4-6 month stall rest

[IPEsq]

Rest and stabilization is needed for a fracture especially somewhere like P3 where the bone is just suspended in the foot. You need it to be immobilized as best as possible to heal well without secondary issues. That’s why a plate is used to keep the digital cushion from doing its thing as much as normal.

Signed, horse owner who dealt with a scapula fracture while next door neighbor horse also went through rest for a nondisplaced P3 fracture.

I would definitely listen to your vet about how much movement is allowed the first few months and on what type of surface.

[fanfayre]

Yes, dealing with one right now, although not in foot, but below the hock. Been ongoing for 12 months (as of today, actually. Happy anniversary, us 🙍🏻)
Stall rest was a complete bust. Trazadone and then fluoxetine did absolutely nothing but ramp up the anxiety.
So I tossed him out into the paddock to graze quietly which, for the most part, he did.
Will reassess sometime in the early new year, and if there’s no improvement then he will be formally retired, since he will be 20 and I don’t want to aggravate his injury even on a walking trail ride, not that I want to restrict myself to walking trail rides anyway.

[Demerara_Stables]

Lots of good advice here. I’d echo discussing different drug options with your vet - every animal (just like people) reacts differently to each drug.

Second, do you have fence panels you can use to build a stall outside? My horse was much happier “turned out” in a 12x12 fence panel stall next to the pasture with her buddies rather than inside. She got some grass (we moved the panels daily for fresh grass), and sunshine. The only thing to consider is your soil/grass - if she needs to be on a hard surface and your soil is soft or muddy, it probably won’t work.

[No1]

I’ve seen horses get way more traz than that. And one who was getting dosed 3x/day.

I’ve also rehabbed a fair number of horses from various injuries and I hate ace. It’s not a reliable sedation. You’ll think they’re ok and then they blow through it in seconds. If your vet will dispense Zylazine to you, that’s much more reliable and doesn’t make them wobbly like some of the other sedatives. You can give some in the vein and some in the muscle at the same time and, by the time the IV dose wears off, the IM dose is kicking in. If your vet won’t dispense Zylazine, you could try the IM/IV dose with ace. It might work a little better. No matter which sedative you use or how you give it, make sure you are waiting the appropriate amount of time for it to kick in before you do any moving around. Like, give it and leave your horse in the stall for 20 minutes after if you are only giving it IM.

Also, what blankets you are putting on can really make a difference to some horses. One mare I rehabbed only kept it together if she was blanketed similarly to the clipped horses, despite being unclipped. Not enough to make her sweat, but enough to keep her from feeling any type of chill.

As lots of other people have said, please, do listen to your vet about footing. It can be very important.

[hail]

thank you for the reply. good luck to you and your boy <3

[fivestrideline]

@No1

If your vet will dispense Zylazine to you, that’s much more reliable and doesn’t make them wobbly like some of the other sedatives

Or you have a horse like mine that gets the Zyla-Meanies and has a note in his chart that he CANNOT have it . Turns out it’s somewhat common. Sweetest horse in the world starts trying to kill people with calculated intent on zylazine .

Dorm is a good options for some, as well as upping the traz. I’d ask the vet. And stick to the hard footing, you don’t want to be undoing all your hard work!

[joiedevie99]

Check with your vet on the arena walking. Nice footing is probably not what you want here. You want stability over comfort, i.e. concrete. pavement, etc.

The one thing I haven’t seen mentioned is ulcer management. The stress caused by the injury and confinement can cause ulcers, and those can cause major personality shifts on their own. Some horses will do much better with different ulcer management.

[Texarkana]

I had a dear, sweet problem child who spent way too much time on stall rest.

Trazodone did almost nothing for her. She kicked down a stall wall on Trazodone.

Ace would help, but it’s effects were short-lived and she’d be right back to going ballistic. Same with dorm and any other short-acting sedative.

The only thing that kept anyone’s sanity intact was an outdoor stall where she could see her friends.

Hand-walking is such a big ask of a horse who has been confined for months. Being spooky is pretty typical.

