Box rest - how long can I put her through it? :(

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catwithclaws

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Sorry guys this might be long, just need some thoughts and advice :( Last weekend my 21 year old mare came in from the field very lame on her near hind, it was pretty swollen and she was fairly reluctant to move. Called the emergency vet who trotted her up and said she was 99% it was a tendon (likely the SDFT) but that she'd hoof test just in case. As expected, hoof testing showed nothing. Gave her a big injection of anti-inflammatory and that she'd come and see her again the next day. Having seen her the next day, vet said box rest for a week, cold hosing for 20 mins twice a day, and bandaged 24/7 on all 4 legs - with 1 danilon a day in evening feed. If it was no better in a week then we'd consider scans etc, but she wanted to see how it went first (she's not insured at her age and insurance would only have covered external injuries anyway). Vet came back Tuesday evening and there was no improvement so we're currently waiting to send her for scans, which are booked for Wednesday 18th. More danilon, more box rest, bandaging etc. Though as horse is sensible she said she could take a very gentle walk around the school whilst being mucked out, as she was deathly stiff after a week in. Now for the big problem. She is absolutely hating being on box rest. She has previously been stabled during the winter months (yard has very restricted turnout in winter) with no problems at all. She spends her days standing in the corner with her head down, and doesn't even acknowledge people at her stable door. She just seems sad and depressed. She is on a big yard so plenty busy with lots going on to keep her occupied, but she is on one of the slightly quieter rows so she can have a nap if she wants it. There are other horses around during the day to keep her company as well. She has a constant supply of hay as well. Has anyone got any ideas on how to make this bearable for her? Until the scans are done we don't know the extent of the damage, but if she's this down after only 10 days, how will she cope with an extended period of time? I really do not want to put her through more than 3 months box rest anyway, if she is field sound after 3 months she will retire to grass, but if its worse than that I guess I'll have to make a decision :( sorry I'm probably just rambling on pointlessly but if anyone else has been through similar I'd be really interested to hear your stories. Thanks for reading, and sorry for the giant paragraph, for some reason it won't let me use 'enter' to put in paragraphs :/ xx
 
I'm so sorry for your mare..... I haven't got a lot of advice but didn't want to read and run!!

My mare did almost a year of boxrest and I wouldn't wish it on anyone!! She was only 5 so it basically did her head in......

Anyway do you have a radio? Just a small one that runs off of batteries? A mirror too? I don't really like lickits etc as full of bleugh but you can hang swedes.... We used to have to drill a hole in the ones we got!!! or maybe just put the swede on the floor to keep her head down as if she were grazing.....

I also used to hand graze mine in the field so she could have some grass but I had to stop as the poor mare just wanted her freedom but if yours is behaved then this may also help.

I hope she get's to go out soon.

Good luck
 
No reason why scans cant be done at home. Id get them done on monday, so you know what you're dealing with. And then put her on small paddock rest.
 
Hi my mare jumped the fence and did her tendon . The theory was that she would be box rested to recover but after 3 days of box walking , she'd done more miles in the stable than she would out in the field ! So she went onto low level painkiller , just enough to take the edge off but not sound that way she wasnt silly when out and I went back to normal routine. Turn out as usual on a flat , un-poached field with quiet companion. Ok it took longer to recover but a happier horse. Having said that she was 30 years old when she did it so I decided to retire her .... still going strong now at 34 years old !
 
I'm with AM on this one. I have a cob that just won't do box rest - he would rather take out the door. He has in the past had to do 2 weeks box rest and I have electric fenced off a very small area in horses field. With his friends over the other side and a haynet and toys he had been an angel. Fencing obviously has to be on and I have the 4' posts but it has always worked for me. Oh and did the same when other pony fractured cannon bone. Good luck x
 
Agree, get the scans done at home. My vet has a portable machine that he puts in his van when something needs to be scanned.

As for how long you should box rest... I can only tell you what I'd do. I had an older horse until last year (18yo) who was big (17hh IDxTB) and arthritic. He detested being stabled, would tolerate it for a few days but no longer. By the time he was 18, he basically lived out, coming in only for a few hours during the day. I took the decision when he was 17 that I would remove vets fees from his insurance policy and only cover external injury. Discussed with my vet, who agreed, that in his case he was a big horse who already had a host of issues anyway, so if he became lame with soft tissue/ tendon/ ligament problems, he would be chucked out in the field for 6 months (small paddock if needed). If he was sound afterwards, great. If he could stay field sound he'd be fully retired, maybe happy hacked if he was up to it, otherwise if he didn't come sound, he would be PTS. It sounds callous but I didn't feel that horse deserved months of box rest (when I knew he disliked being stabled and it made him stiff) with an uncertain outcome. I'd have preferred to give him field rest (unless the horse can't even walk, obviously, in which case you have a slightly different decision to make) and time to come sound on his own.
 
What do you do with her? Is she ridden regularly/light hack/retired?

To be honest I don't agree with extensive periods of box rest. I would be inclined to chuck her out for 6 months to see what happens, she sounds desperately sad being kept in, and doesn't seem like it is doing you much good either.
 
Thanks everyone for your replies. Unfortunately my vet is on holiday until the week we have booked for her scan, and this vet knows my mare very well and I'd really like her to do them. But I see your point, and will see if there is someone else available.

Unfortunately small paddock turn out isn't an option where I am. Everything has to come in overnight all year round, and we haven't the grazing for individual paddocks. I know most people would say 'well move yards then' but I work at this yard in exchange for very cheap livery, and my boss does my mare whenever I can't get there. I just haven't got enough hours in the day to go off to another yard, I've got 2 jobs, a husband and a 19 month old daughter whose ezcema flares up greatly around horses :(
 
If shes that depressed I would make up two small paddocks linked and give her plenty of hay and turn out as much as possible when you can watch her so she can get some fresh air grass and socialise.I did this with 41/2 yr old recently and he didn't go ballistic once his wound had healed .We also put shetland in stable next door during day for company.
 
