Help!! Horse isn't coping...

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0310Star

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Some advice needed....
Horse has been recently diagnosed with ringbone, side bones and DJD. Vet's verdict... Light hacking only, max 3 hours per week for rest of life.
3 months in and horse is NOT coping! She is galloping around the field, a nightmare to handle, not malicious just has far too much energy!!
She is a big strong horse, 16.3hh tb mare, 14yo. I am 5ft2 and 9 stone so quite a handful.
I have owned this horse for 2 years and love her dearly but neither of us are happy right now.
I am going to be discussing with the vet tomorrow about the possibility of buting daily and bringing back to proper work (nothing hard, 20 mins schooling a week, hacking, few charity rides throughout the year etc) as I have come to the conclusion that as she is so unhappy I would rather her have a slightly shorter but happy life, than a long one being miserable as a field ornament.
I cannot see my horse coping with this full term, she is going to end up hurting herself or someone else!

Surely someone else out there must have had a horse that hasn't coped with semi retirement, no matter the reason as to why???

Please any advice would be much appreciated!!
 
I'm sure you've thought of this but have you reduce her feed with the break? It sounds stupid but I've seen people turn their horses away with enough calories in their belly for medium work and funnily enough they've been nuts!

Also you could maybe try zerobute as an alternative. Never used it myself but a friend has - it isn't as good as bute but it helps without the internal damage!
 
My brothers horse has suspected ringbone, also has 13 degree pedal bon rotation from bad lami last yr, we gave him time off as was lame on circle and short on trot up. A month in and.he was charging around like a lunatic on the feild and just being horrible so i said to vet that i am bringing him back into work, just hacking but schooling hacking as he cant handle school "schooling" if you get what i mean. Two months.on and he has been fine with no bute. So go for it, she will tell you when she needs a break.

Xxx
 
Feed cannot be reduced more than it has been, I am struggling with her weight (very good doer) so she is on a handful of Hifi good doer (no sugar, molasses etc) twice daily for supplements to go in and 12 hour soaked hay double bagged and 11 hour turnout only! We are moving to a smaller yard in 2 weeks with better hacking and to help with her weight, hoping as its quiet and more open it may help!

I am lost with what to do :(
 
Slightlyconfused.... That is a ray of hope!! This afternoon I hacked her for 20 mine (only walk as at current yard we have roads only and she isn't aloud to trot on Tarmac) and then took her in the school, trotted round once and both reins and she felt better for it already!
I am just thinking that I know her well enough to know that she needs to be in work for her own sanity and she would tell me when there is a problem!!
 
I am now in my second year with a horse with ringbone. He is medicated, 1 every other day and one before I ride. The first year I was kind of scared I'd break him and it took me ages to build up the courage just to ride him. He is better if ridden more. Short and sweet would be best but he really copes with anything I ask. if I want to do more I up the medication. I do not jump him but my vet told me that on a surface it would be fine. He is now out all the time because he can get a bit stiff when in. I can honestly say I have done more with him since he was diaognosed because before that he was always uneven and sometimes slightly lame. There is hope but it is important to keep down the weight. We all worry about not feeding enough but a fat horse with ringbone is not good.
All i can say is you will learn to cope, however the health and happiness of the animal must come first and during that long first few months I really questioned if i was doing the right thing. For me it worked out and I have at least another two years with a brillent little horse.
 
Sorry to hear about your mare, this is probably now what you want to hear but my tb mare badly damaged her achillies tendon and needed box rest for 3 months, cue leading in hand with a chifney, snaffle, leadrope on eather side of the snaffle and a schooling whip behind so she couldn't spin. After this it was light turnout on a lunge rope so she could be supervised... even sedated she would kick off. After this she went back to light hacking in straight lines and we had just progressed to teeny bits of trot and when turning her out she jumped a stick on the ground. Snap went the tendon and rosie was heartbreakingly pts on 10/11/11 as she just wouldn't cope with the rehab and then the low amount of work. She was a horse who would throw a full tantrum if another horse was being worked and she hadn't been and would whinny when her tack came, she loved her work and it wouldn't be fair on her.
Basically what I'm saying is think ahead and explore all of the options, although it was the hardest thing I have ever done I know it was the right thing to do.
 
I think you need to go with what is right for you and your horse in the short term, if she has a shorter happy, useful life rather than a longer bored life it is your choice to make.
How can a vet put an exact time on her exercise, every horse is different and yours sounds as if she is an energetic type that would benefit from a more interesting active life, as long as she is comfortable it should do her good and enable you to keep her weight down also, doing more good for maintaining her condition.
 
