# How long does it take for foals legs to straighten?



## not_with_it (23 April 2010)

Dixie is 5 days old today and is still standing back on her heals. Her front feet are fine its just her back feet.

How long does it usually take for them to straighten? Her legs are fine, everything is in the right place and it doesnt stop her from hooning around in the field. I keep looking at pictures of other foals and they seem fine, paranoia is setting in.


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## competitiondiva (23 April 2010)

First off I am no expert.......!!

From the pics it looks like your foal is placing its weight properly through the foot when moving but stands back on the heel when stood????  My foal last year did this for the first few days, I too was worried, but the more exercise he got the more strength he gained through his legs, and was soon up on them properly.  Am sure lots of people on here will be able to advise you fully, but if worried speak to your vet.


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## Simsar (23 April 2010)

This foal shouldn't be hooning.  Restrict the turn out and box rest.  Probably 4/6 weeks.


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## not_with_it (23 April 2010)

She's fine when she's on the move and it does look to be getting better the stronger she gets. The vet never mentioned it when she was checked over but I think I will give them a ring in the morning.


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## dingle12 (23 April 2010)

I would get phil to have a look at her dont know if Lee could help. Im not up to speed with foals but i would of thought alot of strain would be on her back legs  keep me up to date please xxx she is looking alot stronger and gin looks well


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## tikino (23 April 2010)

my foal was very much like this last year and she was on box rest except out for a walk in the yard was not allowed in the field as could cause permenant damage acoarding to orthopedic specialist.


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## trumdella (23 April 2010)

Hi..

What a gorgeous foal!

If it was mine I WOULD be restricting its turnout! She needs to strengthen so she needs some exercise but not too much hooning around!!

if you had a small yard that would be ideal or stable her and then turn her out for a few hrs a day and increase it as she strengthens!! Just from your photos.. Maybe put a small and light wrap on her hind feet to stop her getting bruised heels!! Just a tiny bit of softban with some elastoplast over the top to keep it in place when she's out and about!

From your 2nd photo posted she is back at the knee!! You definately don't want her running about too much until she strengthens as she could potentially rupture tendons / ligaments through her knee!

I would be getting your vet to come back and have a look and your farrier too around a week old!... keep taking photos so you can see improvement/ or lack of.. so you have a comparison! take them from side, from front and back. then you will know whether to increase your turnout or not!

Best thing is to air on the side of caution! Its all about balance! If she was mine I would be stabling her and letting her out prob to start for half hr twice a day and then increase it.. people are very varied on this though!! where i work she would be confined to a small yard 24/7 so she could exercise but not do too much!! and she would be having the farrier to her at about 5 days old! 

Hope all goes well.. best thing to do is get an experienced vet out to see her! there's only so much you can tell from photos!

I would be more concerned with the front legs though!!! the hinds need to strengthen... its the fronts that cause me concern.. she looks offset through her knees with some rotation there - not that you can really do anything to help that..  with fairly long slack pasterns! I think its a question of time and strength but again.. get all the experts you can to help you have a correct as a you can foal!!!  And do it soon.. you have up until around 6 weeks of ages to work with fetlocks and about 3 months for knees!

Good luck and keep us posted


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## BallyshanHorses (24 April 2010)

If it was my foal I would also restrict it.It is amazing how much it should improve in the next week or so.The farrier may want to square off the toes as they look quite long but I wouldn't let them do anything else for a few weeks.


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## not_with_it (24 April 2010)

trumdella said:



			Hi..

From your 2nd photo posted she is back at the knee!! You definately don't want her running about too much until she strengthens as she could potentially rupture tendons / ligaments through her knee!

I would be getting your vet to come back and have a look and your farrier too around a week old!... keep taking photos so you can see improvement/ or lack of.. so you have a comparison! take them from side, from front and back. then you will know whether to increase your turnout or not!


I would be more concerned with the front legs though!!! the hinds need to strengthen... its the fronts that cause me concern.. she looks offset through her knees with some rotation there - not that you can really do anything to help that..  with fairly long slack pasterns! I think its a question of time and strength but again.. get all the experts you can to help you have a correct as a you can foal!!!  And do it soon.. you have up until around 6 weeks of ages to work with fetlocks and about 3 months for knees!

Good luck and keep us posted
		
Click to expand...

Im assuming this wasnt about my foal. The 2nd picture of her she is laying down under mums legs.

Vet has been out this morning and isn't overly concerned. She is moving properly, its just when she is stood. He has advised to carry on as normal and keep an eye on them. If they havent strengthened by wednesday then I will speak to him again and discuss bandaging but we dont really want to go down this route. 

Thanks for the advice.


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## jaypeebee (24 April 2010)

I think Trumdella is talking about the other poster who put photos up of her foal which has worse legs than your foal nat1003.  I agree with the other posters that I would keep your foal in a small enclosed area and wouldnt have it running around at the moment.  Is your vet a breeding specialist?  Or just a regular vet?


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## henryhorn (24 April 2010)

It's astonishing how much difference a week or two makes. 
The best thing however is to restrict the dam's intake to just old hay and not let her do the foal too well.
I know this goes against everything you have been taught but we had to do this on vet's advice and it worked. 
Keep mare and foal inside a reasonable sized box for preferably at least two weeks (we did a month) and ask your vet to show you how to do the strtching exercises needed to correct the problem.
My farrier ok'd our foal and didn't trim him, and now two years later he has normal legs.
If you don't want to start bandaging etc keep them inside and restrict foal's movement.
Don't worry, the majority of foal's straighten up with little intervention, but having seen your pic I would do the above, and not risk the problem not resolving itself.


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## racingdemon (25 April 2010)

definitly restrict turnout, and i agree with Henryhorn, don't let your mare do your foal too well to start with, also, not totally relevant to your foal, but we have our farrier look at our foals at about 10days old, as he can plan any trimming he needs to do to help crooked legs, this years foal is crooked, but she's on restricted turnout and the farrier is seeing her this week (she's a week old) they do straighten up well, but i'd be very wary of her galloping about too much, and you need to keep a really close eye on them, as they can very quickly go the other way & you are left with a foal that either needs surgery or has weak, crooked legs for the rest of their life


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## Holly831 (26 April 2010)

Hi,

Just had my farrier here and asked re your foal as I am really interested to see what needs to be done/how successful it will be etc.

He said he would fit Cordial Supports - glued to the feet and then walk out to exercise and within a few weeks foal should be correct.

Made sense when he described what they were/how they worked etc.

PM me if you would like his name etc or to speak to him - we too are based in Yorkshire.


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## not_with_it (26 April 2010)

Thanks for the replies. 

She is straight through all her joints, its only when you get to the fetlocks on the back feet. Its as though she is being lazy and rocking back as most of the time she is stood upright. She doesnt always stand like this. When she moves she is moving properly and the feet are landing how they should be. 

Im keeping a very close eye on her and will be speaking to the vet on wednesday, although she does appear to be getting stronger.


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## CBFan (26 April 2010)

definately restrict turnout to half an hour a day and increase gradually as she gets stronger...


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## Rollin (26 April 2010)

Simsar said:



			This foal shouldn't be hooning.  Restrict the turn out and box rest.  Probably 4/6 weeks.
		
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That is what I thought.  I was worried about one of my foals.  I pm'd a friend who told me that (Rossendales?) in Newmarket don't recommend 'box-rest' foals benefit from turnout.  She did say that it is important that foals get plenty of sleep.  She suggested a morning and afternoon turnout of  2-3 hours each.

My filly is looking great at 5 weeks.


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