# Foal with very upright pasterns



## mariond (1 May 2007)

My mare foaled last night and the foal is very upright on her pasterns almost to the point of her being on tip toe on her hooves. We have had foals previously which have their pastern joints very low but have improved as they strengthened up but never one upright like this. Would I be right in thinking this is what they describe as contracted tendons and will they improve as she starts to exercise more/mature. Many thanks for any help anyone can give me.


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## Salcey (1 May 2007)

Has the vet seen them?.
My filly developed upright pasterns about two weeks after birth, and ended up having to go to Cambridge  for an op on both front legs.  We tried reducing mums feed but it didn't work.
Here's what she looked like:


 16th June







  And by the 3rd of July she was like this






Thankfully the op was a great success and shes now a happy sound 3yo (excuse the mane - Long story  
	
	
		
		
	


	




     )






If you need any more info feel free to pm me.


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## Stinkbomb (1 May 2007)

Sorry to butt in but salceysaddlery what caused your fillys pasterns to grow like this? sorry if i sound dumb ( usually do! ) but have never seen this before. What op did they do to correct it? She looks fab by the way ( bar the mane!!  
	
	
		
		
	


	




 ) a wonderful improvement.


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## Tia (1 May 2007)

[ QUOTE ]
bar the mane!!  
	
	
		
		
	


	





[/ QUOTE ] 

_*splutters Pepsi over keyboard*_  Exactly what I thought too, bless her.


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## Zebedee (2 May 2007)

[ QUOTE ]
My mare foaled last night and the foal is very upright on her pasterns almost to the point of her being on tip toe on her hooves. We have had foals previously which have their pastern joints very low but have improved as they strengthened up but never one upright like this. Would I be right in thinking this is what they describe as contracted tendons and will they improve as she starts to exercise more/mature. Many thanks for any help anyone can give me. 

[/ QUOTE ]

Sounds like 'Ballerina Syndrome' (which is what the photos in the other post look like as well)  &amp; you need to get the vet &amp; an experienced remedial farrier in asap. Please don't hang around with this because you only have a window of about six weeks in which to do anything.


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## Toby_Zaphod (2 May 2007)

Contracted tendons (ballerina syndrome)  
The syndrome is seen in the straightening of the fetlock and pastern. The foal walks on its toes. The heels no longer touch the ground. (3)  
This posture generally appears so quickly that it is difficult to prevent. Within the space of several hours the pastern straightens, the hoof itself becomes vertical and the foal stands on the toe and sometimes the foal actually falls forward onto the fetlock.  
This situation requires the action of both vet and farrier very urgently. The first thing to do is to relieve the stress , the pain and to try to give the foal a more comfortable weight bearing position. To achieve this, I use heel wedges which can be fixed by using adhesive tape, or glue on small shoes onto which I screw wedges to compensate for the height of the heel. These wedges will be gradually rasped down as soon as the initial signs of relaxing of the tendons appears. In a second phase, aiming to pursue o sort of physiotherapy, I apply a small glue on shoe with a toe extension, and even with raised toe.  
The foal requires complete rest, in a stable in a very deep bed (4) of straw or shavings.  
In the most severe cases we will be obliged to apply very large support bandages in order to prevent the fetlock tipping forward and to avoid the foal having to take awkward attitudes in order to straighten himself up.  
Here again splints can be used to strengthen the bandages rigidity in order to gradually straighten the limb. This situation has to be dealt with quickly and efficiently otherwise there will be complications leading to the appearance of club feet. It is important to warn the vet as soon as the phenomenon appears, an appropriate and quick treatment with Teramicine can sometimes be enough to sort out the problem within a few days. Please note that these foals will require attentive monitoring throughout their development, they are more susceptible to relapses and even to other conformation problems.


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## lisaward (2 May 2007)

do you know what causes it,or is it just simply bad luck


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## Maesfen (2 May 2007)

They don't know for sure, it could be hereditary or from a nutritional defect, possibly if the mare has been fed either too well or not enough or even with the wrong diet.
But as said before, it is essential that you have a decent horse vet out like NOW to get it sorted.  In some cases sadly, the foal may be too bad and need to be put down so you can see how serious this is.  On the other hand, some cases come right without interference but they must be thoroughly investigated by the vet, it is not something to leave to nature, you do need veterinary advice.


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## henryhorn (2 May 2007)

This looks like tighter than normal, I'd get the vet to look, you may need a little op...


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## sallyf (2 May 2007)

Get the vet out to check if its not bad sometimes the give them a Terramycin injection that will relax them off.
Certainly a starting point anyway and if it doesnt improve them possibly a small op .


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## Salcey (2 May 2007)

As mentioned, they reckoned mums milk was too good for her. 
I believe that its caused by the bones growing quicker than the tendons, hence the contraction.
We tried everything before the op to try and reduce her growth,  grazing them in a bare paddock, feeding the mare a straw hay mixed net and removing all hard feed.  The little filly just kept on growing!  
We were told its rare for it to develop so soon after birth.
As for the mane.........................my dearest friend thought cutting was quicker than picking off bots!!!


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## Stinkbomb (2 May 2007)




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## thecantlefamily (2 May 2007)

was she overdue, my foal was on tippy toes 4 nearly a week, its fine , its just wen they have long legs and wen in the womb they r just curled up , her tendons will stretch down in a couple days u b ok,  encourage the foal to walk around,,.. goodluck


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