Page 165 - February 2021

stimulates growth of these areas. As a result, a foal with minor angular limb deviations will actually correct itself. The growth plates are stimulated to grow more on the more loaded side. This tends to straighten the leg because the loaded side is growing faster. Mother Na- ture fixes most minor limb deviation problems.
This works very well, to a point. There’s always a point at which the pressure is too much (the leg too crooked), which will crush the growth plates, inhibiting growth. It’s often best to give a young horse the benefit of the doubt and try to manage this type of limb deviation less invasively at first - unless he has a severe de- formity that needs immediate attention. We can often just watch the foal and see if the problem resolves on its own, or whether we need to do a little corrective trimming as the foal grows.
It is important to assess the entire leg, however, and not just whether the foal toes in or out. If a foal toes in or out because of bone rotation at the fetlock joint or the entire leg,
it can’t be corrected with foot trimming. You must look at the whole leg to determine what should be done with a crooked foot. Knowing what types of deviations can be helped by trim- ming and which cannot is important because corrections may sometimes ultimately hinder or injure the horse.
Many small problems, however, can be cor- rected or kept from becoming larger problems
just with regular, careful trimming as a foal. Often, corrective trimming is simply a matter of balancing the foot. Most corrections are just a response to uneven footwear, seeking to keep the foot level and balanced.
And if you start handling the feet regularly, the foal will be well mannered by the time
he needs his first trim. The first trim might
be needed at a few weeks to a few months of age, depending on his conformation and the amount of wear on the feet.
Tia Nelson, a veterinarian/farrier in Helena, Montana, says it’s wise to have a farrier look
at the foal at 1 or 2 weeks of age if you are concerned about crooked legs that might need some corrective trimming to straighten them. “The earlier the better, for some corrections to be effective,” she says.
Steve Norman, a farrier in Kentucky who shoes a lot of racehorses, explains that you walk a fine line in correcting a foal, since too much correction can be detrimental. Even if the limb needs support, added support can be in the way. Some foals have feet that deviate outward so much that they crush the inside heels at a very young age. “Your first thought might be to put on a medial extension for sup- port. Then you end up bandaging the other leg because the extension hits it. You may have to do something else to correct the deviation or cover up and protect the other leg (otherwise
the inside sesamoid would be hit too hard and swell) and hope you don’t have to do it very long. You don’t want to create more pain. There is a happy medium that you try to find,” says Norman. It takes time and experience.
Regarding conformation, you need to figure out which part of the foot is getting the most stress and pressure, and deal with it accord- ingly. “If there is a conformational defect and you can’t address it fairly early in the young horse to actually correct it, then you’ll have to deal with it on a monthly basis, with each trim- ming/shoeing, for the rest of that horse’s career. Many problems can be remedied to a certain extent, but it’s just tougher when the horse is older. You always need to support the weak side,” he says.
HANDLING THE FEET
Nelson says one thing she used to do when she was shoeing fulltime, before she became
a veterinarian, was work on foals’ feet at no charge, if it was a foal who belonged to people she’d been shoeing for regularly. “Until it was six months old, I did not charge for any hoof care that I provided for that foal,” she says.
“I did that for several reasons. I liked to look at those foals when they were three to four weeks old, or even earlier if the owner was concerned about a foot/leg problem that might need correction. If there is any confor-
EQUINE HEALTH
In a young animal that is still growing, you can make minor corrections that will straighten a leg, but if you overdo it, you can adversely affect the joints on up the leg.
Weight-bearing and compression stimulates growth. Mother nature fixes most minor limb deviation problems.
“You have to treat them like your own kids. You want them to love you, but you also want them to respect you.
There has to be some firmness along with kindness...”
Many small problems can be corrected or kept from becoming larger problems with regular, careful trimming as a foal.
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