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Caring for Foals Hooves
Caring for Foal Hooves
With foal season upon us I have been asked to write this blog about a farrier’s perspective of foal hoof care including making the right selection on foal shoes.
From my point of view the early growth of foals (paediatric period) to when they are yearlings is without question the most important time in a horse’s life. The reason I say this is that it is the only time as farriers and veterinarians that we have a window to influence the horse’s conformation.
When you consider this, spending time and money caring for your foal in the early development stage of its life is the best investment you could ever make.
Correction of angular and flexural deformities in the development period will undoubtedly increase the productivity and longevity of your horse.
Early Development of Foal’s Hooves
Horses are amazing animals. As creatures of flight the foal can stand up and walk in a very short space of time thus allowing the foal in nature to follow the herd. What is remarkable is that the foal goes from not bearing any weight on its deciduous foot, that is soft and covered with eponychium (soft capsule of skin enveloping the hoof) so as not to injure the mare’s uterus, to weight bearing and walking within hours.
Within the first nine months of a foal’s development in its mother's uterus, the shape and angle of a foal’s hoof capsule will change three times before assuming the shape we recognise as a mature horse’s foot. The hoof will also form a pigment as it grows down, thus the foetal hoof becomes the foal hoof.
As the foal hoof rapidly grows, their long bones continue to develop in a process known as endochondral ossification (replacing cartilage with bone). This will see the epiphyseal growth plates close, at various intervals. Many things can influence the closure time of the growth plates such as environment, diet, injury, pressure heredity, surgery etc. A broad approximation of growth plate closure times appears below.
- Proximal Middle Phalanx (short Pastern) 3 to 6 months
- Proximal Phalanx (long pastern) 4 to 6 months
- Distal 3rd Metacarpal/ Metatarsal (cannon bone) 6 to 9 months
- Distal Tibia 18 to 24 months
- Distal Radius 24 to 30 months
The significance of this is that once set, the conformation of the horse cannot be altered! Hence, I reiterate the importance of being proactive in this early development period.
Before these growth plates close, we as farriers, working with veterinarians, have a window of opportunity to influence the growth. Today, there are several products available to the farrier, such as Rose Foal Shoes and acrylic glues such as Comfort Mix Super Bond etc., to enable us to treat angular and flexural deformities quickly and easily in foal hooves. However, there is still a great deal of training, experience and knowledge of anatomy required to manipulate a positive outcome.
Hence, I always encourage working with a veterinarian when undertaking foal correction procedures. Not only will the vet be on hand to sedate the foal, working together in a team will inevitably produce the best possible outcome, for both horse and client.
That said, not all conformational faults can be influenced. Offset knees and rotational deformities cannot be helped.
Some deformities however respond well to intervention. These include foals that are:
- Fetlock or carpal Varis: angular deformity (bowed out at the fetlock or knee)
- Fetlock or carpal Valgus: angular deformity (in at the fetlock or knock kneed)
- Flaccid tendons (flexural deformity)
- Wind swept: angular deformity (crooked in the hind legs)
- Ballerina syndrome (flexural deformity)
It’s a Team Effort on Foal Hooves!
The way in which a farrier and veterinarian team will work together to influence the correction of any foals hooves that require help is by working closely together to monitor the early rapid growth period of the foal. Many foals with angular limb deformities will rapidly correct themselves without human intervention. However, some may require intervention in the form of an extension.
By constantly monitoring the foal closely we can quickly see improvement or deterioration. If the correction is not having the desired effect, the vet may recommend the foal go for surgery to correct the fault, however the vet may still request farrier intervention in the form of extensions to assist the surgery.
One reason we see such rapid improvement or deterioration in foals is due to the rapid rate of growth, not only of bone but also hoof.
It’s interesting to note that not only does a foal’s hoof grow faster at 12 to 15 mm per month, than that of a mature horses 6mm to 8mm per month, a foal also has a faster heart rate at about 60 to 80 beats per minute at a couple of weeks of age, as opposed to a mature horse heart rate of around 32 to 40 beats per minute.
Flaccid Tendons (Flexural Deformity) in Foals
One procedure that responds well to farrier intervention is the treatment of flaccid (hyper extended) tendons. In these cases, we observe the foal’s fetlocks descending to the ground. This usually results in the foal’s toes lifting upwards and the foal walking on its bulbs, thus resulting in abrasions. In these cases, the application of a heel extension is a simple solution, both protecting the foal from further injury and enabling it to strengthen up. Improvement can be seen in a very short period of time and, in my experience, usually has a very positive outcome.
Ballerina syndrome (Flexural deformity) in Foals
Opposite to Flaccid tendons, ballerina syndrome is a condition that is known as an acquired flexural deformity. This deformity affects the distal inter phalangeal joint. Resulting in the foal standing on its toe with the heels off the ground due to relative shortening of the flexor tendons and their connecting muscles.
Treatment of these cases falls mainly in the realm of the veterinarian. They may review the foals' exercise and nutritional intake, they may administer an injection of Oxytetracycline, or in extreme cases check ligament surgery (Inferior check ligament desmotomy). However, the farrier may be asked by the treating veterinarian to apply protection to the toe area to prevent excessive wear. In some cases, toe extensions may be required. Research conducted on thoroughbred foals by Dr Simon Curtis FWCF has found that this condition occurs during the paediatric phase between one - four and a half months of age. It would be logical to assume that other breeds would be similar, however I am not aware of any other research being conducted on other breeds.
Thus, failure to address and treat this condition will inevitably result in the horse developing a club foot. It is unlikely that a horse will acquire a club foot outside of this time frame. Therefore, it is crucial that if this condition is identified action be taken immediately to rectify.
Angular Limb Deformities in Foals
Angular limb deformities are an area where farriers are commonly involved in treating. Usually, a veterinarian will ask a farrier to influence the medial lateral balance of the foal’s hoof or apply extensions, be it medial or lateral, to manipulate correct alignment before looking at surgery.
In many cases the foal responds well, and surgery is avoided, however vets usually ask for extensions to be applied as well, to assist in correction when surgery is performed, usually resulting in a positive outcome.
Conclusion on Caring for Foal Hooves
Unfortunately, not everything has a solution. There are some deformities in foals that cannot be assisted by farrier or veterinary intervention, for example rotational deformities and off set knees etc.
However, by increasing your knowledge of anatomy, learning the skills required to perform the tasks and knowing what to look for, as well as enlisting the help of a veterinarian, together an effective Farrier - Vet team can achieve a great deal.
At the end of the day investing the time, effort, and money in the early development of a foal will make everything easier down the track. Servicing horses with good conformation is a far easier task than servicing those with poor conformation.
I would like a dollar every time throughout my career as a farrier, when a client has asked if I can fix this or that on a mature horse. Or said that the horse never used to have a club foot, the other farrier made it that way.
The facts are that the early development stage of a foal’s life are the times when these conditions can in many cases be rectified, thus preventing many problems from even occurring. Making not only your job easier in the future but most of all, resulting in a longer, happier, and more productive career for the horse.
Should you wish to know more about foals and their early development, two great books to read are “Farriery Foal To Race Horse” and “The Hoof of The Horse”, by Dr Simon Curtis FWCF.
Once again, I hope you have enjoyed this blog and found it useful.
All the best Dean Lewis AWCF