Need box rest advice please help!!!

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astroud

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My nearly 5 year old has just started box rest for 3 months for suspensory and check ligament damange to hind leg.

My problem is that he has to be walked in hand twice a day starting 5 mins twice a day working up to 25mins twice a day. He is very calm in the stable but when i try and take him for a walk he is a handful to say the least. I am taking him in a bridle. Has anybody had the same experience, do you think i should try him for another week or put him on a calmer???? Has anybody had good results with a calmer.

Please help as i am already stressed and only on day 7.
 
Can't you ask the advice of your vet? Perhaps they can recommend a calmer. Walking box rest horses in hand is not one of my favourite jobs. Good luck (and wear your hat!)
 
What about trying him in a pressure halter like a dually or something? My mare was on box rest last year and I walked her in her bridle and she was a real handful this year she has had to stay in for a month because of the fields being wet and we walk her in her headcollar with the rope over her nose like a homemade dually and it has made the world of difference she now walks beautifully and is much more relaxed. You could also use a lunge line to give you a bit of distance and you might find wearing your hat and a body protector gives you more confidence and makes you more relaxed too I know this has worked for me in the past.

Good luck x
 
This is why I do not agree with box rest especially for a young horse, by the time they are turned out 3 months later they go so berserk they cause further damage!!! I have had exactly the same problem and know exactly how you are feeling
Ask your vet for Potassium bromide and give it twice a day all through the box rest. This worked a treat for me along with 2mls of sedaline just before I wnated to do anything. If you do this until the walking is built up a bit it should help. I would probably walk for a bit longer to try to get more energy out, its swings and roundabouts because any healing in the box can be undone by them pratting about when walked if they dont get rid of enough energy. I know lots of people who have given up on box rest and allowed turnout in a small area. It doesnt seem to cause too many problems.
 
Another one for a rope/Dually/controller halter - much more bite and gives more control. If you give her a fair bit of slack, and then bump her hard and quick if she 'plays up' you should find she'll be a lot easier to handle. Ditto re hat, and also good boots and gloves.
 
Unfortunately all this is part and parcel of box rest, inevitably they all go a bit bonkers coming back into work.

Make sure you are as safe as possible, i.e. hat, gloves, long line, etc. Talk to your vet about a sedative. Either sedaline 45 mins before the walking in hand, or some people have mentioned on here that there is a long acting sedative injection that works very well.

By all means try a calmer but they are unlikely to work.
 
We used Magnesium Oxide as a general calmer and as previously suggested sedalin is the only thing that worked for in hand and the initial couple of turnout times, also please wear your hat and bodyprotector. Box rest can turn the calmest, most placid pony/horse into a raging bull once 'let out' (as we found out the hard way!)
 
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