Whats wrong with filly's legs???

[hunnybunny]

Hi, I have looked at this site for a couple years, but have never posted anything until today. I need some advice from all you knowledgeable mini horse people, if anyone could help me out there...

My little 1 month old filly has really straight back legs- no angle to them. What causes it, and how do I correct it? Is this what you call post legged??

The mother and father doesnt have any problems with their legs, they have perfect legs....

 

[Sue_C.]

To post a picture, you need to put it on Photobucket, or the like...then link it here.

It sounds like your filly would be called post legged. I am not sure if there is anything you can do to correct it, but hopefully someone can help.

 

[Marty]

She sure is a pretty little thing. First take more pictures and how is she getting around? Any input from your vet? Someone here will probably have some good information for you.

Get a free account at www.photobucket.com and upload them.

Then click on the link that says Direct Link and copy

Come back here and do your text, then above on the tool bar select the little square that says Insert Image......2 things over to the right of the smiley face

You'll get a drop down thingy and backspace the http out of it

Then paste and do OK

 

[valshingle]

I'm afraid I don't have a clue as to what is wrong, but I suspect a congenital abnormality. I would contact a vet on Tuesday. I know that the sooner intervention is done, the better, with most leg issues.

I'm really sorry, what a shame.

 

[Carolyn R]

She sure is pretty, but if you google images of what a post legged horse looks like, at this point in time she does not match the available images.

Hopefully someone with more experience will chime in. She looks to have a joint deformity, looking at the bend in the hock, it appears to have a peculiar joint angle. (granted that she is not holding it at a strange angle in this photo to begin with .)

 

[tagalong]

You do not need Photobucket as your photos are in Picture Trail.

You just need to copy the actual URL of the photo instead of the Picture Trail page... then click on the photo icon above the text box you type in... a little box will come up that you paste the photo's URL in... the code for your photo will look like this without the spaces...

And like this when I take the spaces out...

This is not just post-legged. I agree that she needs to be seen by a vet... do her hocks bend normally when she is moving or laying down?

 

[~Amanda~]

Oh, my. That is definitely not 'right'.

I third that she needs to be seen by a vet.

 

[Sue_C.]

That is not normal at all, and yes, it does look almost like the hock would bend in the wrong direction. Do you have more pictures? Do you have a picture of her walking/trotting?

I think you definately need a vet for this, you must find out what is going on in that joint.

Let us know how it goes, please.

 

[Becky]

That is what I consider post-legged. I've seen it in miniature foals. While you should have your vet look at the filly for his/her thoughts, I have seen miniature foals outgrow this condition. Good luck with her.

 

[ohmt]

I had a filly born a few years ago that looked a lot like your girl. She was very post legged when born, while not quite as severe as your girl, she was pretty darn close. I did consult my vet and she said there was nothing we could do other than to make sure her hooves were kept trimmed and that she got plenty of exercise and a very good diet-basically treat her like all the other foals right? She outgrew it by the time she was weaned. I still have her and she has perfect angles now as a 3 yr old.

Here she is at a couple weeks:

And here at 3 months and MUCH better!:

I would still do a consult with your vet to make sure there is nothing going on with her joints, but hopefully she is like my girl and will outgrow it. I really think with my girl it was because of her crazy long legs. When she was born she was ALL legs-20" with 8" cannons and as a 3 yr. old she is 29.5" so I think her legs just got to growing way too much in the womb and her joints couldn't keep up.

 

[mizbeth]

Hi

Once your photos is loaded to a web site, you can right click on PROPERTIES and a window will open. Highlight the URL, copy and paste it then in "Image Insert" on the tag line above. That should do it.

Yes, I think your filly needs to be seen by a Vet. She does appear to have something else going on beside "post legged", it appears her leg is turning outward as well.

I did not know a horse could outgrow postlegged, I thought it was a conformation flaw.

Good luck with your filly, she sure is pretty!

 

[hunnybunny]

I am giong to have a vet look at her ASAP. I havent had a foal born here before, so I first thought it was just because she was just born and rubbery legged. But it hasnt changed much, and she is now a month old. That photo is when she was about a week old. I am going to add a couple new pics soon, as I am going to go out and take some updated ones today.

She can walk and run just fine. She can kick pretty hard too...LoL

It doesnt seem to inhibit her in any way, just looks bad. I am hoping there is some type of brace or something to put on her to correct it. Maybe there is an easy fix since she is so young.

Like I said earlier, her sire and dam didnt have this, they have great conformation, but maybe somewhere back a generation or two there was a problem...who knows.

Or maybe her legs grew faster than her joints...???

Thanks for all your responses....I REALLY appreciate your input!

