Posted by Patty Stiller on July 17, 2004 at 15:10:34:
In Reply to: Re: Foal with severed Digital Extensor Tendon posted by Patty Stiller on July 17, 2004 at 15:03:31:
: : : Following a wire injury our 4 week old foal has a severed hind digital extensor tendon. He is dressed and splinted as well as the vets could to try to keep the foot in a normal position but none of them have treated this injury in other than adult horseses. I need some help in trying to keep this little hoof in extension. They now have it dressed and wrapped with a 2" piece of PVC pipe split which extends from below the hock to just below the heel bulb. Everything is well padded and changed ever other day but he is really walking on the anterior portion of his little hoof. Any suggestions/help for the vets and the farrier would be appreciated. Thanks.
: :
: : You might want to check out www.hoofbrace.com
: : Rick
: You can make nifty braces out of PVC pipe of you use a heat gun. You can cut it,then heat and bend small areas of it to make any kind of brace. Because you can flatten parts of the pipe and leave others rounded, with a little practice and creativity you cna build it to go all the way down the back of the leg, around the heel bulbs,under the whole bottom of the foot.
: Get a heat gun and some scrap pipe and practice with it. You can even bend a little 'toe clip' sort of thing if you need the foto to sit in the bottom part of the splint and not slide forward. Then you can pad the heck out the leg,and tape the brace over the pad. You could tape the foot to the brace with elasticon.
: Dalric also makes great little glue on hoof extension cuffs for foals. You glue on the basic cuff and extension, them you can add more extensions out the rear if you needed to by screwing something longer to the bottom.
: The heel extension dalric cuff along with a PVC splint might be the way to go .
: I have hint about the dalric cuff's though. Throw away the glue they come with and use Equithane Fast Set instead. And gently pre heating the liner of the cuff with a hair drier just before you stick it on the foot helps it stick really fast so the foal may not need sedation. Other than that, follow the installation insructions.
: Patty
When I was talking about the dalric hoof extension I meant get the extension out the *front*, not out the rear. You did say this was an extensor injury, not a flexor. (DUH)
Patty