Watch out for crooked-legged foals

Here come the foals. It is that time of year when we welcome the new additions to the horse world.

In Manitoba, the foaling season is coming into full swing, as most mares are bred to foal at this time of year, a little later than our southern neighbours with their milder spring weather.
With these new arrivals can come some unexpected complications, such as the development of crooked legs at birth.

When foals are developing in the womb, their limbs must adjust to the space provided and, in some cases, the space is not quite enough to accommodate those long, gangly legs.
Despite our best practices of managing foal size by breeding appropriate sized mares to stallions, sometimes it goes wrong or aberrant genetics take over. When this occurs, the fetal size becomes too large for the maternal womb and foals can develop problems with their legs, primarily.

One of the problems is the development of angular limb deformities (crooked legs). This is an issue that arises at the fetlocks or carpi/tarsi. The limbs may become bent inward (usually at the level of the fetlock) or bent outward (usually at the level of the carpus or tarsus/hock).
Crooked legged foals will have visually bent limbs, which often occurs in both limbs (front or hind).

There are several treatment options for these foals but the easiest is to stall-confine the foal with the mare for a period of three to four weeks, taking pictures along the way to evaluate the straightening of the leg(s).

Some limbs take longer to straighten but it is important to recognize some particular time frames.

If surgical straightening of the fetlock is necessary, it must occur by four to six weeks of age. Therefore, if you have a foal with an angulation at the fetlock, contact your vet as soon as you notice it, otherwise getting it straight may become out of reach.

If you see an angulation at the carpus/knee or tarsus/hock, then you have until four months to correct it surgically.

In either case, if surgical correction is needed, it is often successful if applied in time. Surgery usually involves placement of a screw or screws and wires to slow down one side of the growth plate,allow the other side to catch up, hence the leg straightens. Once the leg is straight, the screws are removed and the foal continues into life without incident.

Once the growth plates in the leg close (in fetlocks this is at around eight -o-12 weeks oldl carpus/tarsus at around six-to-seven months), we cannot correct the angulation easily.
If you have questions about a foal with a crooked leg, contact your veterinarian or an equine specialist veterinarian to discuss the condition and know the options before time runs out.

Chris Bell is an equine veterinarian and surgical specialist who operates Elders Equine Veterinary Service, with clinics in Cartier and Winnipeg. See www.eldersequineclinic.com.