whats the general consensus on crooked foals?

[jellac]

Physitis is the most common problem I've seen over the past 10 years. Breeders and owners have really got to lay off fattening the babies up. We often forget that animals can adjust and can overcome limitations if we let them show us where their limitations are.

I've always suspected that it is the overwhelming nutritional load some of these foals have from in utero to Yearling Sale that does them in. In the wild/natural horse populations you do not often see "fat" horses, but rather those on the 'lean' side, with ribs evident though not pronounced except in drought or other stressed conditions.

This rush to surgery to correct every foal born with some, in many cases rather slight, deviation in their underpinnings does make me wonder something......IF we see limb deviations/allignment issues on a regular basis despite every attention to a mare and stallion's conformation and the pregnant mare's care and nutrition - doesn't this also occur in the wild horse populations? If so I wonder if there hasn't been a study (or several?) that follow these naturally born "crooked" foals to see: whether or not they either a) self correct with exercise and further development or b) are the ones susceptable to predation because of their 'inherent weakness'????

If the former is the case then it would seem to me that the "get them outdoors running and running" with adequate, not excessive nutrition is the way to go. Simultaneously we need to educate buyers that a less than perfect foal may likely mature into a picture perfect horse by 2/3YO and that 'conformation' has little to do with performance, but rather it is how a horse uses itsself that is important. That is why inspecting a horse at the walk, trot and even running freely is important to know how that horse may actually hold up to racing physically....still has very little to do with the 'class' or 'heart' they bring to the track.

IF the latter then I would ask the next question, which is: then do we see a far less percentage of foals born crooked or with ALD in the wild populations as a result of the genetic propensity being removed before those individuals can reach breeding age?

Does anyone know if a true study like this has been done? I'm not just looking for annecdotal observations here but actual counts and tracking studies over time of several generations or at least one lifetime cycle.

[Shammy Davis]

I'm sure there are studies that have been done. I'm just not familiar with them. I know that the Marion DuPont Center in VA has focused on lameness in previous years. Most of my information comes from my years of experience as a farrier working with various professionals. My experience tells me that juveniles who suffer from physitis from the beginning and throughout their yearling growth period will continue to suffer with its results throughout life. Resolution is not a high probability with this diagnosis if left unchecked. That means constant almost monthly hoof correction for some of the servere cases for the remainder of their lives. In less severe cases, the prognoisis is a little better, but not much. A word to the wise: Try to estimate both juvenile and adult size and proportions for a new born foal an feed and exercise accordingly. You will be glad you did. Especially, if you are breeding to sell or race.

[Spain]

I was in a breeding class at OSU this past spring and we had around a dozen foals born. Some of them were really crooked, but as the months went on they corrected themselves nicely. My prof even said that when they were foals he'd like to see them toe out, because as their chest muscles increased they would become straight.

Does anyone know what Real Quiet's foals look like? Is he throwing really crooked foals? And when you buy a yearling at a sale, you aren't told if they have had corrective surgery, so theoretically you can buy the best looking filly and breed her to a well conformed stud, and still get a crooked foal. Seems like they should warn the potential buyer just what was done.

[smilton]

The orphan foal I just finished weaning looked like a spider at 6 weeks of age. Her leg went in every direction and at very odd angles. She had difficulty keeping up. We had started looking for homes for her with friends as a companion. She is now 6 months old and as correct as can be and an absolute terror.

[mightyhijames]

most of what i'm reading here has to do with foals and weanlings. it's sounding like however strait they're going to be naturally will probably be evident by time they're a yearling, correct? so don't look for a lot a change after 12 months? 18 months? as i posted previously, we have a may 2004 yearling that toes out on the left hind. i'm just wondering what, if any, improvement we might expect.

[Spain]

most of what i'm reading here has to do with foals and weanlings. it's sounding like however strait they're going to be naturally will probably be evident by time they're a yearling, correct? so don't look for a lot a change after 12 months? 18 months? as i posted previously, we have a may 2004 yearling that toes out on the left hind. i'm just wondering what, if any, improvement we might expect.

I'm not an expert at all, but I would think if its in the hind leg you aren't going to get some if any improvement. Depending on how badly he toes out it might not be that bad. I remember reading an article that said that most of the better race horses did toe out behind to some degree.

[BenB]

My former race filly, was toeiing out a little bit at her right back, she never got in any troubles with that, racing on firm, small tracks with very tight benches. She got only trimmend, and plated every month.
Don,t change what mother nature has designed, because the way of gooiing through the paces has made up since a foal. Changing it by operation, harms only joints, muscles, at the back.
It also shortened the race career.
Looks like this, steering a car to the left
while the chassis is gooiing straight ahead, that doesn,t make any sense.
If mother nature can,t handle the crooked born foals in time they will be straight , operations won,t help neither.

[sarahcook]

Leave them like nature intended. When they are young and you see problems that can be fixed with a limited bit of corrective trimming is one thing, but no other hardware, please, in the legs.
If the legs are correct, then other parts of their anatomy have formed to substitute for their shortcomings, and in surgery you are 'screwing' with alot more then just a crooked leg.
Watch them walk, some might not be correct but walk through it, the ones that don't are the ones you steer away from. I don't care to gallop a horse that goes like a helicopter, thus helicopter horse should find a another career before going to the track and NOT used to make ANY sort of offspring. Its up to the breeders to be responsible with the offspring, and don't produce with something that wasn't a product to begin with in the first place.
We don't like to find out while the horse is in training that they have had surgery to correct something like crooked legs. Its not fair to the horse either, because down the line the horse will be pushed beyond their limit and probably will suffer a serious injury. If a horse has conformation problems and you know of it beforehand, the trainer knows what he/she is dealing with and can go from there.
Remember the horse has a long life after the sale.