lax tendon for vet

Well that was not my regular Vet. My Vet closes half day on Wednesday and this was the "referral" Vet. Tomorrow I'll contact my Vet and see what he says then.

David I want to say it seems a little better today, but I'm praying real hard it does correct on it's own.

So David & Brian, it seems this treatment is something that's still in common practice. I saw a lot of it in QH and western stock horse types years ago, but not at all with the racing (harness and TB runners) on the breeding farms I've been working. Is this more common in certain breeds? I always suspected it was prevalent in faster growing breeds - QH types, but haven't run across it enough to have an opinion.

I don't know yet. Cross that bridge when I get there.

Thinking a SFT contraction is a bit different then just a DFT contraction. Especially since they can work against each other. So I'm thinking this is more than just a simple toe extension deal, but I could be over thinking this.

Well what I was thinking is that the SFT is stressed when the heels are elevated, and the DFT is the opposite. However, given this could have a bit of both going on, I was thinking a bit of toe extension with elevating the heels.

how old is it now ,36 hours ?

Yeah something like that.

yeah I'm not intervening til after the weekend. I watched it trot and lope a couple of strides today. Hoping it'll work it'self out yet.

That makes me feel so much better. Mainly because I am trying to think things through, rather than just do. My gut was telling me that there was more to this than a toe extension.

tetracycline is given because it allows for muscle and tendon relaxation by rapidly binding calcium

but there's a limited window of opportunity so speed of administration is essential where it's indicated

I remember now what else this Vet said about why he was against it. He said it can cause Colitis and made the remark that I'd not want a foal with diarrhea especially in this heat. Still gonna check with my Regular Vet tomorrow, but would that be a concern?

I haven't seen that side effect yet. You have to consider that, unless you treat those legs asap you won't have anything but a pasture decoration. Was this a surprise pregnacy? Also, I don't think this little one could be 2 mo prem; there would be no lung function that early. Maybe 3-4 weeks early at most.

possible touch of diarrhoea or permanently twisted legs?

seems like a no brainer to me

If the diarrhea is a concern and if it starts my guess is you can treat that with more ease than the messed up legs...unless its a money issue..then sale the horses.. is what I would do..

I've not seen one that was left to grow up like that. What happens to them, Thomas?