Really fed up - can't keep Pidge chilled out whilst on box rest

P

Pidge

Well-Known Member
Joined
29 June 2005
Messages
5,088
Visit site
Ok so mum and dad looked after the horses yesterday as me and sis were doing the elections. As Pidge is on box rest they mucked out to the best they could in the morning and again at night. Well got the yard at 8.15am, fed and started mucking out, 3 wheelbarrows later at 11.00am I'd finished
crazy.gif
didn't find a single piece of poo bigger than a drinks mat, most was in tiny pieces! Put Pidge in Sunnys box whilst doing this but can't always do this when Sunny is in. When he is tied up outside his box he fidgets constantly even if I put him a haynet, grass, water lickit etc he still won't stand still. Well it is really starting to do my head in as I am trying to muck out and he won't stand still and he is supposed to be resting his leg not constantly moving round on it. Felt like crying at the yard
crazy.gif
did yell at him a couple of times to stand still, to no avail so tapped him on his bum and that didn't work either - all I've done is get worked up about it and upset him when I lost my temper and yelled at him
crazy.gif
I know I shouldn't have done it but he was so p***ing me off and I was fed up of picking very small bits of poo out of his bed! don't know how I am going to get through the next couple of days without killing him
crazy.gif
any ideas on how to get him to chill whilst I muck out? sorry for long post............
 
How often and when are you giving him the ACP? My YO's youngster I was telling you about has been cantering (literally) around her stable, especially when I took my mare out. She is now sandwiched between my mare and YO's motherly one, and has sedalin whenever she's likely to get worked up (at night when the horses leave the yard to be turned out, again in the morning when they come back in). She's also on some calmer from the vet which is apparently twice the strength of Nupafeed but half the price (not comercially available apparently but it's got nothing nasty in it (is legal)). I could find out the name of the stuff if you wanted so you could ask your vet about it?
 
he's on 4 ACP in the morning and 4 at night. Is it worth ringing the vets and seeing if he can up the amount? Can you give them calmer if he's already on ACP or is it better to see if we can up the ACP?
It's just I don't like mucking out with him in the stable but cause he's in 24/7 he's muckier and therefore its taking me longer to muck out so he's getting fed up tied up outside. I can't even turn him out in one of schools as he's supposed to be resting. I did try this morning to muck out with him in the box (they are big boxes) but he once he'd ate his breakfast he just wanted to play with me and spent the whole time giving me groomies or trying to chew the shavings fork! so in the end put him in Sunny box for a while. Just feel really bad as when I lost my temper with him it did upset him as he is actually quite a sensitive sole
frown.gif

Oh and also he had snotted on the wall and it wasn't white so is that bad? It was like a pale yellowy colour.
 
god he's only been on it since Monday night and I feel ready to snap already
crazy.gif
did you get really fed up when Hector was on box rest?
 
Most of the time! and he was box rested for about 4 months
crazy.gif


but Hector is the sort of horse that takes offence very easily so I soon learnt to hide my annoyance and act all happy and cheerful, didnt make him behave any better though
grin.gif
 
4 months OMG you deserve a medal!
Think it was worse today as am so tired after elections yesterday, will have to learn to take a deep breath and count to a 100 or perhaps 100000000
smirk.gif
 
Does he have the ACP a while before you muck him out? My friend's horse is on 8 ACP whenever she needs it, so if she's in a hyper mood and we want to turn her out in her pen wshe gets the tablets, and 30-60 mins later she is away with the fairies! Maybe try (if possible) to time the mucking out with the time when the ACP starts really working? As for the calmer, I have no idea if it can be used with ACP but obviously it must be ok with sedalin. But then I'm sure your vet could tell you.
I don't think pale yellowy snot is much to worry about, as long as it doesn't go another shade or change consistency too much. Maiden is on garlic while she's in as she often has nosebleeds after I work her hard, and I thought she'd be fine on box rest as she wasn't doing anything, and I always feed her off the floor and give her soaked hay off the floor, but she had a really bad bleed about a month ago. I've also noticed she's a little more snotty and has quite a bit of muck up her nose (as obviously she's not out long enough to get rid of everything) so I've stuck her on garlic to help keep her clear. Seems to be working as she's not quite as snotty as she was!
 
Have you tried a stable mirror , as I have posted before it was a miracle with mine no one could believe it was the same horse, but fit it high against a flat wall and buy one pre drilled
 
he has it in his food as he licks his bowl clean
grin.gif
but he will eat them from hand as he thinks they are treats
smirk.gif
he is big horse and is about 577kg at the mo so do you think 4 are enough?
Cheers re his snotty nose, not a nice subject to talk about but it was thick and spread on the wall so had to get a couple of wet wipes to clear it up
crazy.gif
He has to have hay in a net as he is so messy, if I put it in a corner on the floor well it would be a nighmare! He already has 1 heaped scoop of garlic in each feed so not sure I could give him any more?
 
