Contracted tendons in foals. Reassurance needed.

[JB]

The problem with cutting mom’s feed is that while you may end up providing less “rich” milk and slowing growth - maybe - you’re also lowering the nutritional content of the milk.

Rodawn is right that the mare will try to keep the nutritional value of the milk up at her expense, but at some point that’s just not possible. She herself needs about 1500gm (maybe more, she’s a big girl) of protein herself to provide for her, and for the foal. She’s going to quickly suffer if not being fed that, and soon the foal will too

[rodawn]

It tends to be a bit of a wive’s tale that restricting feed changes the growth. Usually what happens is the foal and/or mare become deficient and then you end up with a foal who has joint problems. With warmbloods feed problems can result in the dreaded OCD problems.

Especially for warmbloods (is this what the foal is?) genetics dictate that they grow rather remarkably fast for the first 2 years of life. It can make your eyes boggle out of your head! Really and truly. This can make feeding them rather challenging. I would never restrict feed in a horse to change the rate of growth. Foal will land up where he/she is supposed to, based on what their genetic code dictates.

All you can do is ensure the foal gets exactly the minerals, vitamins, protein that they need to ensure the growth is correct and stable, so their bones, joints, ligaments, and tendons are sturdy and uniformly correct.

You can have a 2 year old who is already at 16 hands and then they seem to sit there or grow very slowly and eventually top out at 16.2 hands, for example.

Others grow like a steady-eddie and still land at 16.2 hands.

I have had each of these cases repeatedly over the many years.

There is difference between feeding them sufficient and force feeding for growth. You want the first and not the latter.

[fairtheewell]

It’s often Cal/Phos imbalance. Rodawn is right. Don’t feed bran either.

[JB]

You can feed bran if it’s fortified You can feed unfortified if you’re feeding a large amount of alfalfa

Finding fortified bran is easier or harder depending where you live. Where alfalfa is the typical hay, it’s harder to find fortified bran because folks want the higher phos, unfortified bran to help the high calcium alf.

[peskee]

It appears to be high contraction…get on Progressive Nutrition Rejuvenaide ASAP, weigh him and double the dose, you will see change really quick. I would also put a thick cast like bandage on him for at least 12 hours a day, include the knee. Don’t worry they do manage well with knees wrapped. Good luck…he is needing copper, zinc, phosphorous and calcium in the right balance…

[EquusMagnificus]

Well I have been told to give oxytet, a tiny bit of bute if the foal is looking uncomfortable and turn them out…

If they are lax, keep them in, if they are contracted, turn them out.

As usual, the horse world, 2 people, 3 opinions.

[clint]

My filly this year was born quite contracted. She could get up, but one leg in particular was bad. The vet who came out wrapped both front legs, and they remained wrapped for three days. She was able to get up and down without a problem; there is enough give in the wraps that she could. They made a big difference. When they came off, one leg as almost 100% normal and the other was much better. Be aware though, that baby skin in incredibly sensitive and you will have to be very careful of tearing the skin with either wraps or splints. She was completely confined for the first four days, and then an hour a day turnout, increasing as her legs improved. She is now 2.5 weeks old and her legs are both straight.

[Donella]

I wouldn’t panic about the feed…this was a HUGE foal with very long legs and that is likely the reason for the contraction (not nutritional issues). It won’t hurt to put her on Rejuvinaide but I would do another round of the oxytet I think?

Honestly though, don’t panic. One of mine was so bad he couldn’t get up for two weeks and he looks perfect today.

[Hiddenacresmi]

@rodawn;6366360

I would also suggest you put this filly on Rejuvenaid.

This!!:yes:

[HyperionStudLLC]

We have great success with splints. We tend to have one each year who needs them. A few weeks, for a couple hours a day.

No shame in it as long as foal has had some time outdoors to correct naturally before we make the decison. A nudge with the splints has done wonders for us.

Best of luck

[Dalemma]

My vet usually recommends stall rest with the stall stripped right down to the rubber mats and all the sawdust banked along the sides…bare mats give the foot a level hard surface to stand on which in turn allows for that fetlock to stretch down…standing on on even footing creates problems.

Dalemma

[cytherea_1]

I just had a lovely filly born this morning with contracted tendons, and my vet has already given her one shot of oxy-tet and will be coming to see her again tomorrow. He seems to think she will be ok if she responds quickly to it, but I have also inquire to the people who make Rejuvenaide about shipping to Canada. She is quite a lovely filly, so I would like to see her be on her flat feet and moving comfortably as quickly as possible. She is on her toes on the front, although her legs are mostly straight, and in the back she does fold over to end up on her fetlocks sometimes, but is managing to hold herself up for the most part. She has been up and nursing and seems to have gotten all of the colostrum she needs, so I’m hoping the prognosis is good. I don’t have anything to add to this discussion, but maybe if someone has any suggestions for me it would be peace of mind if nothing else! She is only the second foal I have ever had, so it pains me to see her having a hard time as she is. She is just a gorgeous little thing, so I’m hoping it resolves itself quickly! Thank you for listening!

[stolensilver]

Sorry to hear about your foal Cytherea. My limited experience of contracted foals is that some of them are weak (the nutritional issues that have been referred to in this thread) and given good quality milk from mum +/- rejuvenaide (it isn’t available in the UK so I haven’t seen it used) they strengthen up and straighten up in 48 hours and you’d never guess there had been a problem. I hope your filly is one of those.

Mine was born looking like a squashed 3 month old. She is enormous! She had contractions at knee and fetlock and also bowed outwards from the shoulder. I think she was so restricted for space in the uterus that she was flat packed. She’s now had two lots of Tetracycline 10 days apart. Both have led to improvement. She’s also getting specialist hoof trimming by the farrier and has just had some glue on shoes with toe extensions on them. And she gets her front legs stretched twice a day with pressure put on her knee while holding the fetlock to extend the joint as far as possible. She is so good about this as it clearly hurts her yet she’ll let you do it without anyone holding her. Bless her.

She no longer bows out from the shoulder, her feet are flat on the floor and she has a proper angle between her cannon and her fetlock. Her knees still aren’t completely straight but they are almost there. She’s on restricted turnout, initially 1 hour a day slowly increasing to 4 hours a day. However she pulled one of her shoes off just 2 days after it was put on so she’s now back on 24/7 box rest much to her poor mother’s dismay.

What I hadn’t appreciated is how painful stretching the tendons is for the foal. When she was first born she could get up and down easily but was soaked in sweat and breathing very fast after standing for just a couple of minutes. I was worried sick and thought she had a major infection or a heart defect. Turns out the sweating and panting were due to pain from her contracted tendons. Poor little filly! She’s now on daily Finadyne which seems to make her more comfortable. The sweating and panting went away after she was a couple of weeks old but the effort of keeping her bent legs straight is huge, even now, and her muscles tremble with the effort when she’s been standing for an hour or more.

The good news is that contractions that a foal is born with have a very good prognosis. Most get completely better. Try everything you can to get them straight before resorting to surgery as the outcome for cutting tendons in congenital contractions is generally poor. This is different from cutting tendons for acquired contractions, the sort that appear when the foal is 4-5 months old. Those have a poorer prognosis in general but do better if they have an operation.

Good luck!

[Elfe]

Finadyne a.k.a. Banamine (flunixin meglumine ) is hard on the stomach (ulcers), kidneys, colon. If at all possible I would switch to Equioxx or Previcox, both are Firocoxib, also a non steroidal anti inflammatory.
Toe extensions work well, wrapping even just below the knee helps relax the tendons.
Good luck !