The first time I have ever felt worried...

Please done put draw reins on her
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I should think with a horse like she is it will only make her worse. Yes it might make you feel safer, but it would probably do more harm than good.

Use a neck strap and get someone to lead you around. If you dont have anyone to lead you then i suggest you just carry on walking her inhand.

As you know when i first had Archie he bronked everywhere and also dumped me the first time i rode him. I always used a neck strap, and if hes fresh at competitions in the warmup i also use one then.
 
I can sympathise. Going through the same thing with mine at the moment.
Although his explosions are the other way around.
We get about 10 minutes walk (with an angry mardy face) and then decide we will no longer be subjected to such drivel and then explode without warning!
Thought he might prefer a little toddle down the road instead, but we ended sitting on someones garden wall, so we are now confined to the indoor school.
Tis very boring!
 
Yep, we also lunged ours after 4 months of box rest with suspensory injury.... she was too loony to lead out or ride....

Popped and pessoa on her and just worked at keeping her as calm as we could...figured she could do less damage jollying round on her own than leaping and plunging with the added weight of a rider on board....
 
I know you say you cannot use ACP, but do you have her on a calmer? They can work really well even if it means double dosing for a while. I use Karma on mine or I woould have the same problem as you, and it worked really well.
 
Thank you so much to everyone...

I'll try and answer some things...

I won't be putting her in draw reins because she is far too soft in the contact anyway, I think she would just tuck her chin in and I would have no contact whatsoever then
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Now, that is one scary thought!!!

I have a husband who has agreed to come down tonight with me (only after I told him the life insurance would not go to him but to my parents
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), and he is going to walk around with the coupling chain on and help with any explosions. However, he is not very keen on this idea as last time he led her he ended up getting booted on the back of the leg!

The neck strap is now a must... I am looking for something I can use as we speak in the never ending pile of junk I have down stairs. So far I have come up with an old pair of reins that I do not use so could put some holes in and the guy at the yard will fasten it all with his gun thing
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Long lining is not an option as she is very forwards on the long lines (she has been taught by an expert
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) and there is no way I could keep her at walk. I have persevered for this long, I would never forgive myself if she did something ridiculous at this stage!

We don't have a horse walker
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Would love one though!!! However, I am not so sure going around in circles would be the best thing for a suspensory injury!

She is even worse walking in hand, which is why we started the ridden work
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Life is just far too exciting at the moment when you are a Grace
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There is nothing nasty in what she is doing, and believe me, if she wanted me off she would be able to do it. It is sheer excitement that she is out of her stable, and if it is a possibility I might even start riding her for 15 mins in the morning and then 40 mins at night (just need to speak to Peter about this). By the end of the week she should be on 50 mins, and I am hoping that the more she gets out, the better she will behave!
 
Make sure your stirrup treads and your boots are as dry as possible so that your feet don't slip out. Sounds obvious, but is worth doing.
Stirrup leather around the neck.
Perhaps slightly shorter stirrups if you tend to ride dressage length?
Make sure someone is around just in case your stickability fails.
I am sure she will be an angel next time you get on as she didn't win this time.
 
Have you spoken to your vet about her behaviour? You say you can't lunge turn out etc - but surely she's not actually walking at the moment although it's your intention! Sometimes although the ideal is the walking on box rest building it up in practiacl terms it's not possible and an alternative would do little chance of harm and be a lot safer for both of you? I've had vet change the plan depending on how the particular horse is coping
 
Yes my vet changed his plans on the next step for my mare (annular ligament and SDFT injury) when he saw how completely nuts she was straight off box rest. We went for 3 months paddock rest instead, as no way I was getting on her - she had to be sedated for her vet work up at the vets! *touch wood* she has been very sane for her in the paddock, with only the odd mexican wave parade!
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Good luck with Grace and whatever else, stay safe - you are not any good to her in a hospital bed!
 
Surely walking her on the lunge or walking her in hand in the school or even trotting her on the long lines would be far better for her recovery than having her exploding with a rider on her back. After 4 months box rest I had to walk mine in hand with side reins round and round the indoor school for 40mins at a time to strenghten him as he too would have exploded and done himself more damage.
 
