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  Discussion on 2yo Over at the Knee
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Posted on Thursday, Mar 7, 2002 - 7:53 pm:

I have a 2yo that is appearing over at the knee. When either leg is not weight bearing, it appears buckled and quivers.

He is turned out about 20 hours a day on fairly good pasture, gets timothy hay when he is stalled.

he gets 1lb of Buckeye Gro N Win per day (a pelleted vitamin/ mineral supplement-ration balancer) and 4oz flax per day (he was having itchy skin trouble).

He receives no other grain.

My understanding is that his bones have grown to fast for his tendons and that it should rememdy when he gets through his growth spurt.

Should I add MORE vitamins and minerals or should I reduce them. He is on the recommended dose for his age and weight.

Is there anything else I can do?

Of course, a reference to one of your fancy articles is always appreciated!!

Thanks

Posted on Friday, Mar 8, 2002 - 6:46 am:

Hello Leah,
The article, Tendon Laxity and Contracture, associated with this forum addresses all these issues and appears you are not following any of the recommendations so there is plenty to address. Just click on the title above then click on the Articles title.
DrO

Posted on Friday, Mar 8, 2002 - 8:58 am:

I read your article and thank you for the direction. Could you please be more specific in what I am not doing? I have read the article and provided a walk through of my reasoning.

I weight taped him, although inaccurate it is the best I have. He tapes at 1174 lbs.

I calculated his protein level at 11-12% (11.74 would be the recommendation from the article).

If you consider grass and hay, assuming he grazes most time while out he is also within the hay/grass recommendations. 1174 lbs x .025=29.35. He eats about 27-30 lbs of grass or hay

Nutritionally he gets about 22-24 lbs of fescue (assuming grazes 2% of body weight), 5lbs of timothy hay and 1lb Gro N Win

22 fescue x .5%=.11
5 timothy x .35%=.0175
1 GNW x 3% =.03

TOTAL =.1575 total Calcium

Recommendation is 31lbs food x (.3 to .35%) which is .093 to .108. This leaves an excess between .0495 and .0645.

That is my question-is too much Ca, if in balance with Ph, causing his troubles? From your article it appears most horses suffer from too little Calcium.

I did read that foals should be stabled, however I did not consider this would apply to him since he is already 2yo, has been out his whole life, has no trouble getting around, does not have unusual wear on his heels or toes and is certainly not in any pain.

I also did not consider splinting would be effective at his age...and as mentioned he has no irregular foot growth, therefore trimming is being properly handled.

Could you please be more specific? Thanks

Posted on Saturday, Mar 9, 2002 - 8:03 am:

Hello Leah,
The lack of changes in the foot suggest it is probably not the result of digital flexor "tightness" but carpal flexor "tightness".

The calculations are nice Leah but your whole post continues to miss the critical point of the article: Horses being treated for flexor contracture should be fed 70% of their calculated caloric needs. At this rate he should be growing thin. The idea is to stunt the skeletal growth slightly so that the soft tissues can "catch up". Maybe I have not made this clear enough in the article. But the diet you are feeding plus time on the fairly good pasture means he is easily consuming 100%, or more, of his caloric needs. It is one reason for putting them up: to get them off pasture.

While stabling is especially necessary for those who have gotten sore feet it is not the main reason. The hope is to get the flexors to relax a bit and maybe reset the "tension setting" mechanism in the musculoskeletal unit.

Concerning your calcium levels, they are fine, see Care for Horses: Nutrition: Calcium, Phosphorus in the Diet for more on this. The cause of flexor contracture is probably multifactorial but genetics and overnutrition probably play large roles.

The fact that we are already 2 years old probably means it is too late for much help from either of these treatments, caloric restriction and stall rest. But I would try it before considering surgery.
DrO

Posted on Saturday, Mar 9, 2002 - 8:37 am:

Thank you-I somehow missed the TOTAL caloric reduction. I suppose I assumed because he is on virtually no grain, all should be ok.

I have pulled him off pasture at night whcih will reduce 14 hours of grass time-adding a flake or two for night(to replace a bit of grass) should about cut intake to your recommended 70%. We will continue this until he passes "rib check" and keep our fingers crossed.

Thanks again for clarifying things. You faithful blonde board member.

Posted on Friday, May 17, 2002 - 10:18 pm:

I also have a stud colt that was a year old in March. When I bought him he was over at the knee enough for me to see but not bad. We knew they were feeding him tons of grain trying to bulk him up so we cut back the grain to a half a scoop of grain twice a day. He lost weight but did see some improvement as it seemed his legs didn't quiver as much. The vet said to go ahead and give him a full scoop twice a day and he also gets 4 flakes of alfalfa hay a day. He is stalled most of the time but does get turn out time and I work him in the round pen and ground drive him just flat straight walking around the pen. He appears to be tight also in the front legs when walking but not at the trot or lope. Should I cut back more on the grain but not hay? Any shoeing corrections? He is already a huge colt very wide at the chest and stands about 14.1 already. This is a very nice colt and do not want to do anything to hurt him.

Thanks Tam

Posted on Thursday, May 23, 2002 - 9:46 pm:

Honestly, I'd get rid of nearly all the grain and nearly all the alfalfa and replace it with as much grass hay as he wants to eat. That would be ideal, but you may not have any control over the hay.

Posted on Friday, May 24, 2002 - 8:00 am:

I would absolutely get rid of the grain and trade the alfalfa hay for grass hay. As I have learned you MUST cut the calories.

Also I might suggest stopping the roundpen and driving until he straightens up-the stress is too much while he is tight through his tendons.

It will help! Mine has cleared up almost completely.
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