[Pezanos]

Agree. Mine is on stall rest and being a good patient for the most part but when I see the behavior getting dicey ulcergard/nexium helps.

[trakehners]

My horse was on what was supposed to be minimum two months of stall rest for his hind suspensories last summer, with the help of trazodone, gabapentin, and methocarbamol (Robaxin).

He developed a tolerance to it in under a month, ended up kicking me in the ribs before our vet-prescribed 30-minute daily hard ground tack walk about four weeks on, and put me in the hospital with a broken rib and lacerated liver.

We ended up deciding (in collaboration with our vet) to put him on the lowest-possible dose of reserpine and stick him out in a small flat paddock (in August in PA, so the ground was pretty hard) where he could move around but didn’t have enough space to build up any meaningful speed. He spent another couple of months out there before we were both cleared to go back to work and he went right back to being his overgrown Golden Retriever self once he was allowed to move every day.

I see you said upthread that reserpine didn’t work for your horse, but if I were you, I’d talk to your vet about what all of your options are re: medication (as others have already suggested). I’m not always a proponent of better living through chemistry but in situations like this it can make a massive difference and it’s typically safer for everyone. A fellow boarder at my barn had her horse on stall rest for a few months after he fractured his shoulder and he was getting IM Ace every time they hand-walked toward the end because he was blowing through the oral option much more quickly.

[Demerara_Stables]

@joiedevie99

The one thing I haven’t seen mentioned is ulcer management. The stress caused by the injury and confinement can cause ulcers, and those can cause major personality shifts on their own. Some horses will do much better with different ulcer management.

Yes this! Think about signs of ulcers in horses that aren’t on stall rest - spookiness, being fresh under saddle, etc. It’s possible you have an ulcer issue in addition to her being fresh from being confined. I’d definitely mention it to your vet and see what you can do to mitigate ulcers.

[SLW]

I don’t see how you do stall rest with a horse. My 12.2 donkey was diagnosed with a torn ligament in a front pastern a few years back. Treatment- stall rest with restricted hand walking.

72 hours into stall rest she went donkey postal on me using her big ole donkey head as an axe. Called Doc and said “this is a problem- one of us going to be killed” so he had me allow her access to the 30’ run directly off her stall. I did not have another issue with her the entire 9 months that she was confined.

It might help if that is an option now, or down the road, with your horse.

Good luck, stall resting horses is not for sissies!!!

[hallie2]

this. my bo built my horse a mini paddock w fence panels attached to his stall, that way he could see the other horses. it was maybe twice the size of his stall. vet approved. he walked in and out of the stall into his mini-paddock. he didn’t need any meds to stay calm. and it made me feel so much better about his confinement. really made it more tolerable. also, trazodone can have paradoxical effects and increase agitation. you might try lowering the dose.

[fanfayre]

I did try that with my guy. It just gave him more room to spin even though his neighbour was <15 feet away from him, in sight at all times, plus on the maximum (+) dosages of the drugs I mentioned.

[fivestrideline]

Hey, same! Mine learned how to get into a gallop and do sliding stops in a 12x24 space. Also, spins. I called him my self-trained reining OTTB

Still, an outside paddock or run would be my first step, while experimenting with drugs and dosage.

Stall rest is no joke.

[hail]

NOT for sissies! a small paddock would probably fix everything. thanks for your input—your donkey description gave me a giggle haha glad you both survived it!

[hail]

I think this is the plan! thank you so much! hope your guy is doing well now.

[hail]

I am so sorry to hear about your injury. how scary! so many women have mentioned turnout in a small paddock and I think that would fix everything. I appreciate you sharing your story and for the advice <3

[hail]

yes! the spookiness is a side effect I didn’t anticipate. and the paddock seems to be the smartest option.

THANK YOU EVERYONE FOR YOUR INPUT AND SHARED STORIES! it was nice to hear encouragement and know I am not the only one going through a complicated, extended stall rest.

[joiedevie99]

Depending on how much support we think the horse needs, we either give a full tube before breakfast every morning for 28 days, or a quarter tube. Then, assuming the horse has a long planned stall rest, we try to transition to something like Outlast 3-4x/day to reduce cost.