check ligament surgery

[vjcounsel]

I have an 8 month old KWPN-TB cross colt. At 3 months we weaned him because he showed signs of epiphysitis (sp?) and was very lame. He also developed a abscess in his right front hoof that may be as a result of his uprightness. Since then if he is let out in pasture thus exercising, he gets lame in right front foot and if he is confined to stall or small paddock (less activity) the lameness disappears. He goes through growth spurts resulting in very upright/club foot (vet's term). The vet is now talking about check ligament surgery. Also, the x-rays show a small bone fragment/proliferation and wear at the bottom of coffin bone. We have been trimming his feet every four weeks according to vet instructions. Feed has been cut back to minimum (grass hay, Triad mineral supplements). This is my first foal. I am a novice at this. Any feedback out there on this subject? I am not sure what to do. Surgery seems so radical. Thanks for any help.

[Fharoah]

Ouch!

Well if he has been lame for along time and your vet thinks check ligament surgery may help it may be worth a more dramatic aproach. Have they tried injecting his coffin joint with steroid HA or IRAP?

Good Luck!

[Biloxi]

checkligament surgery can be common on babies. Most seem to heal fine that I know of. Used to have a gelding many years ago that had it as a foal - he had a great set of matched front feet with no hint of clubbiness - so it must have worked!

[vjcounsel]

Thanks for your input. Vet seems to think the surgery is not necessary. Colt does not seem to be clubfooted at this time, just very upright with rapid growth. He also has a fracture of wing bone of coffin bone. Seems a common occurence. Anyway, vet thinks he will do well with just some restriction of exercise and close watch on feed. I am thankful.

[Tom Bloomer]

You may want to investigate copper supplementation:

http://www.vitaflex.com/res_hocarea.php