Box rest gone wrong - devastated.

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Spartu

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Hey all. I'm seeking some condolence here, as I had a rough horsie days behind me. My 9 year old dressage horse was over a half way into his longish box rest, had like 20 more days to do. I admit it, he was not a saint during it, but we were pulling through. He did kick a wall here and there during feeding time, played inside a bit, but was quite calm. And was doing great. Then series of unfortunate, horrible events happened to us, leaving me broken - literally. Firstly, colic! My biggest fear, my worst nightmare came true - a horse on /strict/ box rest colicking. How do I take him out for a walk? :/ I saw him lying down, eating his hay, and he did it 2-3 times. And within seconds, he started to throw himself around, rolling violently, sweating. I put a halter on him and tried to stop him from rolling, but I could not. He kept lying down, lowering his hind end and stuff, uncontrolable. Vet was on his way by then. And to make a terrible situation worse, he gets cast. While I try to roll him over, and speak to the vet on the phone at the same time - situation gets even worse. Yes, it is possible. He starts kicking, throwing himself around, banging and smashing his legs against the stone wall. He does free himself. But he was bleeding from the left hind. Vet arrives, gives him Novopiron I think, and he has settled down. Wound is not serious, more like a bad scratch - inside of his pastern. We did not walk a horse, as he was on strict box rest. Colic was an easy one, but him getting cast could leave bad consequences. Two days forward, new horse at the barn, near him. So he spent some good time walking around his box, in excitement. So, this is it, my story. What was the point of his box rest, when such things have happened? When he is done with box rest, vet will evaluate him, to see if there is any more damage, or if the old stuff is re-injured. In the meantime, I'm literally eating myself out every day. How could seconds crash and ruin something I took care of for such a long time? What if all the rest he did is worth nothing after those accidents? It was a bad reminder to me about how fragile horses are. So I seek your help, words to settle my mind down, condolence. At this very moment, life could not be worse. :( <3
 
Try not to think of the negatives. You have done all you can, and what has happened was beyond your control and not your fault in any way. Take each day as it comes and listen to your vet, as you have been.
 
The way I see it, horses are horses and short of putting them in a drug induced coma you cannot control their every breath and step. Mine is lame and I was trying to rest before the vet got here, then the hunt came round and I got home to find he had broken out and was flying around the field. Don't beat yourself up, if he is reinjured then you will cope. You might not like it, but you and your horse will both cope. But I do understand how you feel. If only our horses were as previous about themselves as we are about them! I hope he is okay.
 
If it makes you feel better... after 3 months box rest my horse got what we thought was colic then rushed to hospital with peritonitis
, week later comes back home and then gets re admitted with a clot in her jugular vein from the cannula which was in to treat the peritonitis !!!Hope you get thru the rest of box rest without incident - what is he on box rest for ? Mine was PSD ....but last 4 weeks her leg been the least of out worries !
 
Poor you - I totally get how upset you are about it because we've all been there for one reason or another.

"If only I hadn't jumped that hedge hunting&#8230;"
"If only I hadn't turned him out today&#8230;"
"If only I hadn't kept him in today&#8230;"

The list is endless and there are what if's in ever situation.
However what has happened to your horse is nothing to do with how you have managed his box rest or him. Its just bl**dy bad luck.
 
carolineb said:
Poor you - I totally get how upset you are about it because we've all been there for one reason or another.

"If only I hadn't jumped that hedge hunting&#8230;"
"If only I hadn't turned him out today&#8230;"
"If only I hadn't kept him in today&#8230;"

The list is endless and there are what if's in ever situation.
However what has happened to your horse is nothing to do with how you have managed his box rest or him. Its just bl**dy bad luck.
Click to expand...

This - you can't go through life thinking what if's - we all make decisions every day which potentially could end in disaster. You can only control the controllables, really feel for you, you've had a horrid time.
 
What is the injury? 40 days box rest is not that long in the scheme of things, would it be possible to increase the box rest but do some in hand walking every day instead? Just a little bit? Now that he's had colic once you need to change something in the management imho to prevent it happening again.

I did box rest with mine for 3 injuries 3 years running so I feel your pain. Most things will fix by themselves if given enough time, we just like to speed things up by box rest.
 
wench said:
Is there anyway he could be turned out in a very small paddock?
Click to expand...

Echo this. Or even could you turn him out in a tiny section of the yard if you partition it off? Or can you put a stable chain guard on his door as opposed to having him completely boxed in? It may seem wrong having him in a slightly bigger space, but often they will calm down more and move around less if they know they can move if they want to. He will probably do more damage than good if he's sent crazy in a stable.

I hope you feel better today. I completely understand how stressed and anxious you must be!
 
Crikey!! You are going through it. As others have said, with the best will in the world you cannot control everything.

