Last year I had a Friesian colt who was very upright at birth. It was suggested to me by my Veternarian to give him antibiotics to relax the tendons. The Vet said it works but they do not know why. Yes, it worked great and he has down on his pasterns like he should have been. So this beautiful colt grew up to be a big 16H one year old. He was a certainly uncoordinated foal as I remember. This little guy fell all the time. I used to think it was the clay soil . He would be standing and all of the sudden have a catastrophic fall and hurt himself. He did this probably 12 times where he fell and hurt himself. Again I blamed the soil for being slippery. Recently my boyfriend was reading about and FDA warning relating to humans. Young babies and children given antibiotics can cause them to have loose ligaments and permanent ligament and tendon damage. I am now thinking that this is what caused my poor colt to have such an awful time standing up as a foal. Has anyone heard or experienced this. I think it should be a warning for all horse owners not just humans!
My vet gave Oxy- something( I can’t remember exactly) when I had a mule foal with contracted tendons( about 15 yrs ago) . Sometimes just exercise will have them normal in a few days , but my mule needed a little help. It worked like a charm.
They may use something different now but if you don’t get it corrected I can see it causing real problems.
Antibiotics are used in young animals and young infants and children all the time with no issues. I think you may have another problem that is causing coordination issues in your horse.
The condition of his hooves would be the first place I would start. If he has been consistently trimmed and left with long toes it would cause tripping / falls in a horse easy.
I work for a commercial breeding farm where we have a fair share of contracted foals. We treat with oxytet for that very often under vet guidance. We have never had any become any more uncoordinated than the average foal. I would certainly not call them the strongest of the bunch, but any that come with issues (contracted tendons, weak pasterns, over at the knees, etc) all struggle strength wise more than the more correct ones, but they even out fairly quick.
That sounds more like a neurological problem–like wobblers–than a side effect of oxytet. If he continues to have difficulties keeping upright, a neuro exam could be illuminating.
Are you’re thinking of the flouroquinolone category of antibiotics, where ligament and tendon issues aren’t relegated to babies and children?
Many, many foals a year are given tetracycline for contracted tendons early on, and grow up to be healthy sound adults.
Oxytetracycline 
@JB it’s not just the fluoroquinolones.
https://www.podiatrytoday.com/how-antibiotics-can-affect-achilles-tendinopathy-athletes
Well *%&@#. Interesting that the younger patients tended to recover better/have fewer side effects
“Typically, in younger patients, these side effects are not as severe and they also recover better.”
I’m glad I’m allergic to cipro and azithro. But damnit lots of us get doxy to ward off Lyme. Damned if you do…
