If Grace's ligament wasn't buggered before, it will be now!

Thats what ready grass is! I tend to dampen mine a lil bit so that she eats it!
Also really random i know do u have the radio on? When my mare was at newmarket they had classical on outside her box and it kept her chilled also!
 
I know some people may disagree but for her sake and to kkep her quiet whilst walking out could you not get some acp from you vet??Works a treat,i have to use it if my lad on box rest or he would go nuts!!!Sure you would not need alot,just enough to take the edge off her!!!
 
But because she has had colic surgery she cannot have sedation yet as it slows the gut down
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Please dont worry - I fell off Spider out hacking on Sunday and she galloped off!! She had damage to both hind suspensory's.

She is sound and is fine, they are going to mess about there is nothing you can do, Spider has a few bucks and leaps every day theres nothing I can do - they are alive!!

Please cheer up Becki and wait to hear from the vet
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Id agree with tempi and i wouldnt be leading her out in anything except a bridle so you can gain some control. That being said, i dont rate or like those control headcollars.

Secondly, you dont know for sure that shes damaged anything at all so in that sense i think you need to try and chill abit and rather than planning her imminent retirement, deal with the actual situation.

If rescanning is the only thing that will put your mind at rest, then do so. Personally, i wouldnt and id see how she went over the next few days.

I think its way way early to be considering kicking her out as a companion though
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Spider is on a supplement and has had acp - nothing works, she is a diamond 80% ofd the time but does explode, she has had just over 7 weeks box rest. they all do it Becki its something we just have to deal with, im stressed with it too, but im just looking towards the end, you just have to deal with what happens and carry on im afraid, I know exactly how horris it is though
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When my horse came off box rest after fracturing his splint bone and surgery he barreled through me and out the stable door, galloping across the concrete yard and down the gravel drive. I though he would never walk again. He was fine.

G. has had a good period of healing time. My money is on the ligament being strong enough now.

A chain lead is your friend. Either put it over her nose with a headcollar or through a bit. She'll quickly learn to respect it.

Hugs from me, by the way. I can completely understand how worried and frustrated you must be. You've been so strong going through everything with Grace - keep strong now, I think there is light at the end of the tunnel for you both!
 
Arghhh i see,remember now!!!I know it seems like a no win situation and you may feel you are taking 1 step forward and 10 back but hang in there!!Sounds like she has had a good few weeks previous for the injury to start healing so hopefully a few high jinx will not have been to detrimental to the healing process!!Keeping fingers crossed for ya!!Keep ya chin up i am sure things will pick up(afterall horses were sent to try us all,lol)
 
There is no where around here that has that option... I looked into it a while ago
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I'll dig her bridle out, and I have a coupling chain somewhere so will try that tonight... still not heard back from the vet though
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Becki, speak with your vets who did the colic surgery. It's a few weeks now since she had the op & as she is now eating again (albeit a colic recovery diet) they may be willing to suggest a sedative that will help take the edge off her. Are you feeding her things like pysillim (sp) which helps to keep the gut moving? I agree with the others who have suggested walking her in a bridle. I know she needs grass as it is the best thing post colic op for a horse to eat but discuss the Readigrass option with your vets too for your own peace of mind & if that is no good it will be worth you picking a big bucketful for her every day.

Grace is so lovely it would be such a shame to give up now. Big hugs xx
 
Actually, thats a damn good idea.

I did this with my mare after the initial healing of her hind leg degloving took place. She also lived in a barn when she had her first foal.

It certainly helped her hugely with the box rest as she had a huge area to wander around and apart from some initially messing, she soon settled down really well and i didnt have any stress over trying to walk her out
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Thanks... she is back on regular feed now.

