Conference noted::equitation

    A warmblood colt born at the neighboring farm last summer had this
    problem with his left front. There is a surgical procedure that can be
    done but his owners opted for physical theropy. He had to be walked on
    firm ground for 30 minutes 3 times a day for the first three weeks of
    life. After that regular turnout was possible plus flexing the joint
    by hand 2 times a day. He is now 8 months old and completely straight.
    It was a lot of work but worth it. The vet said that time is of the
    essince in this kind of case if let go for just 2 weeks it can be
    irreversable.Improvement was noticable after 3 days although the little
    guy would just lay down and sleep after each session he would get so
    tired.
    Sandy
    

    I do know of a foal with contracted tendons, he has to have the
    exercises done several times a day, turn out as much as possible.
    The vet also said no grain because he is big and she doesn't want
    him growing too fast and putting more stress on the tendons.  There is 
    noticable improvement in a couple of weeks and if I'm not wrong
    I believe that they can be hereditary.
    
    KJ

    While I was working on a race horse breeding farm back in
    1982, I saw a few cases like this.  All of the foals that 
    were born this way were turned out daily and after three 
    weeks or so they all ended up with striaght legs.  We did
    not do any special exercise with them.  They were turned 
    out in a large grassy field with a couple of other mare/foal
    pairs.  They would spend many hours playing and running. 
    Seems as though the playing and romping around helped this
    group.
    

I had a colt with contracted deep flexor tendons who we had to have operated
on and who was just plain growing too fast for anything that Rochester (NH)
tried to do to work. They are fairly certain that it was inherited and was not
related to diet, lack of exercise or anything like that. 

Anyway, he had to be put down at 9 months of age because of it (6 of those 9 
months which he spent with mini-stints at Rochester.) 

Good luck! I hope you're luckier than I was...

   Kathie Nickerson had a horse with contracted tendons. They had the
   horse operated on. You'll have to ask Kathie what age the horse was
   at the time. They put special shoes on the horse which had extra 
   pieces welded to the front that were about an inch long and three 
   inches wide. They had to hand walk the horse twice a day for several
   months (have to ask Kathie how many). The shoes forced the horse to
   walk the way you do when you wear swimming flippers on your feet.
   This kept the tendons stretched. I don't believe this was inherited,
   the horse simply grew too fast. (Anglo-Arab) The horse is currently
   five years old and in active dressage training. The trainer expects
   that the horse will reach at least third level and may well go on
   to fourth level. They don't plan to do any jumping with the horse.
   So it's not all bad news, but it is a lot of work.   
                                                                    
    

    
    I know several breeders who raise LOTS of foals each year who have a
    set of splints on hand for such occasions. 
    
    If the foal is born with contracted tendons, they splint the legs
    immediately.  (Of course, these folks have lots of experience with this
    and always confer with their vet.)  I don't know how long they leave
    them on.
    
    Mary Jo

    The Anglo-Arab Kiirja refers to was ours...she wasn't born with it but
    seems to grow faster than she was supposed to.  We noticed that there
    was a problem at 9 months...cut her down to nothing on feed (hay only)
    as suggested by the vet but she got progressively worse.  By the way
    she was out every day in a large pasture with others her own age and
    one thing she didn't do was stand around.
    
    She was operated on at 11 months, hand walked with her "funny shoes"
    twice a day for four months...stalled other than that and did remain
    very sane...and now as Kiirja says she is in Dressage training with
    very good expectations.
    
    The only thing that is apparent on her legs are two small bumps and
    unless you were looking you really wouldn't see them.
    
    By the way she was done at Rochester and they were very good to her.
    
    Good luck...it can be very rewarding.
    

    I had a filly 10 years ago who got wobbles and had to be put down when
    she was 2.  I consulted with equine nutrition expert who was at a
    seminar put on by EQUUS Magazine.  He seemed to think that wobbles and
    contracted tendons have a similar cause as they are both related to the
    growth plates in the bones not functioning right.  He thought that they
    were not inherited problems, but caused by the Calcium/Phosporus ratio
    in their diets not being right.  He had been doing consulting with a
    large breeding farm in Argentina that had a lot of wobbles cases.  By
    changing the Calcium/Phosporus ratio in the horses diets, he was able
    to greatly reduce the occurence of wobbles.
    
    I remember seeing an article in EQUUS a couple of years ago that said
    that there was evidence that wobbles (they did not mention contracted
    tendons) was caused by an imbalance in trace minerals.
    
    This information is just some food for thought, as no one really knows
    for sure what causes things like this.  It all starts to get too
    complicated for me, as it is too hard to control every ingredient in a
    horses diet - i.e. what is the composition of the hay and grain and
    what trace minerals might be in your water supply?  I guess I just
    think about it as I always wonder if I did something which indirectly
    caused the wobbles.
    
