horse (25 year old mare) has proximal suspensory desmitis - she is currently at a layup barn and i know the recovery can be long… up to a year. my question is this - for those who have been in the same situation, did you keep your horse in the layup barn the whole time, or just through the acute phase and then move back to your normal boarding situation? im not planning to have her rehabbed to ride, as long as she is pasture sound and comfy im happy
I don’t know anyone who has sent a horse to long term layup because I’m at a self board barn with hands on owners. People even come here to do rehab on horses.
Honestly I don’t see great results with stalls plus handwalking. The rest of the body falls apart. I myself would get the horse on pasture life as soon as possible.
I would also be alert to the possibility there is DSLD expressing itself and the issues will be progressive.
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Most people move suspensory horses to rehab barns because the small turnout and initial 2x daily handwalking part of the current accepted rehab protocol (and the… sometimes explosive horses) is too much or not doable at their current place. Or the show barn doesn’t keep rehabs on site. If your home barn is set up to accommodate a rehab and the staff (or yourself) are able to handle it, no reason to use a special facility.
If she’s not going to be riding sound, why did you move her in the first place? What’s your rehab protocol from the vet? For a pasture puff, I’d be looking for somewhere local with a small, flat paddock and a quiet friend to keep her company. Obviously I’m not a vet and don’t know the extent of her injury, which can change all that.
I say this as my personal horse is at a rehab facility for a suspensory (front), doing handwalking and 12x24 paddock rest, and will be there for a year. The hope is to ride him again. The vet says that he can’t be allowed on uncontrolled turnout until he’s fully back to work, as the idea is to build correct fiber patterns and not let him tear it doing stupid things outside (which he DOES). So, he’s going to be there a year. If he was older and I just wanted a pasture pet, and he was normally chill in turnout, the vet said I could find him a flat paddock and see where he is in 6-12 months. Which is what I’ll be doing if we don’t see improvement at the 6 month mark.
To answer your original question, you might leave her at the layup place until you have a grasp on if she’s going to tolerate reduced turnout, and if you do or don’t see improvement on the recheck ultrasounds. She sounds like a candidate for paddock retirement board with a quiet friend, to me though.
It kind of depends on the rehab place and what they offer and are set up for compared to a boarding facility in your area. They aren’t all created equal in terms of slow reintroduction to turnout or much/any turnout at all.
If you can start getting her fit in a controlled manner at rehab like with treadmill work and small paddocks, then I would take advantage of that for some time after healing looks good, especially if the horse doesn’t make the best decisions in turnout. But it is kind of a lot to do for a horse who doesn’t need to be rideable at the end….but fitness helps keep them sound.
