Injured horse starting to become dangerous

[Kuli]

Sorry, don't know if this is the right forum for this, please transfer if not!

My horse got diagnosed with PSD last week in both front limbs. It's only a mild mild inflammation, no tears or holes so we think it's going to heal well. The problem is that my horse is now on a strict small pen turnout and 1 ride/hand walking 20 minutes a day. We are now on day 11 and the vets say she need to stand still for at least 3 months. The stress has caught her and she is starting to become dangerous to handle. I started hand walking her the first few days but she runs, rears, bucks, kicks, bites and acts like a total maniac so I couldn't handle her. We called the vet and asked if I could ride her instead since I usually have better control over her when riding. They said yes so I have been riding her 20 minutes a day since that. The first few days went fine. She was a handful, but I could handle her episodes. But now it has gone out of control. She just explodes out of nowhere and take huge rears and bucks. Luckily I have sat them all, but the explosions gets worse and worse for everyday so I am starting to get scared. I am not easily scared of riding horses, I am usually the one that get asked to ride the difficult horses and have never been scared of riding my own horse. It breaks my heart when I get this feeling riding my own horse. She is also a handful to take in and out from her pen. The place she is boarded at are the ones taking her in and out, but they have started complaining about her so I usually take her in and out myself everyday since I am terrified she is going to hurt somebody else.

She is the sweetest horse in the stable and so full of life, but she just can't handle this situation. Sometimes she just stands still and shakes because she is so stressed out and anxious. I feel so sorry for her but don't know what to do. A part of me just wants to let her out 24/7 but I am worried the injury never will heal that way... Anyone with tips or tricks?

 

[Goldenstar]

Speak to the vet use oral sedation .
I had a horse in plaster we had to use sedation it saved his life .

 

[Kuli]

Speak to the vet use oral sedation .
I had a horse in plaster we had to use sedation it saved his life .

Thank you! I have thought about that actually. But is it ok to use oral sedation everyday for many weeks/months? Think especially of the fact that it is hard on the stomach and can contribute to stomach ulcers?

 

[Flowerofthefen]

Thank you! I have thought about that actually. But is it ok to use oral sedation everyday for many weeks/months? Think especially of the fact that it is hard on the stomach and can contribute to stomach ulcers?

I would definitely speak to the vet about sedaline. If she keeps playing up she won't heal anyway. She is obviously unhappy which is understandable and you don't want to get hurt either. She may be fine on a really low dose to get you both through the next 3 months.

 

[Goldenstar]

My horse managed it fine ,it was a choice between managing and dying so I just had to do what I had to do he was fine he had sedaline and dormosedan sometimes at the same time .
It took trial and error to get it right in terms of how much and when but it worked he was stalled in a tiny space where he had to stand .

 

[ycbm]

Thank you! I have thought about that actually. But is it ok to use oral sedation everyday for many weeks/months? Think especially of the fact that it is hard on the stomach and can contribute to stomach ulcers?

I didn't know that about sedation, but you might be able to protect her stomach by giving her aloe vera juice. I have one on it at the moment because he's going through a lot of stress. It's sold on ebay, 5 litres for £35, and I'm giving 50ml a day but you can give more.
.

 

[Orangehorse]

I had one like that - well not nearly as bad, but he was a danger to me and himself. Vet put him on bromide, a tiny amount until I was able to start riding him again. I had used sedalin until it no longer had any effect and I took him to a rehab livery as I couldn't manage him.

Must speak to vet about this though, as it can cause colic, my YO saved my horse from this as she noticed he hadn't eaten his tea at 10.00 p.m. and took him out to graze in hand - but he was quiet! He was OK and stayed on it for weeks.
Vet said that it is given to TB colts if they are difficult to break-in, it just takes the top off them, is quickly eliminated from the body and is cheap.

 

[Carrottom]

Sorry if this sounds patronising but have you reduced your horses feed to forage only? Sometimes vets don't think to tell owners to do this when they advise very restricted exercise.

 

[still standing]

When my horse fractured his hock, he was on box rest for weeks to give it any chance to mend. He has a lot of TB blood and within a couple of days was getting very stressed so I got a supplement with liquid Valerian in it. It had to be given twice a day (no hard feed for him, just in a tiny amount of grass nuts). Luckily this worked and sedated him sufficiently well to make him tolerate the restriction, for long enough for the joint to heal. The vets said he had to be led out for 10 mins of grass each day and it even helped with that too, making him just manageable enough.

 

[meleeka]

Mine turned from a dope on a rope to downright dangerous. He was fine in the stable but actually managed to re-injure himself with his aerobics while handwalking. He had Sedalin daily in the end.

 

[Kuli]

Sorry if this sounds patronising but have you reduced your horses feed to forage only? Sometimes vets don't think to tell owners to do this when they advise very restricted exercise.

Yes, she only eats forage. Have not fed grain in the last 7 months

 

[Kuli]

Sedatives seems to be the way to go. I'll ask the vet about it on tuesday. Thanks for all replies!

 

[Elf On A Shelf]

To be honest if you have the option of 24/7 turnout in a stable herd I would dope her and punt her out. Forget about her for 6 months and then start again. She is going to to more harm to herself than good carrying on the way she is just now. Dope her -not sparkoed but enough that she just mosey's around the field - chuck her out and let her wake up in the field so it's not exciting and she doesn't want to cannon about. Horses out 24/7 rarely go for yeehaas as it just isn't exciting compared to being turned out in the morning after a night in.