Ex racer rider, that is a heartbreaking story and one that really shows how the decision ultimately comes down to how the horse itself would cope in certain situations, you most definitely did the right thing for your horse and I hope that is of some comfort to you :)

Sukistokes2- thank you so much for your reply, this has given me a lot of hope :) I am not the sort of rider that works my horse for hours, I prefer short and sweet so for me this would be ideal anyway. My mare doesn't need a lot of work time wise- as long as it is frequent work in different disciplines to keep her brain ticking over she is fine with that! I honestly think, as you say, more would be better as she is going to hurt herself in the field how she is now for a start! She isn't enjoying life right now so even if it means less time with her I would do it so that she actually enjoys her life! She just wasn't built to be a field ornament.
I have managed to become very strict with her feeding and it is paying off, this summer she will not be having 24hour turnout- atabled during the day qith soaked hay and out at night on an adequate paddock- and I will make sure to keep on top of her weight as I don't want any more unwanted strain on her legs!

I am feeling a lot better already :) finger crossed the bet agrees when I call him tomorrow!!
 
Also sukistokes2- is your horse barefoot/remedial shod? And what kind of ring bone is it as I am sure I read somewhere that there are a few different types?
 
For now I would vary her work as much as you can and gradually up the percentage of hacking. Most horses will happily become happy hackers, it just takes some a while to adjust. My boy hated hacking when he arrived but now far prefers it to schooling and even jumping. It just takes time and patience. It also helps if you vary the routes to keep it interesting for them (and you!)
 
Could you incorporate a massage into her weekly routine? Only reason I ask is my friend is breaking her youngster and her main riding horse is extremely jealous and really asks to work too. He seems to accept having a massage is "work" and therefore she can get away without riding him that day if she spends 15 minutes with the massager on him! Keeps him happy and obviously it's good for him too.
 
I know exactly how you feel, luckily my horse doesn't have anything as serious as your horse but she just can not be in light work. All it does is just give her more energy to mess about and like yours she then also becomes a nightmare in the field and starts injuring herself.

She is meant to be in light work at the moment on vets advise but i have decided to up her workload as she is just too much of a handful.

I would definately have a word with your vet as I'm sure they could come up with a better management programme for her as every horse is different.

Also have you thought bout turning her out 24/7 with no hard feed (or just a handful for sippliments) and a grazing muzzle.

Mine only lives out in the summer but find she is much more chilled being out all the time
 
My horse of a lifetime had the same condition as yours. I was devastated but continued to lightly hack her with a bute every other day. Ding nothing made her worse. I did not school though as she struggled on circles. She was happy like this for about a year then I retired her and the week later found her with surgical colic and due to her condition decided to PTS.
IMO if you have to give a sensible amount of bute to keep her comfy then thats fine. I understand the concerns of bute but surely if shes enjoying life then its ok. I dont agree with it when people give it and continue to ride the horse like theres nothing wrong with it. A friend had an old mare as in late 20's that had bute for navic from the age of 12, she was fine and happy as a field ornament and it was melanomas that got her in the end.
Id have a word with your vet and if they give the ok then enjoy her for as long as you can.
 
My horse used to love working and going out and about but she has had a few injuries since we have had her and so had to get used to a quieter life. It took her a little time to adjust but she is now happy just hacking. I understand not all horses would be though, but I think most can adjust with time. I hope you can find a solution that works for your horse :)
 
Thank you all for your amazing replies! :)

Kelly1982 - unfortunately 24 hour turnout with a muzzle is not an option for her. She bloats a LOT on summer grass and ends up looking as if she is in foal, last year I tried a muzzle as we dont have the facilities for me to bring her in without her going insane not being able to see the others or a starvation paddock, She stood the whole time she had it on not eating (tried it for a good few weeks and she didn't warm to it at all) and as soon as it came off she gorged meaning she was even more bloated than before!! Once we have moved she can stay in during the day and out at night which I am hoping will solve the problem.

I have come to the conclusion that I will bring her back into light work, but I will be encorporating lots of different things. May I also ad that hacking alone is also tricky as she is VERY spooky so this is something we are working on!
If she is having a hyper day then I will take her in the school in walk and trot for 10 minutes if I can't get out just to clear some of her energy! After our 2 minutes in the school yesterday she had never felt so good! She was responsive and collected (all by her own accord may I ad) and seemed to thoroughly enjoy the work! We used to do a lot of school work and I can honestly say she really has missed it, to the point of last weekend we hacked out with some others and when we got back the other went straight into the school, she tried going with them and refused to walk into the stable block :(

The replies on here has given me a lot of hope, I also think that sometimes us owners know better than the vet in these cases as we know how much our horses can take to a certain extent!!

I will be discussing with the vet today an appropriate course of action in all of this, but I have to say that after all of these replies and also my own knowledge of my horse herself, she needs to come back into light work for her own sanity, and mine!! :o
 
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