Foal still down on her fetlocks, help please? Thanks!

[blazingstarranch]

Hello all, looking for some advice on our one month old sooty buckskin filly named Lacey. She was born a few weeks after her due date with very long hair and very long toes. I have filed her toes twice and did a light trim to the toes as well. She is still putting her fetlocks on the ground, with her hind feet being worse. Do you have any suggestion on what to do for her?

Thank you all!

 

[BSharpRanch]

You need to trim the entire hoof, not just the toes. Think of the ground surface of the hoof as one end of a teeter totter. The pivot (fulcrum) is the ground surface of the heel. The heel to fetlock is the other end of the teeter totter. If you just keep taking from the toe only, that moves the fulcrum farther forward. The heels need to be removed also. Do you have a farrier?

I was trying to upload a drawing to show what I ment, however LB will not allow that. The filly needs a base of support for the foot and long heels will not allow that support.

 

[Riverrose28]

I went to a friends place several years ago and she had a filly down on her back pasterns, her vet had her call in a farrier that was an orthopedic guy, he trimmed the heels down pared out the sole and put little tiny shoes on with duck tape to encourage the filly to use her whole hoof. It took several trims, but she came around. Good luck.

 

[BSharpRanch]

I finally worked around till I got the drawing to upload. It isn't great, but will give you an idea of what I mean. You can see how the long heels will allow the back of the hoof to rock backwards. When you remove the excess of heel, you move the base of support rearward which will help support the leg. The shoes are good, however in my experience a good, balanced trim every 4 weeks usually will fix it.

 

I'd also call the farrier and get her a regular trim -- taking away from the long toes and setting the heel. I think you'll see a great improvement after a trim or two -- done about 4 weeks apart. These little ones can grow their feet very quickly, and I even had one here that the farrier did about once every 3 weeks until she aged a bit and the hoof growth slowed down.

Such a pretty little one!

 

[madmax]

You can tape a thin flat piece of wood, Like a ruler, shaped to her hoof, but longer in the rear so that it extends a couple of inches at the back of her hoof and gives her a platform that elevates the fetlock. I did this for a short period for one of mine, I used hot glue to affix the 'shoe', wrapped it in vet wrap then duck tape for waterproofing. Your farrier could do this for you. It needs to be wrapped well so that it doesn't catch on anything. It needs to be removed by the second day to let air get in for a while and then rewrap , that is important.

Edited to add you need to cut a piece of the ruler off, after reading this I wanted to be clear to not use the whole thing!

 

[blazingstarranch]

Thank you all for your wonderful suggestions! We have only one farrier in our area, the last time she did our horses feet we had half of them come up lame from trimming too short, and taking LIVE sole out. She also has no experience with mini's or foals. This is why I have taken up trimming myself, and all the big horses are doing great including one mare that stifled after she trimmed and was locking up.

I will be conservative but do my absolute best to get her going well. Otherwise it's a long trip to the nearest qualified farrier.

Thank you again!!!!!!

 

[disneyhorse]

I had a filly like that which we glued wedges to, to line up angles correctly. Worked perfectly.

 

[Marty]

This happened to one of mine. Lack of minerals .

1. Be SURE the foal and mother have access to a white salt block and a trace mineral block and free choice minerals

2. Be SURE you are feeding the mother a good quality mare and foal food and the foal is getting some of it too

3. Once a week rasp vertically and sideways. Do not let anyone use nippers.

4. Let them be outside as much as you can, except of course in bad weather

The baby should pop right up in time

You should see a noticable difference in about 3 weeks or so.

 

[disneyhorse]

http://m153.photobucket.com/albumview/albums/disneyhorse/Trixiebefore2.jpg.html

http://m153.photobucket.com/albumview/albums/disneyhorse/trixieafter1.jpg.html

Ugh, I can't do pictures on my phone. If there's any way to view these, it's a before and after farrier visit. A few months of every-three-weeks trim and glue wedge and she was great. I think the filly was six months by this point and we had been working hard to rasp her to normal angles.

 

[BSharpRanch]

The before photo came up but the after said not found. Curious, did your farrier remove any heel on this foals hooves? The heels appear to be as long as the toes in the before photo.

 

[disneyhorse]

http://m153.photobucket.com/albumview/albums/disneyhorse/trixieafter1.jpg.html

 

[disneyhorse]

Okay, trying again...

Her heels were long because she was walking on them... She was a very leggy shetland filly and I figured with her refinement and being very active she would "grow out of it" but by this point I felt she was wearing her little feet faster than they could properly model them... And I wanted to make sure her legs could strengthen in a correct manner... So little wedges it was and they did wonders, quickly.

Looking back I think she was about two months old...

 

[Marty]

I can appreciate the wedges too. They add a good bump of support when done corrrectly.

 

[stormy]

If your area is low in selenium, selenium injections can help lax tendons like this...check with your vet.

 

[WeeOkie]

I don't think anyone has mentioned Vitamin A,D, E shots. This is my first action when I have one down like yours. Good luck, pretty girl!

 

[HGFarm]

What BSharp said! You MUST trim the whole foot and keep it balanced! The soft heels on the foal will roll under, causing other issues. Please get a qualified farrier to come and give her a proper trim. I think you will be surprized at what you see- and I would keep her trimmed about once a month as she is growing and developing. I am assuming she also has a big area for turn out where she can run and play and get plenty of excercise to strengthen those legs?

Please make sure the baby is getting a good healthy diet with plenty of protein that growing Minis require, and plain and mineral salt. (Mine LOVE those himalyan salt rocks and they have tons of minerals in them). Perhaps some Equine Jr. added to the baby's diet will help too.

The only foal I ever had like that (that was actually worse than yours) was from I mare I had purchased that just got a grass and grass pasture diet. The foal turned out fine, just took a while.

 

[blazingstarranch]

Mama has been on this diet since last year: A full scoop alfalfa pellets, free choice blue stem hay, Dumor mare and foal, Super 14 vitamins, free choice trace mineral and salt block, twice daily on the feed and grain with hay always available.

She gets plenty of exercise and loves to run. Her front feet have started to improve, just not her hind ones.

We DO NOT have a qualified farrier in our area. For probably a 100 miles. No joke!

If I were to do vertical rasping, do I do the entire hoof all the way around? Do I need a vet to give selenium or A, E and D injections? I've never had to do that before. Ii just want to make sure she grows up healthy and sound!

Thank you all so much!!!

 

[BSharpRanch]

Blazing Star, I sent you a private message.