Questions and answers
Box feet in foal (Veterinary)
By Leah - 4 months ago
I have a friend who has bred a WB foal ( very good breeding lines) now around 4 months old. She is showing signs of extremely boxy feet in front, almost looks like a ballerina when walking but the heels are still touching the ground. The actual feet/ hoof comes up from the ground level to the coronary band at a vertical instead of the expected slope. From what I have read this could be "Ballerina syndrome" . The treatments seem to vary, with diet being a possible cause. What would be the best advice to pass onto the owner as she does not seem to be too concerned or in any hurry to react to this.
Box feet in foal (Veterinary)
By Paul - 2.5 months ago
Hi there
There has been a lot of talk about box feet being caused by nutrition, especially high levels of protein, but there is little scientific proof to support this. Boxy feet are either genetic (ie transferred from either sire or dam or both) or developmental. If both sides are affected, one would tend to opt for it being of genetic origin.
What is the foals conformation like? Are the legs "normal", or is he very upright in the pasterns? I realise that this might be difficult to judge, as he is probably on tip-toes, which will create an upright impression.
Boxy feet in foals need to be given attention straight away.
The first step: Your friend has to find a good farrier, one who has experience in working with foals. The heels need to be trimmed down gradually (a little bit every two-three weeks), to eventually reach a normal balanced foot. The sooner one starts with this, the better and the better your chances are to have a horse with sound feet. If she waits till the foal has grown up, it will be far more difficult to rectify this.
Secondly, the foals needs to go out on more abbrasive surfaces. Coarse sand would be great - it will help in trimming the feet, and will also apply pressure to the bottom of the feet to help open them up. Make sure the feet are healthy before putting the foal on sand, and only put the foal on sand for ten minutes in the beginning, gradually increasing to an hour or so per day.
Patience and time is what is required. However, in some of these the trimming does not have the desired affect, and sometimes it is necessary to do a small operation, whereby the vet cuts the check ligament. This will allow the tendons to move more freely and will assist in dropping the fetlock, thereby enabling the foal to put more weight on the heels. This should only be considered after a equine specialist veterinarian has examined the foal.
Regards
Paul