NEW REHAB LIVERY HELP......

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jessl89

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Ok so short story, am planning to rebuild my stables to be able to take in livery, however want to take in rehab liveries as only half an hour from Newmarket hospital….1 acre paddocks, rubber matted stables, cctv, sand school, round pen and horse walker will all be on site. Is there anything else that anyone can think of…..?
 
a solarium would be inexpensive and I suppose you could have magnetic and maybe a Back on Track rug, and leg wraps and an equissage available?
Also all the kit like a pessoa, one of those dual function TENS machines with the 2 settings. My physio used one and lent me one, but they are around £60 so not too expensive to have on hand.

You also see treadmills come up secondhand - always worth watching out for.
 
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Solarium's are being looked into as a friend does them!! Didn't think of the rugs though, also as you say equissage machine also being looked into... I have a passoa and swear by it on all of mine, would def be interested in a treadmill as well didn't think of that depends on the space allowance of the new yard as there not small!! Thank you
 
What a great idea

Maybe you could enrol in a course of basic relaxation massage?

A hot shower is a good thing to have

Also the magnetic equipment as someone suggested and do they still make those full length hydro swirly boot things that you used to see advertised? Maybe worth a google!
 
How about an ARC Equine unit - I have just ben reading about those. You could also do a Reiki level 1 training to use for relaxing the horses and healing and maybe aromatherapy?
 
Thank you always something I've wanted to do just haven't had the facilities and now I have the chance!!!

That would be a fab idea, a friend of mine does reiki and I'd also love to get into alternative therapies.

Am looking into the hydrotherapy boots as well, and yes will have hot water shower as there will be people living on site, so def need hot water!!!!
 
A large enough concrete area to do the controlled walking as horse walker is no good in early days. Some small turnout pens with wood chip or hardstanding for winter. A small fenced area for safe, in hand grazing! Mine does her in hand grazing in a huge field but is luckily very sensible but know my vet was worried about her escaping from me! My mare will probably have to wait until Spring for turnout as wouldn't risk mud or ice! Extra services like putting in small hay nets at regular intervals! My yard puts in two nets and snack ball during the day which is great as it keeps her munching!
 
Grass free turnout and controlled walking inhand would be done in the round pen, and the yard will be re concreated and fenced to be a small enclosed walking space for very early days
 
Make good contacts, remedial farrier and a good trimmer, equine nutritionalist, physio and sports massage therapist. Offer alternative treatments like reikki, mctimoney and acupuncture if you can source a good practitioner. Go onto coursera.org and register for the free 5 week equine nutrition course by Edinburgh Uni. Solarium/Heat lamps, paddock paradise system, magna therapy - bioflow boots and rugs or similar. Good quality paperwork, a portfolio if you will on each of the horses in your care, professional and says you mean business. Quarantine area, with so many comings and goings of horses who's immune systems will have been compromised due to injury or illness, you need to cover for the possibility that something may easily be bought into the yard.
 
Queenbee said:
Make good contacts, remedial farrier and a good trimmer, equine nutritionalist, physio and sports massage therapist. Offer alternative treatments like reikki, mctimoney and acupuncture if you can source a good practitioner. Go onto coursera.org and register for the free 5 week equine nutrition course by Edinburgh Uni. Solarium/Heat lamps, paddock paradise system, magna therapy - bioflow boots and rugs or similar. Good quality paperwork, a portfolio if you will on each of the horses in your care, professional and says you mean business. Quarantine area, with so many comings and goings of horses who's immune systems will have been compromised due to injury or illness, you need to cover for the possibility that something may easily be bought into the yard.
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Yes - for me, if I was going to send my horse to a rehab I would want experienced people available (even on site if possible) that work very closely with local vets.. I would want the yard owner very experienced too.

Would it be worth speaking to the vet hospital and asking them what facilities they would suggest you had in order for them to suggest people went to your yard?
 
I specialise in rehab liveries, and my best investment so far has been heat lamps in every box.

