Exercise after box rest

spacie1977

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My boy had an accident Tuesday night; something spooked all the horses in the paddocks next to the road so a couple of the ponies jumped the fence. Mine also attempted to jump his gate to escape from whatever frightened them all but failed miserably. It looks like he caught his back legs on the gate, completely wiped out the metal gate in the process, and hit the deck quite hard on the other side. He was found in the morning by one of the stable girls, looking very sorry for himself. The result is a very scuffed and stiff equine. The yard owner was concerned he cracked his pelvis because he didn't want to move his back legs whilst walking. He had an injection and was stabled overnight. I gently walked him around the yard for a few minutes yesterday morning and he seems to be moving about ok now so hopefully it's just a bit of bruising and swelling. He's been put on bute for a few days and box rest for a week. I'm gutted; we had a jumping lesson Tuesday and although he's only jumped a few times before and he's not particularly fit he did really well. But I guess we wont be jumping again for a while now :-(
Still haven't figured out what scared them all during the night but it must've been quite frightening considering the fence is 4 foot high and the smaller ponies made sure they got over it. He is still a baby about jumping anything over 2 foot, and the odd occasion he's spooked he'd only shoot off a couple metres. So again, it must've been proper scary for him to want to chuck himself over a gate of that height. It's so frustrating not knowing what it was.
So now he's on box rest for a week, and I've never had a horse on box rest before I'm wondering what kind of time frame I'm going to be looking at before I can ride him again, and how do I get back into work. Is it going to be a case of walking him in hand or on lunge for a few minutes for the first couple days, then a bit of trotting next couple days? Or should I just leave him turned out for a couple weeks then do a bit of riding in walk for a week?
He's due to move to a new livery yard on 1st July and he'll be sharing a field with other geldings. Should I be thinking about delaying it so he's been turned out by himself for a week or two first? I'm a bit worried he might do himself another injury if he's playing with other horses and not yet 100%
 
A week of box rest is not going to have any effect on his fitness or what he can do when he can start again, the limiting factor in this case is how much damage he has done to his muscles, assuming there is no underlying damage that shows up. I would walk him out as much as you can to help reduce stiffness, get him turned out as soon as possible for the same reason, once he is allowed.

I would also get a physio booked to give him a check, ask your vet if that is ok, they often fail to think outside the veterinary treatment available and forget how good physio can be in enabling the horse to improve after incidents such as this.

Moving yard should be fine once he is ok to go out assuming they do a proper introduction period so he will not just be chucked out with a new group on the first day.
 
Absolutely get a physio out (with vet's permission) when he is sound again and appears to be OK. Sometimes they will have a fall like this and appear to be OK, but weeks later you realise that something is not quite right, or they start misbehaving because they are compensating for something that you can't see. It will be well worth the money to have him checked over.

Take it easy with getting him back to work, it sounds like quite a nasty incident. When you move yards make sure he is introduced gradually and gently to the new horses, ask what their policy is with new animals, find out first!
 
Thanks Be Postive and Orangehorse. I hadn't considered physio but will look into it. He's not been X-rayed but walked around the yard yesterday showing no signs of discomfort. Although he was being moody I'm putting that down to being kept in alone whilst all the other horses are turned out. The way he was kicking his stable door there's certainly nothing wrong with his front legs! He wasn't vet insured. I thought I'd put money aside each month instead of giving it to an insurance company and hope I never have to dig into the fund. Stupidly though, I've not yet put anything away since buying him in October (yes I know! Stupid lady!) so glad he's not needed extensive tests and surgery. I'm so lucky he's a big ID; looking at the state of the metal gate I imagine a horses legs of less bone couldn't take the same impact.
I'll give it a couple more days of box rest then start putting him on the horse walker a bit. How should a horse be gently introduced to a small group of geldings? Would you suggest he's kept in overnight at first and just turned out a few hours during the day with the others? Unfortunately there aren't enough paddocks where he's going to put him out in his own space next to the others whilst they're getting used to eachother
 
I wouldn't put him on a horse walker if you have any doubt if he is in pain at all. If you walk in hand he can adjust his pace as needed and you can see if he hurts the more walking he does. If on a walker he will have to walk at a set pace and being on a circle could exacerbate any hidden muscle problems he may have. Build him up walking in hand until he is ok to be ridden in walk starting with straight lines and adding in large circles and keeping an eye out for any problems that may only show up as he starts to work.
 
Tes thinking about it, even if the walker is set to very slow you're probably right LynH. I'll wait until he's off the bute first before doing anything anyway because that could be covering up signs of pain and lameness. I've got magnetic boots I bought when his legs filled after being stables for the first time for years. I didn't use them because by the time they turned up in the post his legs had sorted themselves out. I'm wondering whether they'd be worth popping on now, and giving him a snack ball to keep him moving a little bit in the stable
 
The only thing that concerns me about getting physio is whether the therapist advises lots of treatment that isn't necessary. My lad did already feel a bit stiff on his left side so could maybe do with physio anyway even if this fall hasn't caused any long term damage. But I'm not experienced with this sort of thing to know if someone is ripping me off
 
Ask around and get a physio who is known and recommended. I've never felt my physio has ripped me off with visits that are not needed she is so busy i struggle to get her out to see my horse.
 
A week is nothing, it won't affect his fitness, try having a horse that has been on box rest for 5 months and now currently on another 5 months :p I agree with the above, get a physio to check and if everything's okay just turn out for a few days before riding to get rid of some energy :)
 
10 months! OMG! What's wrong with your horse? I'd be bawling my eyes out. Not just because I'd be feeling sorry for him but I'd also be so gutted having to pay for full livery but not being able to ride him all that time.
So what should questions should I ask and what qualifications should they have when I look for a physiotherapist? Are any chiropractors also physiotherapists do you know?
 
The best person to recommend a physio is your vet, most will know who is good and local to you, most are very busy so you may have to wait a week or two, they must be ACPAT registered, you can go on the website to find who is near you.
Another person to ask would be your instructor or YO, most will know of someone that is good but they will need to have your vets permission to treat and they should check the history of the injuries when they do this, if the horse does not respond to treatment, usually two visits are enough, then they should refer back to the vet not keep coming out to do more treatments.
 
Great! Thanks be positive. I've checked out the website and it turns out there is a physiotherapist listed as working for the same equine vet practice I'm registered with. They're a big practice that look after a lot of the newmarket racehorses so hopefully they know their stuff! The only slight complication is it was the YO vet who saw him on Wednesday as she was due to visit that day anyway. She's due back this week for the checkup so do I need to let my own vet know what's happened to ask permission or can she give it despite not being his regular vet? I doubt the YO could recommend anyone. She owns a riding school and I get the impression with riding schools money isn't spent on things like physiotherapy. It's more a case of if there's something not quite right with a pony, just stick them in a field for a couple months on bute until they look like they can work again.
 
The vet that has treated, or advised you in this case is the one who should give the ok to the physio, it is partly just to cover the physio and you in case there is a further issue so usually just a formality. The physio that works from the vets should be the ideal person as they will have immediate access to the history and permission should be simply done.
It would be a good idea if the physio could send a copy of the notes to your regular vet so if there are any issues in the future and someone else comes out they will be able to see previous treatment etc.
 
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