I cannot speak to the vets at Leahurst, I have to speak to my own vets who will then speak to them if they need to
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I know I am sounding a bit ungrateful for the advice, I can promise you that it is all very valuable to me! I just feel so very defeated with her and what is worse is that I see how unfair all of this is to her! She feels well enough to passage and leap about, and then sh has me pulling at her when all she wants to do is play
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Wasn't she six weeks in a box before the colic surgery? I certainly wouldn't lead her without a bridle on, you are asking for trouble just using a controller headcollar ... she will soon learn to eat with a bit and if she can't pick some for her .... you do need to chill, Grace will be picking up your vibes of you ..
How can you say she is finished when you haven't even had her scanned!?
 
becki - I completely understand your predicament

I too had to go through this with my gelding

He needed walking out for his suspensory ligament and after about a month he started to get silly - pratting about like your mare

after awhile we had to bite the bullet and put him in the small turnout bark paddocks we have at the yard as he was getting dangerous to lead - the first day we put him in there he exploded - galloping and bucking and he skidded to a halt using his back legs - which I couldn't watch because his suspensory damage was in both hinds

however after the first day or so he calmed down and just stood there occassionally walking around

he did no further damage whatsoever

I'm not saying Grace hasn't damaged anything - but after 10 weeks the damage should have healed and it's about building up the strength in the ligament again

as you know ligaments are not like bones when they heal - they heal weaker whereas bones heal stronger - so I can understand your negative view - I was exactly the same - constantly feeling like i was never going to be able to do anything with this horse - looking after him was always hard work and no rewards...

but what i'm getting to is that yes she was an idiot - but she's probably not done any damage

to put your mind at rest get a re-scan

but in order for Grace to recover you need to find a solution to tackle walking her out

I found with my horse - we couldn't walk in an arena because he just exploded - we'd either walk around the yard or i actually took him out - but hardly ever in an arena because that is when he got dangerous - don't ask me why I don't know

I wish I could wave a magic wand and give you a flat field which is rock hard and a bit of grass and only about the size of a stable.

But i just wanted you to know that you are not the only one that has had to go through this and you are not alone

You are doing the right thing by Grace

And I just want to add I think you are very brave to do what you are doing it takes alot of mental strength to deal with so well done
 
I know you mean about yanking at them, I feel so guitly shouting at Spider and pulling her when all she is doing is being excited as she has been on box rest for so long. It really isnt there fault. But you have to do the rehabilitation with them for it to get better, this is a small drip in the ocean compared to all the good "sound" times you will have with her I promise
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sorry hun, but i dont understand how she cant eat with a bit in? You dont have to do the flash strap up - just do up the caveson and take the flash off. Feed the chain through the side you lead from, underneath her chin and attach it to the bit ring the other side. Then keep it tight until she respects you. When she does you loosen it as a reward.

It sounds harsh, but its the best way to do it - i use a chain everyday to catch Bloss in from her field as shes a liability. It puts her in her place if shes naughty and when shes good its loose so she dosent even know its there.
 
Hi there,
I really understand how you feel and its awful feeling so useless when all you are trying to do is give them the best chance of full recovery. I'm almost at the end of 3 months box rest with my mare who is an angel in the stable fortunately but a real t!t anywhere outside.
It was really hard when the first in hand walking started because you I was so worried about every little stupid thing she done and so stressed out because I couldn't stop her doing it.
I really think and hope for you that after 10 weeks she will be strong enough to cope with a bit of leaping around. Really try to be a positive as you can and still keep doing what the vet says no matter how hard it seems.
It sounds like you need more support than she does. It really helped me to have someone with me when my mare was leaping around on the leadrope, for security and while you are feeling low its comforting for soeone to really see what you are going through and keep you calm at the same time.

The next walk is a different one - I hope its a better one, and if it is try to focus on that.

I really hope that Grace is ok and that you both come out the other end fit and smiling.
 
Becki, Remember when I wrote about Walker? he has the same as Grace, was operated on 2nd Nov. and even with a chifney bit I couldn't stop him for galloping around?!
Well he was turned out with the others after 4 weeks, and on 2nd Jan, I took him back to Oakham, his leg is healing, all be it slower than he would have liked, but is only slightly lame now, and last week I have started to ride him in walk for 10/15 mins a day, he is doing really well;
He will only ever be a light hack, but I'm very pleased.
Ligaments can take up to a year to heal, especially the hind ones, so don't give up, and I would turn her out in a small paddock if you can.
 