In 2013 my horse was coming to the end of box rest after having his joint flushed. We were hand grazing by this point. One particular day he got away from me and did a lap round our village. I was devastated. Luckily he didn't do himself any damage.
 
Mine was on small pen turnout (because he wouldn't do box rest). I made it out of tall electric fence posts and 3 strands of tape. I moved it every day so he had fresh grass to keep him occupied. He rolled next to the fence, got caught up and I saw him galloping up the field with the tape caught around his leg. Luckily no lasting damage done. I hope yours is OK.
 
I hope he is OK. If it is any consolation or gives any hope I had a pony who had 6 months box rest for a fracture. He was so bad at being on box rest that on his first "controlled hand walking" session he had four full blown explosions in 5 minutes. I was terrified that the healing bone would shatter. Then on his first turnout session despite being drugged to the eyeballs with enough sedation to floor an elephant he went totally ballistic and didn't stop leaping round like a lunatic until he was exhausted. Despite all this the fracture remained stable.
 
'What if' - The most dangerous two words in the English language when combined!

Imagine my horror at a usually placid food obsessed mare coming out one day after colic surgery to Rear up, jump a 4ft post and rail and have a complete Hoolie around the vet's paddocks!!!
 
When the OHs old boy did three legs at once after getting loose on a ploughed field, his 'box rest' involved the dosey horse jumping out, jumping over a five bar gate, and going for another hooley. He survived and his legs healed - he made it to 25 in the end...somehow.....

You can only do what you can do.
 
I think you will be suprised and he will be more resilient than you think. My horse was on box rest with a reinjured supsensory injury but then he got splenic entrapment and I had to lunge him every hour for about six hours in a row for on the first day and four hours in a row the second day in order to try and get the spleen to reduce in size. Most horses would be given an injection to shrink the spleen but my horse had to be awkward - he suffers from 2nd degree heart block and this particular injection can bring on a fatal arythmia, so I had no choice really.

He was fine and his leg held up brlilianty. I think there's every chance your horse might be the same.
 
Hey everyone. Thank you so so so much for sharing your stories with me, kind of feels much better to know that I'm not alone in this, and that there are many other cases like mine out there, if not worse. My boy feels very good, so I doubt he is in any pain, but still. When I open his door box, he turns around and literally trots to me, so he is happy. Now to add a bit more information. He has been on strict box rest due to an non-articular bone chip. It is in front of his fetlock, and according to the vet, it might not bother him. but it could irritate him every now and then. It is his right hind leg, and he did present with some minor lameness/resistance/unwillingnes to go forward at the time. Was nerve-blocked, x-rayed, and had ultra-sound done on both hinds, only to find the fragment out there. Vet opted to not send him off for the surgery, but try non-invasive treatment first. He did two things on my boy, can't exactly name them, but first was something to do with his extensors, I think, and 2nd was to create inflammatory reaction in his leg, so the chip would tie to the bone or something, and settle down. Sorry for bad terms and lack of ability to explain. He is on 3 months long box rest, sorry if I confused you guys. Soon I'll be allowed to walk him in hand for 5 minutes a day, increasing to longer periods and two times a day, and only then he will be able to go to small turn out, and lunge soon. :/ Sounds long when you say it. He is very high tempered horse, full of life and playful, and our smallest turn out is big enough for him to damage something, so he probably stays in. :( But I always keep his box door open, and his friends near him, so he can have contact with other horses and don't get bored. Oh and, he does eat bran. :D I'm counting days until he is out. :D Thank you all again for your help and support. Means a lot, really. <333
 
Poor you,its very frustrating for this to happen.Of course horses being outdoor creatures being cooped up is not what is healthy for their system.I can only speak from experience.My horse suffered a ddflexor tendon injury and strict box rest was advised.As it was summer and the rest of the yard were out in the fields my lad was deeply unhappy and would box walk all day and stress himself out.So much for resting his leg.!Eventually I saw this was not working and sectioned off a small piece of field for him so he couldnt run around too much but most importantly had company with his fieldmates.Haynet was rigged up with supplementary feeding.The difference was instant.A calm horse that could graze and had company.The vet agreed this was probably the best thing and time would heal the leg.
Of course being summer made life easier and would have been a bit trickier in the winter.It is not easy when a horse is injured.Their basic needs of grazing and natural exercise with other companions are taken away and it is very stressful all round.I hope things improve for you.
 
You have had a nasty time, but take heart that your lad survived the colic and will live to worry you some more, my OH's TB was on box rest due to a field injury, went down with colic, got cast several times, vet gave painkillers but horses heart gave out, coliced and died inside of two hours, horrific to watch and 3 yrs later I still wonder 'what if I had done'
 
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