Newborn foal with deformed foot; advice please

[LisaB Ozark]

Keeping you and your foal in my thoughts and prayers.

Lisa - Ozark

 

[MinisOutWest]

Prayers and thoughts are with you and the foal from me and my vet. She said "I haven’t ever seen one that bad. It’s worth trying the tetracycline shots, but it’s going to be a miracle if it fixes that one. " You hang in there and do not let your heart follow this one, use your head. I know it hurts, but do what is right for the baby. Please keep us posted and let us know if the leg starts coming around. Good Luck and Be Strong.

 

[shelly]

ray

Praying your filly is showing some improvement today!!! My thoughts and healing vibes are coming your way!

 

[gatorbait4sure]

Have we any updates on this filly today?

Let's all learn from how this filly's leg is corrected. Sharing knowledge is wonderful!

Look at how everyone's suggestions have helped so far!

Praying from here!

dru

 

[swd]

Our little filly is still with us. Vet out again this morning for third and last Tetracycline injection. As you know from the pictures, the contraction is severe and there might be fusion in the joint. This is more than likely not just a case of a contracted tendon, but a birth defect. So far there has been a little improvement in the motion in the foot joint, but it is still bent backwards in a 90 degree angle and seems to be frozen there. The foot cannot be straightened to a normal position at all. We are not optimistic at this point because of the severity. As some of you have said, the injections help in some cases, but probably not in a case this severe. Nevertheless, she is getting lots of attention and we are changing the splints and massaging and exercising the foot throughout the day and night. We talked seriously about our options with our vet this morning. On this forum we have discussed mostly the severely affected left back foot, but the right back is also twisted to a much lesser extent. Keeping all of this in mind, we will continue to work with this little filly, calling her "Sweetheart" at this point, through the weekend and see what Monday brings.

Thank you to all of you who have responded. God bless all of you for your concerns.

 

[barnbum]

Thanks for doing all you can.

You will know exactly what's in her best interest.

 

[Jill]

Continued prayers and well wishes. My heart really goes out to you!!!

 

[Reble]

Thanks so much for taking the time to update us.

still for little "Sweetheart"

 

[ontherisefarm]

Hoping for the best for your little Sweetheart... Take care and hang in there...

 

[SaddleTrail]

So heart breaking to hear of that filly. She is such a looker. Do what you feel is best for her. Your heart will heal in time.

My thoughts and prayers are with you.

 

[MinisOutWest]

Looking back in past posts, I see this is not your first baby with bad legs......? Is this baby out of the same stallion? has you ever changed your feed program or looked into what you are feeding to your preg mares? but it seems 'crooked/ bent' legs are in your past posts with your past babies...... just a thought / concern I had and saw.

 

[sugarboy]

Im SO SORRY!

I wish the best for your family and "sweetheart". Keep us posted and dont forget to take care of yourself! I have learned that one from personal experience. We are sending prayers for your little one.

 

[nbark]

Sometimes the toughest decisions are the best decisions, not that this is any consolation, but your mini family on the forum will help you through whatever decision you have to make. You have been very brave and have done more than most, you have earned your wings as Sweetheart has too, just for being brave and giving life and love to you and your family.

 

[MountainMeadows]

I too have been following this post with hope and anticipation -- my heart just breaks with the thought of what must be going thru your minds - I know that you will do what is right, and my wholehearted support is with you no matter what decision you make. Sweetheart looks to be a little darling, and I am sure that with your continued attendance that you are getting more and more attached each and every hour.

There are many here to fall on for support - take care of yourself, and

((( Hugs ))))

Stacy

PS Minis Out West -- I did not notice any posts from this breeder that expressed other leg issues in their breeding program - I saw posts from others who had experienced similar situations, but not from SWD. As I breeder I know full well how hopeful it is to anticipate a foal and how heartbreaking it is to have a disaster - breeding miniature horses is truly not for sissies -- thankfully we have this Forum to turn to for support - the people in miniatures are the best there are.