I really don't want to put any side reins on her... she has only ever been put in them once or twice and she just tucked her head right in and the contact was completely behind the verticle. Plus, because she is also recovering from colic surgery, the idea of having her over bent would also create an issue with the muscles in her stomach in my opinion.

She is worse to walk in hand at the moment, again, she just explodes and I feel much more in control on her than next to her.

This is a replan... because she is recovering from two very serious ailments we are having to think up a compromise. Turnout in a paddock is not a possibility because she can not have any ACP for the initial few times, and as the ground is still very very deep and wet where I am, this would just risk all the hard work we have put into the strain of the ligament. I know she will not go in and eat... she is not that kind of mare, even when she is worked etc etc.

Good point about making sure the stirrup treads and my boots are clean and dry. Last night they were not as it was belting down with rain, and I had to walk into the arena with her and get on because she doesn't do gates at the moment
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The trouble with lunging is that you won't be able to prevent her from exploding and risk re injuring the ligament. It's times like this when horse walkers are a god send. Thankfully when my horse was going through this he went on a horse walker until the trot work began. I know what you're going through and it's not nice and you dread getting on board.
 
Just a thought... but might it be possiable to move her to a yard that has a horse walker while she is in walk work. Of course, this does depend on if she will behave on a walker or not.
 
She has never been on a walker... and there are no yards in our area that have one that I could move both horses into. Wonder if I could talk my YO into buying one just for a few more weeks
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Have you asked your vet about the swimming? If you had time to take her twice a week it would take some of the 'edge' of her as it's quite tiring for them.

Your original post said you hadn't had chance to ride her this weekend so this probably added to the problem. I know if Haj gets two or three days not ridden he turns into a lunatic (nothing as bad as Grace though TG!), but when in work every day he turns back into sane pony. Unfortunately life is such that there will always be days we don't have time to ride - get that neck strap on and hubby attached to the ground and remember to breath!
 
Thanks hun... I was planning on speaking to him about it when I go for the next scan on 19th March. She is not fit enough at the moment and I do not think her scar would be suitable just yet, so was hoping he could give her a quick mot and let me know whether we can do things like that as I definitely think they will help!

Tonight she was better, easier to get her stretching rather than feeling like a coiled spring
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It helped that Andy was stood in the middle of the arena talking to me, it kept me a little more relaxed
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But she did try to teach herself piaffe at one stage!!!
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Agreeing with Doublethyme - it's all very well to counsel "bravery" (if that's what you want to call it) but you're no use to Grace, or to the rest of your life, if you're hurt.

I'm always a bit amazed at vets for this sort of presciption. How exactly do they think that's going to work? I'm always a bit tempted to tell them to climb on up and show me!
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Do they not understand the potential for harm, both to the rider and to the recovering horse? It's all very well to say people should "ride through it" but if you can't do any of the things that would allow you to sensibly do that then what's the option? Blind luck? In my experience, that works just often enough to give people false confidence!

Your vet is supposed to be working with you for a good outcome so there's absolutely no shame in going back and explaining his/her plan is not working. If someone tells you to just do something you have a perfect right to ask them how. Maybe vets aren't actually aware of the problems of walking cooped up horses because riders take it as a personal failing when they can't just magically make the horse - especially a well bred one designed for power and speed - forget all its innate horsiness and turn into a plug just because it's convenient!

I've pointed out to a few vets over the years that a horse jumping up and down like a lunatic is not technically walking anyway. I know there's an implication that one is some sort of deficient rider for not being able to make such a horse walk quietly but that seems a less than perfect understanding of horses over all. (Look at how many people can't completely stop their horses from bucking/spooking/speeding up when they are turned out and ridden every day?)

Old stirrup leathers make the best neckstraps - easy to come by, strong and adjustable. You could also try an "oh jesus" strap that fits on to the D's of the saddle if you find the neckstap positions you too far forward but for a fresh horse I don't think that's as good a choice.

Good luck - this is a sticky situation for a lot of people. Hope you can find a solution that works for you and Grace. In the mean time, concern about a worrying, potentially dangerous situation doesn't make you a coward, it makes you a concerned owner with some sense.
 
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