 

[SO1]

In the last 15 years my pony has had 3 long periods of box rest/controlled exercise.

There was no way I could have managed this on my own. He has been on a professional yard managed by rehab specialists.

I think you might be outside the UK but here in the UK there are now specialist yard that are set up with expertise in rehabilitation of injured horses for people who struggle themselves with managing them. It is often less stressful for the horse if they have company with other horses stabled next to them which there would be on a rehab yard.

We have used sedation to get him used to turn out again and also I put him on a calming supplement as well.

Good luck and I hope your horse has a fast recovery.

 

[Goldenstar]

To be honest if you have the option of 24/7 turnout in a stable herd I would dope her and punt her out. Forget about her for 6 months and then start again. She is going to to more harm to herself than good carrying on the way she is just now. Dope her -not sparkoed but enough that she just mosey's around the field - chuck her out and let her wake up in the field so it's not exciting and she doesn't want to cannon about. Horses out 24/7 rarely go for yeehaas as it just isn't exciting compared to being turned out in the morning after a night in.

Very very few horses survive a run in with PSD without box rest .I looked into all this with one of mine .
The chance of soundness after turning away with out restriction was described as zero .

 

[PinkvSantaboots]

Agree about speaking to your vet about sedation sometimes they just need a few mls a day just before being ridden, if your worried about ulcers put her on a supplement that helps prevent them, even just the stress of being on box rest can cause them so its a good idea to take precautions now anyway really.

 

[misst]

Another vote for a professional rehab yard. We had to use one with one of my daughters horses. They were just so unfazed by his antics and he settled really well. They started him back on walking under saddle and then we had him back. He was really stressed and dangerous out of the stable when we attempted this ourselves and the set up of the usual yard just didn't work for us at that time. Once he had begun ridden work he came back to us. He was definitely better with them than us and we visited whenever we wanted.

 

[RachelFerd]

PSD doesn't usually resolve through box rest - it is chronic not acute. Would be looking for a second opinion from a different vet. Mine was turned away for 12 months with forelimb PSD and did heal. She won't be healing well with explosive episodes.

 

[lozzles]

I turned mine out throughout his rehab. He was rearing and bucking in the stable so doing himself no good. His was bad enough to cause partial avulsion. I extensively followed the prescribed exercise rehab and we used shockwave and adequan but he went out every day as normal. He came back to compete at medium dressage after and the limb healed well.

 

[Laafet]

My box-walking weaving Tarquin had PSD in one front limb. On day one of box rest he destroyed his stable and had to be shut in. Despite being given a whole tube of Sedalin, he wouldn't settle. We took him back to my work place where I could put him in our foaling pens. He then spent the rest of his box rest in there and was a joy to lead out in hand. He never suffered any more lameness, we also used shock wave, changed farrier and got him slimmed down.
Regardless of what you do, it is essential to manage the explosive episodes and if turn out is the answer then do that.

 

[dorsetladette]

I'd talk to your vet about turning her away for a while. If she is exploding with in hand walking then that management isn't working for her. I know its a very 'old fashioned' way of thinking but I really think that a bit of Dr Green and time can help in some cases.

 

[Kuli]

Update: Asked 2 different veterinarians for a prescription for sedatives, neither would give med one. Yesterday during our 20 minutes ride she reared and flipped around. Luckily I managed to slip off the side so I didn't end up under her. Tomorrow I will be demanding some sedatives from the vet. If not I will have to go against the vet's advice and turn her out 24/7 because this is not OK.

 

[Leandy]

How are you going? I agree with you. I would turn out 24/7 for 4 - 6 months and then reassess. If the original injury is mild this has a very good chance of success in any event and will be considerably cheaper for you. Have you discussed that with the vet? Some horses do not tolerate box rest and restricted exercise. I'm not convinced some vets appreciate they broader picture, they are just looking at the optimal treatment for the injury in front of them, rather than for the horse as a whole. If the injury was more severe and would not tolerate the turnout then there may be an argument for box rest being the least bad option to save the horse but if it were me I would not be in favour of sedating a horse for weeks on end. I would just turn out and let doctor green and time do their stuff.

 

[Kuli]

How are you going? I agree with you. I would turn out 24/7 for 4 - 6 months and then reassess. If the original injury is mild this has a very good chance of success in any event and will be considerably cheaper for you. Have you discussed that with the vet? Some horses do not tolerate box rest and restricted exercise. I'm not convinced some vets appreciate they broader picture, they are just looking at the optimal treatment for the injury in front of them, rather than for the horse as a whole. If the injury was more severe and would not tolerate the turnout then there may be an argument for box rest being the least bad option to save the horse but if it were me I would not be in favour of sedating a horse for weeks on end. I would just turn out and let doctor green and time do their stuff.

I'm good now, got sedatives from vet yesterday! She will be checked again in two weeks. The vets are optimistic and think I can start working her again in two weeks already. So I choose the sedative route until then. If she's not well in two weeks, I'll probably turn her out 24/7 for a year

 

[Starzaan]

Ex rehab yard owner here, of many many years.
my first suggestion would be send her to a rehab yard - I can recommend the best for you if you’d like. Those of us who deal with broken horses for a living are very well equipped to deal with this sort of behaviour, and with how to manage it so it doesn’t escalate.
If you can’t do that, the definitely talk to the vet about low level sedation.
I have dealt with thousands of box rest cases over the years so if you need any suggestions for rehab yards or ideas to keep her happy please feel free to pm me any time.