thank you 
Fractures are VERY different than soft tissue injuries. The injury really does need to be immobilized to heal. Talk with your vet, but paddock seems like a very bad idea if your goal is full return to work.
ETA - I brought one back from a wing fracture. Didn’t leave the stall for the first 30 days. 5 min handwalking per day for month 2. 10 min per day for month 3. Then tack walking. Small turnout at month 5.
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When my horse was young and was prescribed “stall rest”, we had to get creative. Fortunately, no fracture was involved. Unfortunately, reserpine did nothing for him on the highest dose we tried. He was at a barn with all day turnout in paddocks, so real stall rest was not an option. My BO used hot wire to construct a small turnout within his paddock and he responded to Trazadone in gradually increasing doses. Handwalking could still get exciting, and I used his bridle, a long lead, and my dressage whip to help keep things in order.
I think you need a discussion with your vet about your choices and compromises. Some compromises are more detrimental than others and you need to be informed before you make your choices.
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Having gone through extended stall rest with a young, normally delightful horse, I would recommend a rehab facility if you can swing it.
It made a world of difference.
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YES!
This!
Lots of great ideas here, that likely worked amazingly for the people who posted them and will work for others in the future, but do not assume that these are the right answers for your horse with out asking your vet first. Each recovery situation has its own needs/requirements.
Jingles for a complete and simple as possible recovery.
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Agreed. People that do this for a living have lots of knowledge about drugs (in coordination with a vet, of course) and lots of creative ideas for keeping the horses sane. Rehab facilities are also set up differently - there are fewer horses coming and going (to turnout, to the ring, etc) and the vibe is just more chill. Everyone on site understands that all of the horses are to be kept quiet, so a good rehab facility will limit activity around the barns when they can and be cognizant of horses being hand walked (ie there’s not a jumping lesson going on when you’re trying to hand walk a horse kite).
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This made me laugh. I felt like I was cursed for hand walking. The number of times I would walk quiet stall rest horsey to the ring, keep things under control for 5-10 minutes, starting to walk her back to the barn, just to have a horse trailer come down the driveway, or have the day camp kids explode out of the arena, or trainer come out of the barn on the vocal young stallion 
and then kite!
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It’s the worst when everything is going so well then boom a truck rumbles down the driveway 
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Or you’re hand grazing very sweetly and explode into a baby dragon kite with no warning or reason, breaking your momma’s hand…
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Worth repeating. I looked up my initial report for the scapula fracture. The recommendation was to keep him in the stall only for at least 6 months. A couple of months later, we could see new bone growth but he was still on stall rest. He got some shockwave and PEMF treatments in the stall. He got his feet trimmed in the stall. I believe he was walking in the aisle earlier than expected (3-4 months?) because he was a really good boy. I kept all the doors closed and did it when the barn was quiet, often after dinner was served. After 6 months, we introduced quiet walking on arena footing. I have a thread documenting his journey. If he hadn’t been so well behaved, he probably wouldn’t have made it back to doing all the things he is doing now. Patient compliance can be very important! While some horses do comply better with small turnout or other scenarios, a fracture may not be able to heal in those circumstances.
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Yes, that’s why I don’t have high hopes of my guy being healed.
I did what I could with the limited funds I had (rehab is NOT for the shoe-string budget) including shock wave and later PEMF. That’s why we stopped (tapered of course) the drugs- I was just burning those $ bills (or in my case coins, because I’m Canadian) and they had a better use- like paying for his board. That’s why I decided to put him in the hands of Dr. Green 
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If my horse had this injury, I’d have on strict stall rest with pharmacy support. All the drugs to keep horse quiet.
Fractures don’t heal well with movement, at least not initially. Your best interest is to call a top sports vet or hospital and have them do a consult on a rehab plan. They have loads of secret tools/med combos for cases like this.
Soft tissue, I’d agree to turn out 100%.
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That’s the interesting thing…
When I expressed not-glee-but-better-than-abject-despair that it was a fracture rather than the high-suspensory tear that we thought it was, thinking I had 6 weeks of healing time and then I could begin a slow reconditioning program (
) I was soundly schooled that this was to be considered a soft-tissue injury and must be rehabbed as such 
Unfortunately Mr Horse did not get that memo
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Agree completely. Going to a new place establishes a new routine, and made a world of difference for my mare who was very very angry that her usual routine at the home farm had been taken away. She had a bone bruise that would never have healed but for the rehab barn. There are even barns that are geared just toward the stall rest and limited hand walking phases, as well as the next-phase rehab facilities where those that are cleared can swim, do the aqua-tread, or soak in the cold spa. My mare was losing her mind, and rearing and spinning, and blowing through all the meds, and one week at Kesmarc with no meds and she was completely back to normal and happy. And the barns that do this will coordinate with your vet on the protocol for your specific injury. Good luck, it is so tough to watch them go through this and be miserable!
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you ladies are both very right. when I say paddock, I mean a small dry lot that will be an extension of her stall. the vet said it would be okay to do a double stall, so this way she can have access to the outside.
if she couldn’t leave the stall for six months, she would not make it. having small walks on the barn aisle cement is approved, so I trust my gut with ten minute straight-lined walks in the arena, where her feet step straight to the earth on the solid footing.
while keeping vet recommendations and the advice of people who have had similar experiences in mind, I have to make decisions for my mare that keep her alive. remaining in the stall until mid-summer is simply not an option. she’d have to be put her down because she’d be unable to handle that.
I am glad your horses are okay. I appreciate your advice––I really, really do!
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absolutely!
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wishing you the best <3
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I agree. She was diagnosed with an MRI at a top hospital where the vet recommended the cement aisle walking, bar shoe and medicines/therapy. However the plan was delivered quickly, very black and white, and 1 month into the stall rest, with problems and variations arising, maybe a consult for a more specific plan would help.
thank you for this advice!
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I won’t die on this hill, but really encourage you to ask your vet about the aisle vs arena plan. It’s worth reiterating what others have said, even if your footing seems firm and level, those are two very different surfaces and there is a reason your rehab plan specified cement. You have gotten lots of great advice, I hope you’re able to keep your girl happy and comfy and wish you a good recovery!
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