4-6 month stall rest

[IPEsq]

@horsepooramateur

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!

Absolutely echo this.

I understand your concerns. Truly. With my horse’s injury, it’s very possible another horse would not have survived it much less returned to work, because he was just such a good patient, and so many horses are not! But sometimes just getting out of the stall a little bit as allowed—your small dry lot run out and the concrete aisle—can help the mental state while keeping them under control and striking the best balance between the horse’s sanity and allowing the injury to heal. But strict stall rest and being mindful of surfaces is really the best in the beginning if you want the horse to recover from a fracture. Doing more than recommended for her mental health might leave you with a horse that’s alive next year but permanently lame.

I echo looking into a rehab barn. They really can help with keeping them quieter. My friend’s horse was not a great patient and was on a lot of chemical support when resting for her P3 fracture even though she had the company of my horse next door.

[trubandloki]

@hail

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!

A double stall would likely be all one surface. An attached paddock might include a threshold to walk over with different footing.

I am not saying it is not OK, but pointing out that they are not the same thing.

(I dealt with stitches in the lower leg once, nothing as serious as what you are dealing with, and my vet was all for more room to walk around but was very worried about the damage that might be caused if the horse hit their hoof on the threshold between the inside stall and the attached paddock.)

[hallie2]

could be worse. I know someone whose horse broke his pelvis and needed 6 mos of stall rest but tied up so he couldn’t move. not allowed to lay down to sleep. awful.

[PonyPenny]

I know people who have great results with swimming at a rehab place. In 2011, my horse had a severe hind suspensory tear with an evulsion fracture and went to this place in Ocala, FL. https://epcrehab.com/equine/equine-swimming-pool/

[PaddockWood]

I’ve been through two stints of 6 months of stall rest with a dear beloved and now gone horse. It can be a time of a deepening and development of a relationship like you never new possible . I would sit in my horse’s stall and read a book and just be there. Boy did he know it and it helped him so much.

You could start out your session by meditating for 10-15 minutes. Not only would it help you but your horse would also get in that energy. You could teach clicker training if you both haven’t already explored it.

Start a journal and write at every visit.

It’s hard to imagine now but the time will pass and the next thing you know it’s December 2025. And then 5 years later.

Wish you the best.

[hail]

oh this is so sweet! thank you <3

[SonnysMom]

My Sonny horse had a hind suspensory tear and avulsion fracture. My vet recommended water treadmill over swimming. She felt that a strong hind kicking motion in a pool could be an issue. The water treadmill was more controlled.

[pn]

My guy had an mri showing effusion around thecoofin bone and anuular ligament. only a 1 of 5 lamness. Stall rest not considered and option since he is a firecracker and can rear, buck and canter in his stall. I turned him out in a ting grass paddock and he was quiet til the grass was dying and then was balistic. since he wast still lame, stall rest it is… for min 3 months, no handwalking because he can buck and spin on a dime. 1200 mg of trazadone and hes happy. since its my own small barn, i let him loose while i muck. he is up and down the aisles, roomba’s each stall of breakfast remnants and is my happy dog. best thing ever for this horse with a busy brain- concrete aisles offer solid footing and he is finally happy with his turnout. although he loves to raid the cupboard in the aisle and terrorize the cats .

[hail]

just wanted to thank everyone that gave their best advice and encouraged me. we are well into our fourth month and she is healing appropriately. she’s got a rehab plan in place and has recently been in a small paddock instead of a stall: it’s made the world of difference.
extended stall rest is HARD. for more reasons than one. but it’s possible to get through!

[fanfayre]

So happy for you!

Unfortunately my guy’s story is not so great as other degenerative issues have popped up in the other legs, so he’s being given a very good week and then his rehab/retirement will be all over

[jvanrens]

Such a relief that your girl has gotten this far along! I hope your rehab plan goes perfectly and she is good to go after all of yours (hers and yours!) time!

[Mango20]

I had nothing to contribute to your original thread, but now my horse is almost 2 months into a long stall rest (articular fracture of P3, currently almost 6 weeks out from surgery to remove a fragment and insert a screw). She’s been surprisingly okay with stall rest so far. The discharge instructions were pretty fast moving - 2 months stall rest with hand grazing allowed and daily walks into the aisle, 3rd month hand walks twice a day, 4th month small turnout, 5th month return to ridden work if sound. After 6 weeks of stall rest, she’s still very lame on that leg so I think all of those times will need to be pushed back. We go in for new imaging and a new shoe in 10 days. I’m glad your mare is doing well. I hope I start seeing a meaningful improvement soon here.

[Showbizz]

I’m so sorry

[hail]

thank you!!!

[hail]

I wish you the best. trust your gut as you move forward—i’ve learned horse healing is not linear and looks different for everyone

[hail]

I am very sorry to read this

[Nikki]

Might want to put her on a ration balancer with excellent hay and cut her hard feed. I did this with my guy during his stall rest and it made such a difference. Granted he’s on tack walking and tiny turnout but the first month it helped him.