Every year, newborn foals are born with flexural limb deformities — their legs just don’t straighten out, so standing and nursing becomes a real struggle. For decades, the go-to fix has been oxytetracycline, an antibiotic. But here’s the thing: using a frontline antibiotic as a muscle relaxant is like using a fire extinguisher to water your plants. It gets the job done, but it comes with costs you’d rather not pay. Now, new lab research is pointing toward alternatives that could change how vets handle this condition. Why oxytetracycline became the default Oxytetracycline belongs to the tetracycline family — broad-spectrum antibiotics that have been around for a long time. Beyond…