?

Nutritional?
 
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we used the Magic Shoes on my filly, & they did work, she was doing the same thing. now we make sure we keep her feet trimmed every time he comes out. her feet are not a problem any more.
 
Here is an example of farrier work that could be done... my farriers used "superfast" glue or something, glued to little pieces of wedge pad they cut. I think the sooner you can help them grow correctly, the better. My farrier trimmed and replaced the shoes every three weeks or so.

Trixiebefore2.jpg


trixieafter1.jpg


Andrea
 
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Disneyhorse I cant thank you enough for the photos!!!!!!!!!!! I have a great farrier whos happy to help this little man so will get some better shoes onto him asap. Thanks
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May I ask how long it took to correct once the shoes were on.
 
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I don't see a big problem there. Frequent trimming to keep the toes short will help him come up on his pasterns. I find this to be quite common in miniature foals, and all I've seen, with proper care, grew up to be normal as adults.

As to whether it's genetic or nutritional can probably be debated, but for me, I think the biggest cause is that miniatures don't weigh enough to wear their feet down and they generally are born with longer toes than full size horses. Which will cause them to rock back on their pasterns.
 
I ditto Becky on this one - altho we don't see the problem in minis quite as much as we did around 20 years ago. You might try adding a really good Selinium supplement to your program - it helped me since we are Selinium deficient in this area -- I use Horse GUARD vitamins and see a world of difference in not only legs, but also coats, attitude, etc, etc, etc -- a great vitamin that the miniatures really seem to metabolize very well. If you want to go the glue on route I don't think it will hurt, but I would for sure have your farrier adjust at least once a month since foals grow feet to quickly - same with trimming at least once a month until they are straightened out - my foals usually get trimmed monthly until they are about a year old and then SOMETIMES I can let them go 8 weeks - but every horse is different so they get trimmed as needed.

Good luck, I think you will be fine

Stacy
 
I agree with Becky, I've had several foals like this and all have grown up to be perfectly normal. One or two have had to have some intervention in the way of glue on "shoes". It's been awhile but I know we used little tongue depressor skis extending behind for a few weeks and it stood them up enough to continue strengthening on their own. Disneyhorse's idea with the wedge pads is great, looks like it should work.

Jan
 
I had a filly last year that needed help for 6 months with her front feet. And like Disney horse, the farrier came out every 21 days to reset her acrylic man-made shoes. The acrylic glue is moldable and you can make extensions to help keep the back tendons up.

Just make sure they get the angle right.

Once you get some support help, you will be surprised how well they adjust. We haven't had the acrylic shoes on this filly since December and you would never know she had them! The farrier was out last night to trim her feet and they are beautiful strong hooves!

Good luck!

There is also a company that makes acrylic shoes, I have a pair but didn't use them. You would have to get hoof prints for them to make them that small.
 
Hi I had a foal born here 6 weeks ago. He was born with some leg/hoof problems
default_sad.png
I have been working with my vet, an although a horse vet is a bit at a loss at what to do. He was hoping theyd come up on their own but its not going to happen.

We have tried homemade shoes they were made of steel??? and bandaged on. I took them off yesterday and refuse to put them back on!!

Sorry this photo is over a week old, his hooves have now been trimmed as I have now found a wonderful farrier who is willing to help me with this little foal. The trimming did not help at all.

IMG_4363.jpg


Please I desperately need some help and advice on getting this little guy right.

The front ones are bad but nothing compared to the back ones!!

Sorry the photo isnt great (his front legs arent usually under him either) hes constantly on the go lol

Also what causes this to happen?

Ive never had one born like him?

His dam was fed the same as the other mares whos foals are all fine.

Is it hereditary?
from what i see the new hoof is growing at a more correct angle than the foal hoof ... I have found that backing the hind toes up and squaring them off really helps! make sure this baby is trimmesd once a month or even every 3 weeks... they usually are better after all of the foal hoof has grown out.

Hope this helps.

Taylor Hildebrand (farrier)
 
Hi I had a foal born here 6 weeks ago. He was born with some leg/hoof problems
default_sad.png
I have been working with my vet, an although a horse vet is a bit at a loss at what to do. He was hoping theyd come up on their own but its not going to happen.

We have tried homemade shoes they were made of steel??? and bandaged on. I took them off yesterday and refuse to put them back on!!

Sorry this photo is over a week old, his hooves have now been trimmed as I have now found a wonderful farrier who is willing to help me with this little foal. The trimming did not help at all.

IMG_4363.jpg


Please I desperately need some help and advice on getting this little guy right.

The front ones are bad but nothing compared to the back ones!!

Sorry the photo isnt great (his front legs arent usually under him either) hes constantly on the go lol

Also what causes this to happen?

Ive never had one born like him?

His dam was fed the same as the other mares whos foals are all fine.

Is it hereditary?
from what i see the new hoof is growing at a more correct angle than the foal hoof ... I have found that backing the hind toes up and squaring them off really helps! make sure this baby is trimmesd once a month or even every 3 weeks... they usually are better after all of the foal hoof has grown out.

Hope this helps.

oops forgot to say that the heels should be trimmed as short as possible to allow him some more support and to keep the feet ste back as far as possible

Taylor Hildebrand (farrier)
 

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