Advice please - boxy foot

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hi everyone, thought i might take advantage of the weath of knowlege you all have on here! Our farrier came to trim Nico's feet, he was very concerned about his offside fore as it is more upright and boxy than the nearside, we were aware this was a slight problem and had the vet to look at him 2 months ago for this reason. The vet said not to feed him and it should right itself. We havent fed him or the mare since.

The farrier said the foal is "too well" still and so is the mare dispite a diet of only grass (he said she must have very good milk). We were planning to wean this weekend anyway which we will definatly do now. The mare and foal have been very sucessfully introduced in with the other two horses and Nico and my 9yr old frankie are now happily playing together so i am hoping this will help reduce the stress when we take mum away.

We have been advised not to feed the foal all winter and only give him hay and grass no Hayledge (which is what all the others have). We have a vet coming out again on friday for their opinion, whats yours?
 
I'm not actually sure what exactly you are asking here, so if I go off on a completely different tangent from what you are trying to find out, I apologise.
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I just wanted to say, a nicely bred livery horse arrived at my yard almost 2 years ago. She had A-symmetric front feet and one was positively boxy. She was fed on good hay and the same hard feed as everyone else. Farrier tried to gradually re-shape her feet during his every 5 week visits. This has been going on for 2 years and I would say that about 1 year ago you could look at this mares feet and never think there was anything amiss. Now, 2 years on there is absolutely no way anyone would ever believe that she had been born with a boxy foot. Her feet look almost symmetric now, or at least as symmectric as any other horse in the world LOL!!

I'm not sure whether the feeding has a whole lot to do with it - to be honest I don't know a whole lot about boxy feet, but I would definitely say that good regular farrier work can do a world of good.
 
i agree with Tia. i've seen a yearling with a totally upright front hoof down the front, which came right 100% with good farriery. i think i might possibly want a second vet's opinion, in your place, or maybe some remedial farriery work with a plastic shoe to support the foot where it should be, if that makes sense.
 
I agree with both of you, BUT increased protein levels can cause/aggrivate ballerina syndrome (which is what I think the OP is on about).
 
Hi Tia, that was what I was after, he wasnt born with a boxy foot but the first vet and farrier said it has been made more upright and boxy by his growing too fast for his tendons and ligaments. hence the no feed policy.

Tia and kerilli - When the farrier looked at him he didnt know what to do, he took a bit off his heel but then said to get advice from the vet, surely the vets go to the farriers in cases like this? Do you think a farrier more cappable of remedial work may be the answer? as you have said this worked so well for the youngsters you have seen?

Was mainly interested on what to do about the boxy/upright foot but alos interested on opinions on not feeding the foal all winter sorry if i confused you all!
 
Would depend to a certain extent whether the leg was in perfect proportion and alignment and it was just the foot that is wonky or whether the leg is also out of balance and the foal is going over on the toes. If the leg is perfect but not the foot, then a very good farrier should be able to help although it will take some time, it can't be put right at once. If it is overbalancing and going on tiptoes, then I think your vet is probably right even though it will go against the grain not to feed the foal other than hay, through the winter!

Sorry, just read your reply to Tia which answers my query - my typing's too slow!
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His pasterns are slightly upright which the vet thinks will right itself when his growig slows down, the rest of his leg is fine, i will see what the vets thinks on friday when they come and then post pictures of his leg(s) and feet so you can get a better idea of what i mean. I am not adverse to not feeding him if thats what is required ive just not ever heard of it before so was a bit surprised. Thanks
 
Some schools of thought recommend confining them too, esp. when the ground is hard, so they can't hoon around. If this is recommended, then it would be an idea to use rubber matting only (maybe a sprinkle of shavings for splash back) as otherwise, with a thick bed, this can ecourage the toe to dig in, raising the heel and poss. compounding the issue......
 
thank you thats a great tip, the stable he will be in already has rubber matting with goo drainage, so we use straw and wash out the floar and leave the bed up during the day. will just use a small amount of bedding, thanks
 
Can I ask if he grazes with one leg stretched backwards on a regular basis ? farriers and othopeadic reasearch have noted Long legged / short necked foals will often so this overly so and the outcome is that one hoof will develop differently from the other, often larger and more upright. It is recomended that these foals have their hooves trimmed and montitored on a weekly basis. You can ask your farrier to show you how to trim so that you can do it yourself, as you are only removing a very small amount of corn, mms literally and have him follow up once every three to four weeks.
 
AimeeC............my recommendation would be to have a good farrier and walk your foal out on a road or concrete to encourage the heel to come down and foot to balance. If your foal is upright in the pasterns then you need to make sure that the alignment of the hoof is at the same angle.

With foals you have plenty of opportunity of putting many things right with the correct formulation. I have seen a lot of foals with certain problems come right with time and correct management.

I would not recommend stopping your foals food because if you do this then when it comes to next years grass it may take a huge growth spurt and be in the same position again. You are wanting to encourage balanced growing.

We have had foals that go slightly upright and what we have done is increase them walking on concrete, cut down the mares feed (especially if they are milky mares) and have a good farrier.

If you are weaning the foal then I would be recommending Baileys Stud Balancer (ex Grow & Win), this gives growing youngstock the right balance of nutrition so that they dont have spurts of growth which can cause problems in feet or limbs.

Also look at the following: Weaning Foals

What you are looking for is your foal and youngster to grow in a balanced way. You can also use the Baileys Growth Monitoring Chart if you wish - Growth Monitor Chart

Good luck and keep us posted.
 
Very interesting Opie, and makes sense.

Aimee; the horse here had no distortion of her leg, it was purely her one foot that was boxy.
 
I would totally echo Anastasia and feed a balancer, like Baileys or D&H Suregrow etc. It is so important a growing foal has the correct nutrients. Yes you dont want him to be getting too much startch or protein but he needs all the essential minerlas etc etc in the balancer.
Plus a good farrier who can trim often and like Opie says show you how to keep on top of it yourself.
 
Thats great thank you for all of that, he is well handled and has already been out ont he road in hand so we will continue to do this more frequently.

I will contact the farrier in our area who is well known for his remedial work.

The mare does seem to produce good milk, the vet comented on how well they were both doing, the mare is a good doer generally.

We have found a yard to move the mare to and she will be going on Saturday, at present Nico is out with my Eventer frankie and his mum, him and frankie do seem to play alot they are forever nipping eachother and rearing up, will this hinder him or not?

Thank you
 
I had this last year, but with a good farrier (as no feed was being given to either mare or colt) it has righted itself. I was warned in Sept by a judge to keep an eye on it. As I say he seems to be fine now & has been since beginning of the year.
 
Thanks thats good to hear.

We had the Vet come today, she wasnt too worried, she advised to wean asap, which we are already doing tomorrow. She has advised to reduce his turnout, so we will make his field smaller with electric tape and from tomorrow night when the girls have gone him and Frankie will come in at night. The vet said he will be ok to have Hayledge at night and a very small feed once a day. She is coming back in two weeks to see if there is any improvement. So fingers crossed
 
I asked my farrier for you about boxy feet and foals. And he said that it was unlikley to be diet related as only one foot is affected, diet should affect both feet equally.

What Opie suggested tends to happen in blood type horses who have longer legs than necks and to help with that you want to feed him out of a haynet/rack so that he doesn't have to stretch down.

He thinks it is more likely that he has knocked or bruised his foot and there probably is an underlying problem, but you can sort it out with trimming or maybe even some shoes.

Hope that helps.
 
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