    Diana
    

    
    re.8
    
    In the past 24 months there have been some significant discoveries made
    with regard to 'wobbles' - and the focus has been on the spinal column
    and pressure created by vertibrate - either an extra - or just a plate
    but enough to put pressure where it renders the animal dangerous to
    itself as well as  those trying to take care of it...  The reason I
    bring this up is that there is no correlation between what is being
    fed, and the delima of 'wobbles'... in fact they have been able to
    reduce the 'wobbles' symptoms by removing the correct vertibrate!!!!
    (Neat stuff for sure - in the old days they'd just put the horse down).
    Needless to say, this is still pretty new, but worth mentioning....
    
    I'm not an expert - I do try and read as much as I can.  I've tried to
    stay in touch with the wobbles thing because for a number of years
    there was some 'theory' that Morgans were predisposed.  That theory
    has been over-ruled... but not with out whole farms giving up their
    breeding programs in the name of medicine.!  
    
    So - anyway - my point is I believe they've proven wobbles is not
    inherited, or a symptom of feed deficiencies/ratios................
    But - contracted tendons is a different story all together.
    
    
    

    There is a good article on the latest breakthrough on wobbles in the
    last Practical Horseman.  They have found that if they slow the growth
    rate with a Specific diet they can stop and completely cure wobbles if
    it is caught early enough. The bones are growing too fast for the
    surrounding parts and pinching the nerves. Definitely interesting
    reading.
    
    Sharon

    Equs also had an article on wobbles this past issue.

    I said foal in my previous note be actually this colt is a yearling.
    I've been long lining him every day and its going on 5 weeks now and
    I've seen some improvement be I wished it was more.  He is standing 
    much better but when he walks he still knuckles over but he seems to 
    be stronger.  He has been cut out of his grain, to stop the growth so
    his tendons can catch up with the bone growth.  The vet is coming out
    next week to see him again, she was out about 2 weeks ago and didn't 
    see the progress she wanted.  This visit she should see an improvement
    because I feel he's standing much better, but............she said that
    the next step would be operating.  Has anyone ever have this type of
    operation on there horses.  
    
    Thanks for the replies, there's always something to learn.
    Julie                       

    Yes we did, both front legs...mare is now doing dressage.  There seems
    to be no ill effects at all.  If you would like more detail, give me a
    call or drop me a note.
    
    Good luck...it definitely means more work on your part for the first
    six to nine months.
    

    
    The pneumatic (air) cast Dr. Peyton Jones is using on the contracted
    foal at Country Life Farm was brought about by an idea of trainer and
    breeder Eddie Gaudet.  The pneumatic cast for the foal was adapted from
    a human arm cast developed for immobilizing limbs in emergency
    situations.  Pneumatic casts have been used in equine sports injury cases. 
    The cast is inflated using an air compressor plugged into an automobile 
    cigarette lighter or electrical outlet.
    
    Dr. Jones said conventional splints used on contracted limbs
    sometimes lead to problems with the splint rubbing or striking the
    other (good) limb.  Pressure sores on the splinted limb also are
    a problem.  The pneumatic cast features a bubble on the front of the
    limb that puts pressure where it is needed to push the carpus (knee)
    into the extended position, but it is not inflexible.
    
    Splints hold a limb straight from the elbow to the ground, and also
    support the limb somewhat from the ground to the elbow, bypassing the
    joints in between and causing some joint laxity.  The pneumatic cast
    allows some weight bearing on the peri-articular (joint) structures.
    
    Dr. Jones said that the pneumatic cast is easy to adjust and does not
    injure the opposite (good) limb.  He has made some minor changes in the 
    pneumatic cast, including installing a modified zipper on the back
    (which lies flat on the back of the foal's leg), using a standard tire
    stem for air input and release, and protecting the bottom (back and
    front) of the cast with duct tape or rundown patches.  
    
    Since the pneumatic cast is plastic, Dr. Jones has found that using a
    heavy, well-padded support bandage under the cast protects the foal's
    delicate skin from being rubbed by the cast.
    
      
    The pneumatic cast is made up of two layers of plastic (an inner and
    outer layer).  The space between the two layers is filled with
    compressed air to be firm against the foal's leg.  The cast, which Dr.
    Jones has used on three other foals, is deflated and removed
    periodically (usually when the foal is in the stall at night) because
    the plastic does not allow evaporation of moisture that might collect
    in the protective bandage.
    
    In his most recent case using the pneumatic cast, Dr. Jones worked with
    a foal which had a contracted superficial tendon and was over at the
    knee, but which had a normal deep superficial flexor tendon.
    
    "The foal's leg was Z shaped," said Dr. Jones.
    
    After about four days on a regime where the cast was applied for
    four-five hours then removed for 10-12 hours, the foal showed 50
    percent improvement.  The fetlock was even dropped, proving the cast
    worked on the superficial and deep flexor tendons.
    
    The most important factor of that case was that case was that Dr. Jones 
    had not started working with the foal until it was about 31 days old.
    
    "You see a lot of natural compensation in a foal in the first week to
    10 days, but this foal's natural progress had slowed greatly.  The air
    cast improved him dramatically."
    
    The Blood Horse April 14, 1990.