 

[Bess Kelly]

Definately see a vet to xray and even ultrasound....I'm thinking there is a tendon issue which is not allowing joint to set right, or something along those lines. If that is the case, you may be able to get some meds to assist with laxing them? Sometimes things just happen, not fair, just there.

She's a cutie and I hope a vet can help her out. Time would be critical to help most likely. This is likely how the other filly improved, by tendons stretching/strengthening, etc.

Please keep us updated.

 

[MiniHGal]

She sure is cute!!

To me, from the one picture I saw, she looks like she has possibly ruptured her peroneus tertius tendon in her hind leg. Are both of them like this? It might be congenital, or possibly from a difficult birth, or getting caught in something.

The peroneous tertius runs along the front of the gaskin or tibia. It is part of the reciprocal apparatus that requires horses to bend both hock and stifle at the same time. When it is ruptured, you can flex the stifle and extend the hock--NOT normal. With your filly, the stifle is more bent than the hock, which should not normally occur. With ohmt's filly, her stifles are also not bent, along with her hocks. So her reciprocal apparatus is intact...she looks normal. With a peroneus tertius rupture, it is usually not a big deal, and with rest and restricted exercise, I think they usually heal fine.

Obviously, we are not there and we can't watch her walk, and we are not vets...so take with a grain of salt!

Good luck with her, and best wishes for a good resolution to whatever the problem is. Talk to your vet!!

 

[ohmt]

Let us know what the vet decides to do! Wishing you luck!

mizbeth-being post-legged is definitely a conformational flaw which is why I kept the filly to see how she'd mature. There are a few conformational flaws common in young horses that they may or may not outgrow. Foals/yearlings grow so much that sometimes they just need a while to let their body fill out and work out all the the 'kinks'. Many need a little help getting there which is why a vet should always be consulted, but in my filly's case she said there was little we could do besides keeping her healthy and active.

 

[hunnybunny]

A few more pics just taken....

(YAAAYYY...

I finally figured out the picture thing, thanks for helping!)

And WOW "OHMT" your filly was very similar to mine, color and all...

Well, she hasnt gotten her legs hung in anything, they were like this from day one, and she was delivered fairly easily and quickly, so surely that wasnt the cause. I do agree it is something with the tendons, and hope it can be corrected. Sometimes she can stand and her legs look normal. She is very long legged.

I was just hoping someone could give me a ray of hope that this is fixable, so maybe she will grow out of it like Ohmt's did.... But I will see what the vet says.

 

[Camille]

I may be off base here as I don't know nutritional requirements for horses like I do goats, but I do know that baby goats in selenium deficient areas will have mild to severe signs of white muscle disease which will cause posty legs or bent legs or walking down on their pasterns. Also Vitamin D can deficiency can cause problems although most animals fed good feed should not have A or D deficiencies. But you might check with your vet if you are in a selenium deficient area. Are you feed mineral salts or a mineral block the horses and do they have a grain mix with the vitamins and minerals they need?

 

[hunnybunny]

Well, my mare got a grain mix, a mineral/ salt block, and pure orchard hay daily for the last 7 months of her pregnancy, (before that I didnt own her). I am sure she was well taken care of during the first part of her pregnancy by her previous owner.

I wondered that too about a deficiency, as I also have goats and know about the selenium requirements. Not sure how that affects horses.....

 

[ClickMini]

I do hope your filly recovers to the extent possible. She is a beautiful filly in all other ways. I can see in the new photos that she is very down in her pasterns as well.

I just wanted to add that when a foal is born with this kind of issue, veterinary intervention is required ASAP. Has your vet seen the filly before? I have had every foal ever born checked within the first 24 hours to ensure that both the mare and foal are OK. That is both full-size horses and minis. I have the baby checked to see if they have received enough colostrum from the mare, that the mare has cleaned properly, and the foal is OK in all regards.

In many cases of limb deformities, the recommended course of treatment is to limit physical activity. Without conferring with a vet right away, it is hard to know whether it's best to restrict or encourage movement.

Best of luck to you with your filly.

 

[Gena]

I'm glad you have a vet coming to see her soon, from what others with experience have shared with you, it sounds like she has a good chance of being ok!

We lack selenium in our area (Northeast Wisconsin) and wanted to share with you what I had learned from our vet. The blocks with added minerals have a small amount of minerals added to them. Instead of a block we offered our horses free choice minerals with added selenium (with no salt added) and in another dish free choice salt (we had the containers on the stall walls so they wouldn't get wet) There were times newly purchased horses would eat quite a bit of the minerals with added selenium for a few days and then slow down after a few days, showing they lacked the minerals/selenium.

She is a pretty little filly, I pray your vet appt. goes well and she will be ok!