Advice after boxrest!!

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Mbronze

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This is going to be a long one.

My mare basically tripped in soft ground and strained her check ligament. On the advice of my vet she did two weeks box rest (cold hosing 4 times a day). We then toook her back to the vets for a work up and ultrasound, the trot up showed she was as sound as a pound but the ultrasound showed there was still some cell damage around the check ligament.

So we have been on two more weeks box rest (this time using magnetic boots and Compagel). The vet then wants me to turn her out for two weeks, and then we will take her back for a re-scan (fingers crossed she will be better)

So the questions I have for anyone who has had a horse on boxrest....

She has been a saint for the past 4 weeks, but when i have walked her out for a 2 min wander she has bucked and reared out of excitment when I got her back into her stable. So I stopped walking her out as I thought she may do more damage with these excitable outbursts.
I was planning on wearing a hard hat and basically walking in the field with her and standing there for the first few days of turnout whilst she eats the grass. Do you think this is a good plan of action? I haven't really considered sedating her but the vet suggested ACP may be a good idea, has anyone used ACP and if so what effect did it have?
And can anyone tell me how their horse first reacted after box rest, forewarned is forearmed i believe :)
 
My horse has been on a period of box rest - and it simply became too stressful to walk him in hand as prescribed. I ended up putting him in our small convelesence paddock for an hour twice a day instead. The initial turnout was 'exciting' then he just got down to the business of eating.

I was always around to keep an eye on him - but he was as good as gold after his initial hurrah.

There is nothing you can do to stop them having a spin around when first turned out in my experience. And I certainly wouldn't want to be anywhere physcially near the horse on initial turnout - so no I wouldn't be walking in the field with her. I'd just be letting her get on with it.
 
Thanks Amymay, I know the outburst is inevitable, I think I'm just going to have to take a deep breath before I let her off, we are going to put her in a paddock full of grass so hopefully the greedy beast will be distracted by the green.
I was also going to reduce the paddock size so it would be hard for her to build up any speed?
It isn't a big paddock though, I was thinking of reducing it down to a 20x40 sort of size.
What size paddock did you use intially?
 
We used Sedalin - but it didn't stop the outburst, even if you overdosed her!!!

Maybe a VERY small paddock/corral - where horse can't go mental but can move around.
 
I'm relieved to hear you are no longer walking in hand as I think that is a terribly dangerous idea. Regardless of the horse I would never again even attempt it, after once doing so and being double barreled in the face... I'm mighty lucky to be alive, albeit still in pain and seeing surgeons 18 month later.

I just turned my mare out after 2 months box rest. We doped her up with sedalin for it, and then turned her out. Yes, she had a hoon about, that's pretty inevitable, but it was a small, flat paddock and we got out the way and let her get on with it. I certainly wouldn't attempt to handle/keep a hold of her once out in the paddock. Good luck!
 
Hi Puppy,

It did frighten me when she got in her stable and basically did a double barrel, if I had been a step closer I would of been in the way.
I think I'll def let her off the leadrope then as I may cause myself an accident trying to keep her calm. Sedalin seems the way to go then. Thanks.
 
I was also going to reduce the paddock size so it would be hard for her to build up any speed?
Click to expand...

I actually put mine in a bigger paddock initially - as it's not the speed that does the damage, but the leaping and 'cornering'. So the more room the better, I figured.

He then went in to the smaller paddock. And then two weeks ago back with his mates.

It's is soooooo stressful. I totally sympathise.
 
When my very excitable horse had box rest my vet said walk him out (as in out on hacks....) in hand. I snorted and she said oh is that not a good idea?

I said no, not at all, I'll end up losing him.

He was turned out in a teeny tiny corral which I made in his grassy field. I put carrots and nice treats out for him to distract from the 'outburst'. He went from that to being ridden in walk. He will ride in walk nicely, but will jog like a racehorse being lead out.

Sedalin is also good - much more effective than ACP tabs.
 
Gosh yes, I'm very stressed with it all. She isn't bothered in the slightest at the moment, but come Monday I'm sure excitment will get the better of her.

I want to wrap her up in Michelin style bubble wrap and perhaps put some steel legboots on all four legs so she will never do this again. Horses just aren't made very well really!!
 
Turn out when they're hungry so the chances are they will just graze (after a moderate hooley!) but yes v small paddock and get out of way !!
 
Whenever my horse has been on BR (which he is at the moment), I make sure he is having very little (if any) hard feed, just a handful of chaff at feedtimes, so he isn't building up too much energy. I would usually prefer to just walk out (ridden) before I turn out just so he's had something to think about first.

If I was going to turn out straight away, I wouldn't use sedative. I think it rarely stops them if they want to have a hoon about and can make them more at risk of injury, because they can't judge turns and fences etc as well as they normally can.

With my boy at the moment I'm turning him out in the morning while I muck out for an hour, then he comes back in again. I find this is the time when he is nice and quiet, all the other horses are eating and he just wants to eat the grass. I find it takes the edge off a bit for when I ride and he eventually goes back out, but it depends on the horse and how silly they would be. Good luck :)
 
My mare was on box rest for 9 months in total and was totally dangerous to lead out in hand so I rode her for 10 mins instead as she is better bahved to ride than handle from the ground.

When it came to turn out she has an electric pen in a 20 metre circle in a field with loads of grass, and as we have an orchard I put a pile of apples on the floor by the entrance of her pen so that she would hopefully just put head down at the apples. It helped a bit when she was first turned out because we did it first thing in the morning when she would be at her hungriest.

Another tip is to put the headcollar on and instead of clipping on a leadrope just thread it through so that when you get to the gate of the turnout pen you can slip the rope as you run away from the flying feet! ;) Would use ACP rather than sedalin as I find it more effective.

Good luck!!
 
I had the quietest horse in the world turn into a maniac after 4 weeks box rest. I tried for 3 weks with sedalin to work him "in a controlled manner" in the paddock or walking on the road but he was a danger to me, himself and anyone else. After three weeks of rearing, bucking, leaping around, galloping in circles I gave up where and sent him to a livery yard with a horse walker and large menage where he carried on his stupid behaviour unless sedated. They changed the sedation to bromide after consulting the vet (and me!) and gradually got him back into sensible work and while under some sedation and after work they gradually started to turn him out in a small paddock. Of course he was delighted to be eating grass again and grazed quietly and this time was gradually increased. They did a really great job.
By the time he came back home he could be turned out again and was back in his old routine and he has been fine behaviour wise, back to the horse I had before. At first I only turned him out in a smallish area so he couldn't get up too much speed.
 
Thanks for the tip about the headcollar tinkerbell, that will save messing around whilst she is on her toes. I do expect her to turn herself inside out for a moment but I am going to do it for an hour each morning so she is hungry and then we will gradually get her going out for 2 hrs etc.
If she can't obviously cope with this then I think we will have to get some ACP in.
 
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