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Greystone

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I read a lot and comment rarely if ever.

It is amazing how one event change everything. A couple of days ago we had a filly. Her head looks rather large so I am fearing a dwarf. She is also having pastern issues. Was walking on all four for the majority of her first day. Yesterday she continues to walk weakly on the right side and her front right foot still has some angel slipper left probably because she is not walking it off.

I took picture but am having Kodak program issues. Will get off line and try to download again.

If she is a dwarf it sets in motion the gelding of my stallion and the retirement of this mare and of course the filly becoming a forever pet. If she is a pet I still want the AMHR to know. Can you register as a "dwarf". Do they not want to know?

Any help on the feet would be appreciated. How soon should I start any support for her pasterns?

Thank you.
 
Is she rocking back on her pasterns ? that's probably just flacid flexor tendons

If she's rocking to the lateral and the bottoms of her feet are trying to point at each other, probably a dwarfism issue.

A lot of mini babies rock back on their pasterns the first few weeks. The little slippers on the bottoms (looks like the frog covers the entire bottom) can stay on for a couple of weeks.

The first growth plate doesn't close until around 3 months. Give her a couple of weeks to firm the tendons up. The worst case I had, I had to make egg bar shoes and acrylic them on for almost two months before he straightened up. If you have a farrier who's good with acrylic they should be able to handle with no problem. If not, check out "magic shoes" they cost more than making your own but if you've never done it before it will be worth the price. Janell (magic shoes) can also help you with application instruction. It's not difficult, just messy.

I didn't look to see where you are, not in Texas by any chance ?
 
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Look and see if her hind leg conformation is overly curved. This is a common fault on dwarf miniatures. The back legs have a huge curve in that stifle area.
 
Hey Diana, Zachery Farms Judy (bow to the master) over yonder from us gave me the heads up on this one when Timmy was born. She helps everyone with foals that do that around our neck of the woods so don't be afraid to call her. She told me of the selinium deficiency around here and boy did she ever turn out to be right. Anyhow I followed her instructions to the letter and we had Timmy off his fetlocks and bouncing around in record time. We never got rid of the slippers, milk toes. They came off in good time on their own. They are pretty gross though.......yuk. Some people say rip them off, others say leave them on. We were advised to let Timmy get all the free choice minerals he could want in a bucket I set out for him, and we put out a salt and mineral block for him too. Then we rasped his foot straight across and squared the toe off once a week. He did exactly what Judy predicted and popped himself right on up on those feet perfectly in a couple of weeks. If we had listened to the vet, they would have had him in all sorts of braces and leg jobs and everything. That's all it took was a tiny rasping and him to get some minerals in his little system.

As far as the dwarf thing. I'm really sorry that may have happend but give the little guy some time, and yourself to sort it out. May not be a problem there at all. Good luck Dianna! Miss you!
 
Marty's post is great.

Also a note about selenium.

I just found big mineral salt blocks with SELENIUM added... Cool, huh? They are from Tractor Supply!

Robin
 
Thanks for all the advice. I am not sure if the mineral blocks I have include selenium but I will go to TSC today and get one and trade it out with the one I have in the barn. Will have to download pics at work today.

I know every horse is different; believe me I think I have the most friendliest and the most offstandish 2 horses I ever met. But this little girl is very very skittish. Any time I touch her she skampers off. She has no interest in finding out who I am. My other two foals came sniffing up to me and we bonded right away. Both were from the mare that hates people. She would walk away and the foal would hang out with me. Not this one. She is a shadow to her mom.
 
With the added selenium you also have to make sure vitamin E is added as well. My vet keeps insisting that we don't have an issue in this area, however everyone of my foals (all totally different bloodlines) has been born with minimal tendon issues. Not only lax, but also mildly contracted. My farrier starts trimming them early and with his help they are all straight within 2 weeks of birth.

good luck with your new filly. I hope she gets straightened around soon.
 
Well I have been too busy here at work to get my camera downloaded BUT when I went out this morning all four were up; a little wiggle on the back right. She left her momma's side a little while mom was eating. She still is a buddle of nerves though. When I was leaving I sawing her just racing around momma; brought a tear to my eye.
 
hope your little one comes around for you, I maybe shouldn't ask this here but I thought selenium wasn't that good for horses or is it you just make sure you just give them small amounts? I thought I read this on another post.
 
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hope your little one comes around for you, I maybe shouldn't ask this here but I thought selenium wasn't that good for horses or is it you just make sure you just give them small amounts? I thought I read this on another post.
Sue, There are regions around the country where there is either NO selenium or very little in the soil. It is a very necessary mineral for all mammals. If horses are lacking in it (foals are effected the most) they can get White Muscle Disease. ) We live in a Zero Selenium area and need to supplement. HOWEVER, there are areas that have almost TOO MUCH selenium in their soil. Check with your vet to see which region you live in.

PS: There is also a website with a Map drawn out showing the different regions. I just found the map. Here's the link --

http://www.saanendoah.com/map1.html
 
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I am hoping ya'll can see the 3 pics via this link. I kept trying to post but it said there was an dynamic error.

Anyway, we have officially given her the barn name of Fanny. Dam is Patton's Ebony and sire is GSF Chip Off The Ol' Iceman. Do not know what to register as.