I had a six week old foal in who had fractured his skull, and he would have had some real problems if we hadn't had the heat lamps for him.

If I think of anything else I'll let you know. Feel free to PM me for advice if you'd like, I'm more than happy to help.
 
Queenbee said:
Make good contacts, remedial farrier and a good trimmer, equine nutritionalist, physio and sports massage therapist. Offer alternative treatments like reikki, mctimoney and acupuncture if you can source a good practitioner. Go onto coursera.org and register for the free 5 week equine nutrition course by Edinburgh Uni. Solarium/Heat lamps, paddock paradise system, magna therapy - bioflow boots and rugs or similar. Good quality paperwork, a portfolio if you will on each of the horses in your care, professional and says you mean business. Quarantine area, with so many comings and goings of horses who's immune systems will have been compromised due to injury or illness, you need to cover for the possibility that something may easily be bought into the yard.
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Already have some very good contacts, including the farriers that do redwings and specilise in remedial farriery, and my vet is 10 minutes away totally mobile and an absolute gem...... this is fantastic thank you, shows me the work that needs to be sorted, this is only in planning stages at the moment, and this help is fantastic...... I'm certainly not new to taking in rehaber's! but to do it on this scale is something that was not a possibility until recently and even now is at least 2 years away.... Even so a couple of very exciting years ahead I think
 
Starzaan said:
I specialise in rehab liveries, and my best investment so far has been heat lamps in every box.

I had a six week old foal in who had fractured his skull, and he would have had some real problems if we hadn't had the heat lamps for him.

If I think of anything else I'll let you know. Feel free to PM me for advice if you'd like, I'm more than happy to help.
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Then you may well be just the person to have a brain picking session with!! Would def be something I would look into as you say they can be invaluable in some cases
 
Most people who have a horse coming home after a trip to Newmarket vets fall into 2 catogories

1) The incredibly rich who also have all the facilities to rehab themselves

2) The newly incredibly poor, who have not a pot to p*ss in after the vets have done with them

I'm not sure which market you are going for?

I do however think its a great idea, but might need a lot of thought, most people want to get their horses home to recover as it is well documented in animals and humans that home helps the healing

Also you will need to give great thought to containment of disease as your enterprise will have horses coming and going, I know I wouldn't be happy if I sent in a lame horse that picked up something else while in your care and all these things can be very costly to design and arrange and cost...

any way food for thought...good luck!
 
I can only give you my perspective on this, which would be the rehab/fittening of competition horses post lay off - my priority in this would be the correct controlled walking.
I would be wary of this being done in too small an area and on too tight a curve - I'd expect in hand, on straight lines to start with, thereafter for walker work I would want a very big walker that changed direction frequently ... no 4 horse tight circle jobbies, one to bear in mind if investing in a walker.
 
Thank you for all your help and suggestions it is much appreciated, this is not a new idea but something that has been brewing for a long time....... You guys have been fantastic and reminded me of some of the important things that won't cost a lot, and the planning and space ideals for a yard like this.... Please keep them coming :D
 
My pony has been on a rehab yard since 2nd August and I am certainly not rich and most of the other rehab horse owners don’t seem to be rich either. My pony is normally on grass livery and needed a long spell of box rest due to an injury and it became very clear that he neither of us was going to cope without professional help – he jumped out of his stable on 2nd day of box rest and I work 1.5 hours away from the yard so can’t just rush up there to sort things out or go three times a day. So I sent him to a professional rehab yard and the longer I have been there the more I have realised there was no way I could have rehabbed him on my own and worked full time. I would not even have enough holiday left to cover all the vet visits he had the vet once a week for the first 10 weeks. Now his box rest is finished he is going to need controlled turnout and walking on a big horse-walker twice a day. He is also not an easy pony either.

