Turning Out after Box Rest

[Andrew657]

My horse has been on box rest for three months after cutting leg/ bruising his tendon (field injury - suspect overreach).

Got vet coming for next scan next week - hoping (but not counting chickens) he will be allowed to be turned out.

Has been going on walker/ being walked in hand (mostly) calm for last six weeks.

Any advice to reduce risk of re-injury/ should I be asking vet about sedation ?

Many Thanks

Andrew

 

[Pinkvboots]

I would use sedalin to start with how much to give rather depends on the horse and how they will react, I have given my 15h Arab half a tube waited at least an hour for it to work then turned out in a very small area of rested field so all they want to do then is eat, and they only get a short amount of time out while I am around and I increase the time out daily and reduce the sedation, I am lucky as mine are kept at home so I can have the field set as I like and can keep an eye on them, do you a smallish field he can go out in to start with just even for an hour would be enough to start ?

 

[Andrew657]

Thank you - he's on livery rather than at home.

Can use a small paddock - however these currently have no grass.

 

[ceva]

when vet said I could turn out, I took my horse for a walk first, and grazed in hand while his field companion went out and got settled to eating some grass/hay, then when I got back from short walk (he was a calm horse anyway) I popped lunge line on held similar to a headcollar rope, then let him graze and walk about a bit in field with me with him, when he seemed happy I
took headcollar and lunge line off and let him go, paddock was reduced with electric fencing to about half acre so he could have a bit of a run but not mental gallops, I had saved a bit of grass too, so that helped, he rolled, then when he got up just broke wind had one big buck then just cantered nicely to his field mate and got on with eating the grass, sorted, so pleased was dreading it, I have just today ridden him for the first time since he was off and he was a star, so all worked well for me. I did think of a couple of squirts of sedaline but he a calm character so decided not too.

 

[Pinkvboots]

Thank you - he's on livery rather than at home.

Can use a small paddock - however these currently have no grass.

I know its not easy but i would go for a smaller area first even if bare for a horse thats been in for 3 months it will be a real treat to get a bit of fresh grass even if it is short, can you maybe tie a small hole hay net on the fence that might help especially if you restrict hay while the sedalin is working, speak to your vet about dosage but horses are different my 16.2 only needed a few mls whereas my Arabs need much more although there smaller it's a bit of trial and error and sort of knowing what they will be like.

 

[buzyizzy]

When I first turned mine out after six weeks box rest (which he didn't need and was misdiagnosed, but that's another story), I made an area outside his stable that was of box size that was grassy, with a line of fence down the middle that didn't join up at each end, like a mini track system. Having had him canter on the spot when he was going round to be cold hosed, I thought he'd go berserk, but not so. Head down, a couple of squeals and he settled. Each day I extended it a bit until it was a tiny paddock that shared a fence with his friends. Then after two weeks, he went out with his friends into the field and all was quiet. I've used the box size paddock since on livery and it worked a treat. Vet wanted him to be kept quiet whilst his sidebone was settling down, but didn't want him box rested.

 

[Allykat]

I've just done this with mine. He's been on box rest since the middle of Jan with what turned out to be a collateral ligament strain in the hock.

I discussed what to do with my yard owner and we decided to just go for it without sedation. I think it will depend on your horse but we decided mine would probably canter off once the sedation wore off anyway so might as well just let him get it out his system. It worked for us. On discussion with YO we talked about finding the right time to do it. Pick a time when the horses and yard is quiet with not much going on if you can. Pick a warmer day. Mine had his first time out about an hour before evening feed. All the others had come in so we're stuffed and quiet. Mine had a roll followed by a buck and only a small canter round then he just ate grass. He's now going out most days building up time with the others and time eating grass.

Good luck. What ever you do will be nerve wracking!

 

[Andrew657]

Thank you for sharing your advice and experiences. Now hoping scan comes back clear.