The reason why your vet has told you to lead her out is to strengthen her legs, not to give her grass. Ask him, would he prefer her to go for a walk or eat grass? If it is the latter leave her in her stable and pick her some. I would lead her in a bridle or chiffney in places that I know won't send her loopy.

I wouldn't personally feed her Redigrass as it is quite energizing - it will make her worse.

When you say she is back on regular feed what do you mean? Are you feeding her hard feed on box rest? That is probably your problem there.

It is always a slim chance that SWT works anyway so if it hasn't worked with her it probably isn't anything to do with her getting excited when you lead her around.
 
Thats a great idea! I'm sure there will be a farmer very willing for you to have a barn. Shame you're not down here as you could have one of mine, I've got Lottie and Flo in one at the moment.

Def agree re. bit and chain, it will help tremendously. Also don't count your chickens before they've hatched! I think she'll surprise you and no damage will have been done. At least it was in an arena and not on concrete.
 
Hi dear

I know its easier said then done but please try to stop worrying so much. You can't stop horses throwing a paddy when they are box rest and its not your fault they do.

My horse has been on box rest many times. The first he damaged his frog and the first day out in a sick paddock he jumped out. When we were on walk/trot recovery from a fractured pedal bone he would constantly leap around, spin and run and on one occasion he went on a broncing fit, dumped me and ran off
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That was over a year and half ago and he is all fine (touch wood!)
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One of the girls down a yard has a horse that is recovering from a damaged tendon and she has just started trot work with her. She broke out of her stable while on box rest, would always leap around and cow kick while on in hand walking and now constantly leaps and spins and canters when she is riding her but (fingers crossed) the recovery still seems to be going in the right direction.

Try to remain positive, I'm sure she will be fine but maybe get a rescan if you feel you need reassurance. The readigrass idea is a good one as it always helped keep my horse occupied. Can she have haylege? Maybe you could mix a haynet with hay and haylege - possibly could put different sized holed haynets in different places in the stable to keep her interest.
 
She has to have grass as part of the colic surgery recovery, but be walked for the ligament...

She is on a small amount of Alfa A and the TopSpec Balancer for all her vits and mins. I was told to put her on a small feed like this by the vets at Leahurst, and the supplements (coligone, msm and Cortaflex) all go in these feeds. This is mixed with Alfa Beat (tiny amount) to get her eating again because we have had issues encouraging her to eat post-surgery and because of this she was on a high energy feed at Leahurst.

There is no where that will not send her loopy... she is a highly strung mare at the best of times, and she has now been on box rest since the second week in November (for the suspensory). She has been behaving in the school up until today and a few other minor explosions, but todays was the worst one and lasted the longest.
 
There is absolutely no option for this as she has only been out of surgery for 5 weeks o Sunday (colic surgery)... but yes, she would be much quieter ridden
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Dont despair my gelding turned into a stallion when he was on rest for ligament damage he did the same thing going wild and rearing but there was enough improvement in the 10 weeks.His ligament is fine now.
We are going for surgery on wed for hock fusion perhaps we can share the tissues.This horse has also just recovered from a tendon injury.There is always some hope I am trying to look on the positive side.
I fenced off a small paddock area stable size when my horse was supposed to be on box rest it kept him sane during the day.I brought him in at night ,maybe this would work for your horse.I hate complete box rest .I know with surgery I will have to go this route but a small paddock might really help your mare.Try and keep your spirits up there are plenty of us out there with similiar problems feeling the same way.Pm me if you need to have a moan we can do it together.
 
You can hand pick grass but if she really has to be walked then what about leading her out in side-reins attached to a surcingale which has not been over-tightened.
 
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