The first pick is of Fanny and Ebony. Second just Fanny and third Fanny's feet yesterday. This morning she was up on all four! Was running around mom like a whirly-bird. Still is skittish of us but did venture a little from mom.

Snapfish
 
I am sure you'll get varying opinions on whether Fanny is a dwarf or not, but it is my opinion she is a dwarf, only not as severely affected as some. I think she will come up more on her feet with age, but I also feel there is some deformity in the bne structure. If this was my foal, I would not even bother registering her, as really, there would be no need. AMHA may reject her anyway, AMHR may not, but unfortunately, neither registry will note on the papers that a dwarf is a dwarf. Even if she is not a dwarf, she would likely make a loving pet only, as she would not even be suitable for performanc classes with her leg problems. She WILL make someone a sweet loving pet, I am sure....she is a adorable!
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IMO she's a dwarf.

Far front is going to need a lateral extension shoe, hinds probably an eggbar, hard to say by the pictures.

Let me get Janell on the thread. She can do shoes you can glue on. You might be able to correct the hinds. Front feet are typical of what you see with a dwarf. Near looks like with proper trimming it will be okay. Far front may always have to wear a shoe but you never know.

What's MAJOR important is getting that front foot landing flat ASAP before the growth plates start growing crooked.

Check out this site.

http://www.littlemagicshoes.com/

Vickie
 
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I could only see one picture of little Fanny, that Vickie (JourneysEnd) e-mailed me,THANK YOU VICKIE.... but I too, feel that Fanny is a dwarf Mini. More than anything I can tell from a foal's eyes and expression on it's little face. I really do think that she could greatly benefit from wearing my *Magic Shoes*!
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If you could send me some close up pictures of her little legs and hooves, when she's standing on a hard flat surface, then I will know better what kind of shoes I should design for her. I feel that her baby slippers should be trimmed back; many times the vets around here will trim it all off of the Miniature Horse foals when they do their foal check..... they just don't have enough weight to wear them off naturally, like a large breed foal.

Here's my e-mail address: [email protected]

Please give sweet little Fanny some sugars from me & the Biscuits. She's a precious little treasure, cherish every day you have her.
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I haven't had a chance to read each and every reply yet, but will go back through them, and reply again, if I think I should.
 
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Vickie wrote:

If you have a farrier who's good with acrylic they should be able to handle with no problem. If not, check out "magic shoes" they cost more than making your own but if you've never done it before it will be worth the price. Janell (magic shoes) can also help you with application instruction. It's not difficult, just messy.
Yes you can use the SuperFast to make extensions on the sides of the hoof, but I would NOT recomend trying to make extensions in the back of the hoof, as I always tell folks that you don't want to get the adhesive on the frog or the bulbs of the heels. Plus the extensions made from Technovit pop off very easily, the SuperFast made by Vettec works MUCH better. I have found that I can keep a *Magic Shoe* on MUCH longer than I ever could an extension made from either the Technovit or the Superfast. Yeah, it takes a little practice, to keep from having a bit of a sticky mess, but with a little practice ya can get the shoes on with little effort or mess and keep them on until it's time for the hoof to be trimmed once again.
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As far as the cost goes, I only charge $10.00 per shoe, which can last up to a year, by then the foal has outgrown it, or worn it too thin, anyway. Each shoe is custom designed for each horse and each hoof, they are all cut out by hand and are quite time consuming....but the rewards of seeing the horses up and walking on their hooves correctly, sure are worth it!
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Well it seems Fanny is back on her pasterns and when standing still seems ok. When she goes to walk her right side hooves wiggle back and forth. Would the shoes be for this or would I brace her "ankles"?

Also she is soooo skittish. Mom is not that way at all. I touch her back and she bolts. Mom just looks at her like, "chill". I hang out with her about and hour in the morning and an hour in the evening just sitting in the stall. Last night she attempted to walk over to me but chickened out.
 
Get the magic shoes --- sooner you put them on the better for her.

They work very very well.

JJay
 
Her ankles would be her hocks. Sorry, couldn't resist.

Bracing her pasturns won't help. The problem is that the P1 & P2 are not correct. If she continues to rock to the side the growth plates can't set and the extensor tendons and DDFT will be damaged.

Especially on that far front hoof.

The only way to brace is with a lateral extension shoe. Only way to do that on a little mini is acrylic.

The magic shoes are great. If you have a good farrier, they can make a little shoe out of a hoof pad and acrylic it on. This is something you can learn to do yourself and save quite a bit of money.

I'm sure your farrier will help you with it.

I'm going to pm you my email address in case your farrier wants to get in touch with me.

I've been doing the equithane on the little guys for about 5 yrs now.

Vickie
 
I have a dwarf that Journey End has done miracles on. She has been making her little shoes to keep her from turning over.

My confidence in the wealth of knowledge that Vickie has goes way past the dwarves problems. I had a 27" gelding that had had terrible farrier work before Vickie (Journey End) came to work on him. His back legs were all turned in. Wish we had taken pictures. With the great work that she did, Pistol ended up being a hunter horse with no problems in his legs. He loves jumping and I am sure there is no way he would have ever done it without Vickie.

You can gain a tremendous amount of information from Janell and Vickie.
 

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