8 ACP is bugger all for a horse his size! Have sooo been where you are and you just want to weep with frustration.

Willow at 480KG was on about 16 ACP once and it never did him any harm.

I think the stable mirros can be got for about 40 quid so would definitley give that a try
 
thanks honey
grin.gif
he has radio 2 on the radio at the moment
grin.gif
though have had to move the radio and everything else out of reach as he has started playing with them, he regulary throws my coat on the floor, he is obviously bored already but can't put him a snack ball as want to restrict his movements really!
 
think that may be a good idea, might have to go shopping to tack shop this afternoon then
grin.gif
the horse ones aren't glass are they?
 
My friend's horse is a teeny Anglo Arab though, only 15.2hh and dainty (bay in my sig actually). So in that case I'd talk to your vet about giving him more, as you said he isn't going to heal well if he's being a prat in the stable! And I don't think my garlic (NAF stuff) is meant to be more than 2 scoops a day. I only chose garlic because I couldn't afford "proper" respiratory supplement. Would have gone for the NAF 5* stuff or something along those lines, apparently the NAF stuff is pretty good (friend with RAO horse uses it).
 
that's exactly how I felt this morning
crazy.gif
was so so tempted just to chuck him out in the field and think sod it! Ok am gonna ring the vets and see what they say about upping his ACP tablets. and then shopping this afternoon.
 
Boo was on complete box rest for 5 months, and is still in now, though gets out 4 hours a day ( thats 7 months now). And I found the ONLY way to get her to stay still when i was cleaning her out was to give her a bucket. I put her cortaflex in her feed which was simply "Safe n Sound" or, before that "Hi fi lite". Its relatively cheap and I dont give her much, just enough for her to attack while I clean out.
Also, I used to bribe my little sister into grooming/fussing her while I was cleaning her out, as in, giving her a good scratch so she relaxes etc.

Only other thing I can come up with is tying him to the ground using heavy duty ropes and stakes
tongue.gif

Ive been close to that a few times...
tongue.gif
 
Got my mirror on ebay £25 plus postage they are acrylic but do need to be quite high.Not kidding he just stood and chilled looking at his friend.It came the next day was a great service from a firm in Leics
 
Have you tried him on any calming supplements? Not sure if you have heard of placid by D&H they have a website you could check out?? It is herbal, so could probably be used with ACP, Im not certain, you would have to check.
ACP takes at least 20-30 minutes to start working, therefore why not try feeding him waiting for the ACP to kick in and then tying him up, or even mucking out around him?
4 is a small amount for pidge's size, maybe upping his dose to 6/7 morn and eve?
A mirror could do the trick too
smile.gif
 
My horse was on box rest for 3 months last year, after he'd been mucked out I sat in the manger and just scratched his neck/withers area like another horse would do when mutual grooming each other. He would chill out and close his eyes and drift off. I did that three times a day and it did seem to help him calm down. He also had lickits, swedes and a salt lick.
 
Deep litter him, saves loads of time and money. All of mine are deep littered I only poo pick them and add new straw when needed. The wet is taken out twice a year- never had cleaner stables.

Tie swedes, apples, carrots on string and hang from the ceiling. And a mirror might definitely work. Hopes this helps.
grin.gif
 
Boodle, Sis did a great job yesterday evening in grooming, mane and tail, feet, and a good 10 min walk round the yard
grin.gif
which gave me time to get most of the mucking out done as not so messy last night. Plus he had groomies with Sunny when sis brought him as she tied them up together so that kept him happy. Like your last idea
smirk.gif

Carthorse, ah good acrylic sounds a lot better than glass, phew, added to shopping list.
Smurf, vet has called back last night and said to try him on 5 ACP morn and night and see how he goes. Will just have to try and restrict the amount of time he is tied up me thinks.
Bess, have been doing the mutual grooming hence a bruise on my arm
mad.gif
he forgot I was human and obviously thought I was Sunny
tongue.gif
I know all his weak spots that he loves scratching so do tend to indulge him, not that he’s spoilt of course
smirk.gif

Ooh Claire, the thought of deep littering him is so appealing but he is on shavings and despite having a deep bed he still manages to get to the bottom, he can be very messy so really don’t think deep littering would work. Can’t tie anything from the ceiling as we are in a barn and the roof is like way way too high up
mad.gif
But will definitely be getting an acrylic mirror as lots say they are good
grin.gif
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top