TB foal lying in of the knee

[John Condron]

Hi All,

Does anyone have any advise or experience on techniques to help a foal with knees that lie in slightly. Said foal also is also turning in on the near fore. Currently he’s 6 weeks old and on restricted turnout. Thanks

 

[Ownedby4horses]

I think its going to be hard for anyone to give exact advice on this on a forum, i would say your first call should be to the vets, as they can assess the foal and will know what is and what isnt possible. It doesnt sound like something someone should have a go at tackling on advice from a forum.

Good luck. ?

 

[John Condron]

I think its going to be hard for anyone to give exact advice on this on a forum, i would say your first call should be to the vets, as they can assess the foal and will know what is and what isnt possible. It doesnt sound like something someone should have a go at tackling on advice from a forum.

Good luck. ?

Thanks for the reply. Agreed its difficult to give advice over a forum as ever case is individual. I would be interested to hear from others as to their experiences with similar.

 

[Trouper]

Please don't rush to do anything to such a baby. It takes them quite a while to "unfold" from being inside Mum and you need to let him develop. If you have a very good farrier I might ask their opinion but I think the most important thing is to get him out of "restricted" turnout. Do you mean his time out is restricted or the area he has to frolic about in is restricted.?

 

[ycbm]

I think you need to get a vet and a farrier experienced with young stock involved very quickly, you have a very limited time to adjust the pressure on the growth plates before it's too late to do anything about it.

It may be nothing needs doing, but you need expert advice.

.

 

[Goldenstar]

You need a vet with experience in this area to see the foal immediately .

 

[paddi22]

get decent farrier and have them chat to a vet about it. I had a foal two years ago whose legs literally came out pointing four different directions. vet and farrier had a chat and decided on a course of remedial work, farrier used to have to come every four weeks to do his hooves. it worked and horse is (hopefully!) fine now, but will never be a show horse!

 

[ihatework]

You need to work with the vet and a very good farrier, to get the corrective trimming and, if needed, little glued on correction moulds

 

[John Condron]

He’s i

Please don't rush to do anything to such a baby. It takes them quite a while to "unfold" from being inside Mum and you need to let him develop. If you have a very good farrier I might ask their opinion but I think the most important thing is to get him out of "restricted" turnout. Do you mean his time out is restricted or the area he has to frolic about in is restricted.?

He’s in a grass paddock for a hot

Get a vet and a farrier experienced with young stock involved very quickly, you have a very limited time to adjust the pressure on the growth plates before it's too late to do anything about it.

It may be nothing needs doing, but you need expert advice.

.

yes the fetlock growth plates close before the Knee growth plates so its a case timing

 

[John Condron]

get decent farrier and have them chat to a vet about it. I had a foal two years ago whose legs literally came out pointing four different directions. vet and farrier had a chat and decided on a course of remedial work, farrier used to have to come every four weeks to do his hooves. it worked and horse is (hopefully!) fine now, but will never be a show horse!

Agreed a good farrier is very important. We have found that a foal turning in/ out is easier to correct than something with a knee.

 

[Errin Paddywack]

I knew someone who had unexpected twin foals. Both foals were getting more and more knock kneed. Something to do with bones or it might have been tendons growing at different speeds. They had to go to horsehospital to have staples fitted to the outside of their legs to allow the inside to catch up. Probably not a very correct explanation but it was a long time ago and I wasn't directly involved. One came right the other, smaller one didn't and was eventually put down but not till 2 or 3.
So well worth consulting a vet because as YCBM says the window of opportunity for getting this sorted is very short.

 

[AmyMay]

What has your vet advised up until this point?

 

[AdorableAlice]

John Chilman is a renowned remedial farrier for foals. He is Worcestershire based and does a lot of the big bloodstock studs work.

It might worth asking your vet if they could speak to him. My foal was sorted by Mr. Chilman, 9 years ago but I was fortunate as my own farrier had trained with him and Mr. Chilman agreed to look at a ordinary rather than an elite horse.

 

[TheMule]

Please don't rush to do anything to such a baby. It takes them quite a while to "unfold" from being inside Mum and you need to let him develop. If you have a very good farrier I might ask their opinion but I think the most important thing is to get him out of "restricted" turnout. Do you mean his time out is restricted or the area he has to frolic about in is restricted.?

I'm sorry, but that is really bad advice in this situation. You have a very short window within which to correct limb deformities and restricting them a bit is standard practice during corrections.
You need an excellent farrier, most come right.

 

[Orangehorse]

Definitely a vet who is used to working with young foals. Ditto with the farrier, I think this is rather specialist work. Sooner rather than later.

 

[Elf On A Shelf]

If you ever want the foal to have half a hope of racing you need a vet and farrier there to work out how best to sort feet/splint legs if necessary to straighten them up.

If they haven't naturally straightened by the end of their first week alive then you really need to get the pros in to intervene.

 

[doodle]

Surely you need a vet and a farrier rather than people on a forum? Yo bred a foal who was slightly off. The vet and farrier worked together when she was very young and she had special glue put on her feet to make little shoes. This was repeated maybe 3 times and she is a perfect 3 yo now.

 

[ycbm]

If you ever want the foal to have half a hope of racing you need a vet and farrier there to work out how best to sort feet/splint legs if necessary to straighten them up.

If they haven't naturally straightened by the end of their first week alive then you really need to get the pros in to intervene.

Do you know something we don't Elf? Race?

.

 

[doodle]

Probably because foal is a tb so a presumption

 

[ycbm]

Probably because foal is a tb so a presumption

(Edited) Ah, I see, in the title.

 

[Elf On A Shelf]

(Edited) Ah, I see, in the title.

There is also a new owner to racing and breeding by the OP's name.

 

[John Condron]

What has your vet advised up until this point?

Limited turnout at the moment a

Surely you need a vet and a farrier rather than people on a forum? Yo bred a foal who was slightly off. The vet and farrier worked together when she was very young and she had special glue put on her feet to make little shoes. This was repeated maybe 3 times and she is a perfect 3 yo now.

Yes extensions work very well and we have successfully used these before on other foals. In this instance the foal is toeing in along with lying in on off knee. While adding an extension to the improve toeing in could make the knee worse. The fact there are two things going on with the leg vs one adds to the challenge!

 

[John Condron]

John Chilman is a renowned remedial farrier for foals. He is Worcestershire based and does a lot of the big bloodstock studs work.

It might worth asking your vet if they could speak to him. My foal was sorted by Mr. Chilman, 9 years ago but I was fortunate as my own farrier had trained with him and Mr. Chilman agreed to look at a ordinary rather than an elite horse.

Worth a call - thanks