 

[StarRidgeAcres]

Our continued prayers for you.

 

[MiLo Minis]

I don't want to cause you any heartache but in case you are trying to make decisions this information may help. It is a quote from Blessed Are The Foals:

"In a truly contracted fetus, the contorted members ankylose (lock) and are rigidly fixed into postion. The immovable joints and joint structures cease to develop, are incomplete, and so are never functional, regardless of remedial measures or heroic surgical attempts at restoration."

I believe your vet was telling you that this is not just a contracted tendon but a true contraction "affecting primarily the neuromuscular system and secondly the skeletal frame". If you look at the photo of the worst leg you can see that the fetlock is not fully formed. One word of caution though - this book was written in 1987 and there may be new information out there, check with your veterinarian.

Something else I read is that what they are finding is that these contractions are a result of taking too good of care of our mares and feeding excess amounts of protein and supplements and are not in any way necessarily inheritable deformities.

You have my prayers.

 

[StarRidgeAcres]

I don't want to cause you any heartache but in case you are trying to make decisions this information may help. It is a quote from Blessed Are The Foals:
"In a truly contracted fetus, the contorted members ankylose (lock) and are rigidly fixed into postion. The immovable joints and joint structures cease to develop, are incomplete, and so are never functional, regardless of remedial measures or heroic surgical attempts at restoration."

I believe your vet was telling you that this is not just a contracted tendon but a true contraction "affecting primarily the neuromuscular system and secondly the skeletal frame". If you look at the photo of the worst leg you can see that the fetlock is not fully formed.

Something else I read is that what they are finding is that these contractions are a result of taking too good of care of our mares and feeding excess amounts of protein and supplements and are not in any way necessarily inheritable deformities.

You have my prayers.

Lori,

Thank you for all the information. The nutrition issue is very interesting.

 

[TheCaseFamily00]

Hoping everything is going ok,been thinking of you and your little one.

 

[Reble]

Any update on Sweetheart, still sending

 

[swd]

Thank you all again for your information. It is so much appreciated. You are a wealth of information and I remain overwhelmed with your support. I wanted to give you an update on "Sweetheart," but first I feel that I must respond on this forum to "Minis Out West." I do not know where your statement that "Crooked/Bent legs are in my past posts with past babies." I am a reputable breeder, have been breeding and raising miniature horses since 1996 and I feel that your statement is very hurtful. I am not a regular contributor to this forum, but tend to come here for information when something unfamiliar to me presents itself. I can only remember ONE other issue with "Crooked/Bent" legs that I have brought to this forum. That was a couple of years ago when I had a foal born with windswept front legs. Found out that a number of you had the same experience and that the legs corrected themselves in a matter of days (which I found to be true with my foal.)

Your post prompted me to look back on my records. I only have computer records back to the year 2000. But since 2000, we have delivered 166 foals at our farm and I have had leg issues with 2 foals. I hardly think this qualifies as having a problem that needs to be addressed. Nature is not perfect, these things just happen, and there just isn't always an answer as to why. I can assure you that we take great pride in our horses, in our breeding program and monitor it very closely. Nevertheless, I do appreciate your concern expressed in your post. Please understand that we have had several very rough days emotionally and maybe I am a little "testy." Sorry if I came over a little too strong.

I do not know how to search the forum to see if there are other posts that you think may be mine. But I do appreciate Mountain Meadows for researching this and stating that she could not find other posts. As I said before, I DO acknowledge one other post about leg issues, but that is all I can remember.

Now for the update on "Sweetheart." We have continued to splint, take them off and massage, exercise, and re-splint. She has shown no improvement in the foot. There is no mobility in the ankle joint. And yes, she has won our hearts, making the decision that we, along with our vet, will possibly make tomorrow a very, very difficult one. We made pictures today and I will see if I can get someone to post them for me. Maybe this will help someone else if they ever have this problem with one of their foals.