Has the vet evaluated for Wobblers/birth injury/neuro?
In all honesty, I don’t think most people would let it go this long before hauling into a hospital or getting another opinion at the farm. A day or two? Maybe. Two weeks is an awfully long time.
I hope you’re able to get some knowledgeable eyes on her soon and this all works out okay. Foals sure are resilient!
Thinking maybe it’s a tendon thing or maybe neurological?
Why wait?
Call them and ask.
If you can get video of the foal attempting to rise the Vet hospitals may be able to view those and advise best course of action.
agreed.
jesus. whoever owns this foal is seriously jeopardizing the foal’s future- that front leg needs to be corrected STAT, and if left uncorrected, will impact the horse’s future soundness. leaving a crooked leg like that means the foal will grow into a useless horse; a horse that can’t be ridden or have a job is not a horse that has a guaranteed, happy future.
and whatever is going on related to not being able to get up… it’s a foal… if it can’t get up on its’ own that is a serious problem - it’ll be even harder the bigger it gets and unless fixed ASAP this very well might not be a very long-lived foal…
Left front. Doubt bad camera angle can do that and front legs need to be secure for back legs to lift body. Is the pair at a boarding stable here? When was the picture taken, newborn? Would help to see another taken in the last few days.
Sorry but a foal that cannot stand by itself even to nurse at 2 weeks has a really big problem. Malnourishment is a huge concern,how many people are with her overnite and do they do live watch or check every two hours.
Have you been there to watch and listen to the vets? What blood tests have they run? Have they x rayed? Do youboard at this barn? Seem to be privy to every detail.
Davis is a bit of a drive from Temecula IIRC for a sick foal, like 6-8 hours? Or are you sending the x rays and blood test results up for a consultation then working through local vet clinics? Also, who is we? Thought this belonged to a friend.
Take good photos from every side with the foal standing as square as you can muster, and video of walk, trot, and an attempt to get up alone. Send it over to the your closest referral hospital today and see if they want the foal brought in ASAP.
Joiedevie99 your comment has been the most useful! And yes that is our plan
@lovemylife92@gmail.com Keep us posted when you find out what the problem is. We can all learn from weird horse problems – it seems like there’s always something new.
Good luck with your friend’s foal.
Assuming the front leg is not as wonky as it appears in that one photo, is her pelvis ok? I wonder if she was injured during birth? We have a horse at my barn with a broken pelvis right now. No idea how it happened, maybe fell in turnout? Anyway, she’s healing, is able to get up and down, but to get up, she’s got to stay on her knees/front end awkwardly and rise hind end first because she can’t push up in the normal way. Only thing that came to mind with the description “can’t get hind legs under herself”.
I’ll caveat this with the comment that I realize this isn’t the OP’s foal, so there’s only so much she can do, only hopefully influence.
2 weeks is WAY too long to now have been consulting with a good hospital. Way too long.
How is this filly injuring herself? Scrapes? Major cuts?
Shavings on mats can be very slippery, even for a couple weeks until they really get the hang of leg position and balance and the right sort of momentum. But it’s concerning that she still cannot get herself up even on solid ground.
I second the question of whether there was too much human help in the beginning and now she expects someone to help her. Learned helplessness is a terrible thing to teach, inadvertently or not.
As for the deviation in her legs - at 2 weeks that doesn’t trouble me too much. Legs can be all sorts of wonky for weeks and even 2-3 months before it’s deemed something needs some assistance. But again, a good hospitable with experience with very young foals is a better place for this one to be with than, apparently, the owner’s vet.
I’m really very curious to see a video of her struggling and failing (or giving up) and to know more about the “injuries” she sustains.
No advice to offer (other than time to call the specialist, which has already been said), just want to offer some Jingles!
The owner was out of the country when she was born, just got back so now she is looking for a good equine facility to take her to. The foal doesn’ seem to be injured since she runs around and bucks and plays once she’ up. Get smalls scrapes and cuts when trying to get up. A specialist will be contacted very soon, takes time to find the right/best one. Hoping this isn’ something super serious but I’ll keep posting with any news.
And they had no idea the mare was pregnant when they left such that they left her at a place that apparently isn’t ‘a good equine facility’?
I can’t imagine how long it would take to find the right/best equine practitioner for foal lameness… like 30 minutes if you add in the phone call to make an appt.? Any given state only has about 2 or 3 options after all.
It doesn’t take that long to find and secure a consult in an emergency type situation.
I hope that foal has been seen by a COMPETENT EQUINE SPECIALIST by now. The Vet who ‘has no idea, has never seen this’ obviously is not adequate for the situation.
Exactly!
But, the humans have to have a CLUE that they have been waiting too long, and that their local Vet is incompetent!
Ok, I actually came out of lurking mode to log in just for this post.
The owner or her veterinarian can contact San Luis Rey Equine Hospital in Bonsall, SoCal Equine Hospital’s new facility in Norco or Chino Valley Equine Hospital in Chino Hills and any one of them should be able to get her in right away. They are all within a short trailer ride from you.
I’m quite surprised the treating veterinarian has not already either consulted with them or suggested one of these options, if he’s stumped. One of my horses is down in Temecula and the local vets that I have used have been quite good. There are many to choose from. Good luck. I hope you are able to get her evaluated soon.