I too would be looking at small paddock rest now if she's that depressed after 10 days. Is there anywhere she can be penned in, even in a corral style so on hardstanding just not stuck in the stable? I'm sure if you got some electric fencing the yo would allow you to create a small pen in a field in a sheltered corner? I know you say there's not enough for individual turnout, but a 10x10m area isn't much to ask. Obviously the grass will disappear quickly if you can't move the pen, but you can supplement with hay. I kept mine like this over winter one year as he was on box rest for 6 months so he spent the day in the pen and night in the stable. He adapted well, and think it was better for him mentally than being in completely.
 
Stencilface said:
I too would be looking at small paddock rest now if she's that depressed after 10 days. Is there anywhere she can be penned in, even in a corral style so on hardstanding just not stuck in the stable? I'm sure if you got some electric fencing the yo would allow you to create a small pen in a field in a sheltered corner? I know you say there's not enough for individual turnout, but a 10x10m area isn't much to ask. Obviously the grass will disappear quickly if you can't move the pen, but you can supplement with hay. I kept mine like this over winter one year as he was on box rest for 6 months so he spent the day in the pen and night in the stable. He adapted well, and think it was better for him mentally than being in completely.
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I will ask my boss, she'll probably be fine with it since its just for a bit during the day, after all its just like being in really, its not like she'll need more hay than when shes in!
 
How is she with the other horses ? If she can be turned out with them and they are all calm then Id do that . It depends what you want to do once she's recovered . Like I said with mine I decided to retire her . Box rest def doesnt sound suitable for her. Is there someone she could go to for recuperation ? Maybe for the amount you pay in livery they would accept as payment for her livery?
 
My mare had a very nasty tendon injury whe she was heavily pregnant 4 years ago. She tore the tendon off her hock and was incredibly lame. She spent 2 weeks at the vet hospital heavily bandaged then another 2 weeks box rest at home then the vet wanted her out in a tennis court sized area be it paddock or whatever. I started off fencing off part of the school for a few hours a day then made her a tiny turnout area in her field and she was quite happy doing this. I also kept my other pony her best friend with her. She was on this for 3 months in total and luckily by time her foal arrived she was ready for normal turnout. I was lucky tho in that she was quite happy so long as she had her friend with her x
 
ive had 3 tendon injurys on the same leg (long story)
1st time we did 4 months box rest. the vet wanted 8 months but 1/2 way through my mare couldnt cope any more and we put her in a stable sized paddock and moved it around daily.
2nd time was just irritation so 2 weeks box rest....but she had been very fit and working every day to doing nothing and standing in a box....it nearly destroyed both of us.
3rd time, tare in tendon again, vet wanted 4 to 6 months rest...

at this point i said no....there is no way i can put her in a stable 24 hours a day in summer...vet isnt happy but my horse is... out for 12 hours a day in massive field and as she is out for so long every day she is very settled and quitely plodding around getting fat! tendon is more or less back to normal and i have a sane, sensible and quite horse.
if you are going to retire her i think it would be best to get her back into a 'going out' routine....the tendon doesnt need to be perfect again and the field walking will help repair the damage better than standing in a box and being stressed/unhappy!
 
The site does have a sick paddock, but oddly enough it's only for DIY liveries use - how ridiculous is that? I could ask to use it, but I don't think she'd like it as its out of sight of any other horses (the paddocks around it are DIY ones and are being rested) I did put her out in the small arena tonight (had this okay'd by the vet) and normally she's not silly at all even if she's been in, but tonight she was just crazy and I had to bring her in again before she made it worse - silly horse!
 
I too would be looking at the possibility of field rest in a smaller area if she is not coping with box rest. She will not heal and get better if she is stressed or depressed. I dont really get the whole box rest for tendons...they are a really tough material and if not used (gently) will become stiffer and worse.
I have been having physio for achillies tendonitis and gentle exercise and stretching exercises have helped its progress. If I did nothing and just rested it I would struggle to walk at all on it!
Anyway I am not a vet so will shut up now!
All I will say is that when my lad got laminitis he lasted no more than 2 weeks on box rest before he got himself so stressed that he had stopped eating, and box walked a track in his stable. I went against vet advice and made him a pen on a bald bit of field outside his stable and he got better from then on both mentally and in his lameness. Hope your horsey is better soon.
 
She may look depressed but if she has enough hay to nibble on she will survive, dont put too many human emotions on what you think she feels. At the end of the day you want her to be healthy again so if its box rest she needs then thats what it is. You are not being unkind. If she was upset she would be box walking, weaving, crib biting, kicking the walls etc.
 
putasocinit said:
She may look depressed but if she has enough hay to nibble on she will survive, dont put too many human emotions on what you think she feels. At the end of the day you want her to be healthy again so if its box rest she needs then thats what it is. You are not being unkind. If she was upset she would be box walking, weaving, crib biting, kicking the walls etc.
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Thanks for this - does make me feel better. Just trying to do my best for her :)
 
catwithclaws said:
Unfortunately small paddock turn out isn't an option where I am. Everything has to come in overnight all year round, and we haven't the grazing for individual paddocks. I know most people would say 'well move yards then' but I work at this yard in exchange for very cheap livery, and my boss does my mare whenever I can't get there.
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Could you not request an individual paddock just in this very special case? Or even ask if you could turn her out in the school (assuming you have one at the yard) overnight when no one is using it? I'm sorry but I'd really try for some sort of turnout/space and if that wasnt possible then I really would consider moving her... even to rent a small paddock for a while or something...
 
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