keeping horse calm when supposed to be recovering help please?

P

Pidge

Well-Known Member
Joined
29 June 2005
Messages
5,088
Visit site
Ok so Pidge is supposed to be keeping nice and calm and resting his off hind fetlock. He is in a fenced off bit of the field equivalent to a 20m circle. hardly any grass (is by the gate) so is on ad lib hay. His feed was scoop alfa a, scoop cubes, scoop speedi beet, 250g TS feed balancer twice a day. now he is on 1/2 scoop alfa a and his 250g TS feed balancer.
trouble is he is getting excited at feed times, no change to normal there then
smirk.gif
and is running around the bit of field. Do I just have to accept this or is there anything I can do to stop it? I know I can bring him in to feed him but if I take the wheelbarrow out to poo pick or to drop hay off he gets excited then. will he do much harm to his leg running around on his poorly leg? he is on 1/2 satchet of bute morning and night for 10 days and is feeling far too well in himself hence no box rest as he would spend all day racing round the box
mad.gif
whereas next to Sunny at least he is nice and calm, most of the time :mad. last night put Sunny in with him for 5mins so they could say hello and groom each other, which went well to start with but ended in Pidge going up on his back legs trying to play with Sunny
mad.gif
needless to say Sunny was put straight back in his field! Also Pidge is bored already so have bought him a field lick. but everytime he sees me he screams for me and wants attention
crazy.gif
was chatting to friend on yard out of sight about how he was doing and it was so embarrassing as all I could hear was Pidge calling for me
blush.gif
so he had a very good groom and lots of tlc whilst sis was getting Sunny ready to ride. Sorry for long post but would appreciate any ideas on how to keep my horse calm and sane - god dammit its only day 3 - at least 11 more days to go
crazy.gif
crazy.gif
crazy.gif
 
Why dont you try one of those snak balls, you can fill it with chopped carrots and bits, itl just give him somthing to think about, they soon get the hang of getting the food out.
You'll probably find he'll settle down. If your worried mention it to your vet.
grin.gif

Debs x
 
Is he on bute? I know I'll get shot down for this but maybe bring the dosage down a bit?

When our great dane got kicked in the head by our shire x, the vet wouldn't give him painkillers - if he felt no pain he'd over exert himself and a piece of skull was mm's from his brain.

Obviously talk to the vet about it though. If he's that bad, can't you bring him in before feed time? x
 
P r , I agree with you, cant see why you would get shot down for it lol

Makes perfect sense, Vet told me to do this time that missy sprained her tendon .
It actually worked .

I would cut his feed out completely and just give him carrots and apples
 
My horse is in the same situation!
crazy.gif
Hes got a teeny tiny field for recovery for a month (he can get about 3 strides of trot max!) The first few times we used a lick-it in the field to keep his attention on eating and not running around and also a snack ball - not one with a tiny hole but a bigger one. We cut up carrots and it keeps him amused for ages! (If you dont have a ball why not scatter some carrots around the field to make him search for them)
smirk.gif
Hes also on a calmer which Im sure helps somewhat, its the NAF Magic.

My bigger problem was walking to the field. We have to go through another big field with horses in and he used to spin round, but after some great advice from HHO hes stopped - phew!

Hope that helps a bit.
wink.gif
 
I have my box rested maniac on Magic Calmer and a liquid supplement from Hilton Herbs called Rest and Rehabilitation (I think) - has worked wonders - the door hogging, barging horroble beast is now a chilled out angel
 
good idea but he is supposed to be limiting the amount of movement and I think this may encourage him to move around more!
 
he's only 1/2 satchet in the morning and 1/2 at night as it is so is on a low amount already. will see how he is tonight
crazy.gif
 
have reduced his feed tremenously as he's doing no work but he needs his feed balancer for mins and vits and also has garlic and naf d-tox for his mild stringhalt. so it is more like a snack at the moment than a feed as far as he is concerned!
 
After a few times of turnout hes fine now. It also helped that I stayed with him for the first few times and shouted at him everytime he went to trot and he kind of got the idea! Bless. The lick-it also helps coz he would do anything for a lick-it! Think he prefers that to grass but now hes been out for a while hes quite happy munchin grass.
 
thanks
smile.gif
he obviously feels very well in himself as demonstrated last night when he decided to play with Sunny
mad.gif
will have to wait till sis gets to yard and then have each of them on a leadrope and do it that way
smile.gif
 
Again some might think this cruel but with my first TB we did to not give her any pain killers and my farrier trimmed her feet back so she was a little footsore and not inclined to move anything more than a walk - uncomfortable rather than hopping lame.

I could not keep her on box rest - if we fenced off the field she would try to jump out and calmers were not the answer as she was not daft, just didn't know the meaning of taking it slow - she also had to be in with another horse or she got worked up. She was 28 at the time had had to have some turnout and the sore feet were the only thing that stopped her trotting and cantering around with a fractured fetlock.

Once she had recovered and her feet had grown back, we put on shoes again so no lasting damage.

I would also make sure there was constant hay or even hayledge mixed in with hay and try a snack ball and a paddock lick to keep him occupied. When Fleur was on box rest she was stuffed full of forage at all times and was very relaxed.
 
[ QUOTE ]
he's only 1/2 satchet in the morning and 1/2 at night as it is so is on a low amount already. will see how he is tonight
crazy.gif


[/ QUOTE ]

Take him off altogether then - surely that amount isn't doing that much anyway.
 
thanks Teresa, so they don't get any calmer with age then
wink.gif
Pidge has ad lib hay and a lick and thankfully tonight was far more chilled out about the whole thing
grin.gif
so a happier mummy
grin.gif
plus despite the fact he was covered from head to toe in mud
shocked.gif
he went back out sparkling
grin.gif
he's never been this clean before as normally its just a quick flick, tack on and ride apart from shows where he gets a bit more cleaning
grin.gif
 
will see how he goes as he was much more settled tonight so think he's getting used to his small area and being apart from Sunny. fingers crossed he continues to behave, if not I'll phone the vets and see what they suggest. thanks
grin.gif
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top