One thing that all the owners of the rehab horses have in common is that they are all really worried about their horses and so it is very important the people looking after the horses understand that and are experienced, kind and also good with people as the owners will want reassuring that everything is ok and feedback on how their horses are doing. The first week my pony went to rehab yard they texted me twice a day to let me know how he was getting on and settling in. They also send photos as well. Of course they do all the standard things around care including late night checks as owner lives on site but it is the personal touches that makes the difference and they noticed little things like that my pony enjoyed being groomed. I feel that my pony is being well looked after and that they can deal with any problems that occur during this difficult time, enabling me to go to work and earn enough to keep a roof over our heads!

In terms of facilities although my pony does not need hydrotherapy most of the horses that come seem to be using the hydrotherapy and or the big horse-walker. Some horses stay a long time like my pony and will require some turnout as part of their rehab and others just come for a few weeks to use the hydrotherapy and walker.

The rehab boxes are all in a row though they do have quarantine boxes as well most people tend to prefer their horse to be in the rehab row so that they are not in on their own and have company. YO also has her own horses that she can move into that row to insure that horses are not on their own in the event that they was only one horse on box rest.

I think you would also need a groom as looking after rehab horses is really hard work and you probably could not look after many on your own especially if some are tricky to handle after a long period of box rest.

With regard to diseases all the rehab horses on the yard I am at are seeing the vet on a regular basis due to their injury so it is unlikely they would have an undetected infectious disease, also the sort of people who tend to send their horses to rehab yards do not tend to be the sort of people that would not notice if their horse had a disease or leave it untreated, these are far from neglected horses it is not like a dody dealer yard where you get all sort of horses coming from who knows where I would say the risk of infectious disease at a rehab yard is much less than at a normal yard.
 
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Thank you so much for all that, that sounds like exactly the type of yard that we're aiming for, I do have back up of a very good groom, plus myself and my partner will be on site for all the night checks......

Would love to have a hydrospa unit depending on how costly they are, as I say this all needs to go through a lot of planning first, which will take a while, but might as well go for the best

Also I really hope your pony is one the way to full recovery
 
I'd invest in rubber flooring all round the yard. Amazing stuff, our local equine clinic has it and you notice the difference instantly. I'd also make a stable sized paddock behind each stable as lots wot be able to cope with an acre at least initially.
 
jessl89 said:
Would love to have a hydrospa unit depending on how costly they are, as I say this all needs to go through a lot of planning first, which will take a while, but might as well go for the best
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You can hire spa units. Might be worth doing before purchasing. Also look for second hand, I know several purchased and sold having never been used with a huge percentage knocked off the price.
 
I had to send my horse to a rehab yard following fetlock surgery as I work full time and wasn't't able to do the 3x daily hand walking he needed.

The yard was excellent as they had a very large concrete area they could hand walk him in (he wasn't allowed to go on a horse walker as he wasn't to be constantly on the tun). The yard manager was experienced and no-nonsense who gave me regular updates and was happy for me to visit (yard was about an hour drive away). The staff were alse experienced and treated each horse as an individual. Ant form of turnout was not a consideration as he was not allowed out.

Having rehabbed another of my horses a small safe area for hand grazing was very useful.

Having had to hand walk a fair number of horses over the years I definitely prefer to do it on concrete as they seem to be more sensible than when on a surface.
 
I would be very dubious about lunging/ Passoa as dependant on injury lunging will be bottom of list and as most tbs are only lunged to break in and gallop round you will almost have to retrain them plus the whole Passoa will be totally new most injuries this will not benefit. Plus once they up to 45/50 mins on horse walker or after there turnout/ rest period they want them back in yards to start trotting/ training again unless you going to offer that . But the equi massage plus magnets are a good idea. A turnout pen and horse walker are your most used bits of equipment apart from good husbandry and bandaging skills all depends if your Aiming at tab industry. I worked on a sick lame and lazy yard for 4 years
 
Thank you so much guys, really is much appreciated being able to talk idea's through.... Am going to see the architect this week so hopefully the ball can start rolling, even if it is going to be rolling for the next 2 years... might as well do it properly!!!
 
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