Stall Rest- Losing our minds

[Feathered_Feet]

Is sending him to a rehab facility an option? I’ve going through literally the same thing - a stifle ligament tear - and my horse just would. not. settle. at the barn where I had her, despite trazodone and ace. I moved her to a rehab facility out of desperation and it’s worked beautifully. Everyone there is on stall rest so everyone is just standing around, its nice and quiet, minimal activity, plus they are pros at handling and medicating hot horses on rest. It’s worked out so well they’ve actually been able to get mine completely off the drugs (for now, at least).

I feel your pain so much. The only other solution I can think of is more drugs. But it sounds like he’s at the roiling ball of nerves stage which is hard to sedate.

[theresak]

See what the vet recommends for drugs. I’d try a small pen and out 24/7 if the rest of his herd is out all the time. See if the barn will toss hay and keep the water tank for the herd near your horse’s pen. Also try increasing or decreasing the pen size or adding some hay pillows or toys to clutter up the ground and make him watch his feet. Could you increase the pen size but have a quiet buddy horse hang out with him 24/7?

Ask the vet specifically if he’s twirling around in his stall for the next X weeks versus slipping around in some mud a few times a day or broncing around the pasture for 2 minutes per day, which is more detrimental to the outcome? Even if leaving him out takes longer for the injury to heal but it’s expected he will still heal, I’d leave him out.

My horse never laid down in his stall again after coming off stall rest - I don’t know if it was due to the reserpine (maybe he fell and scared himself) or just the anxiety of being left alone in the barn. It caused long-term issues like sleep deprivation, falling down, fetlock sores resulting in cellulitis, etc. If I had known that the stall rest would have caused these long-term issues, I wouldn’t have done it but would have tried pen or small pasture “rest” with a buddy horse. Good news was the collateral ligament injury of the fetlock healed and he went back to full work for a few years, but I don’t think it improved his life to heal from the injury but to always have some anxiety about being in the barn for the rest of his life.

[ATXmom]

We just ended 6.5 months last week, with an all clear for regular turnout. Thankfully, the last 3 weeks he was able to be turned out in a tiny paddock, which helped a little…

[Arelle]

“Better living thru drugs” is my motto.

I’d ask the vet what else can be provided to him in order to give him the best possible chances of making a full recovery.

[Syrynx]

I tell him every day it’s a good thing he’s so cute!

I just texted my vet a pic of his wound after rebandaging and she and trainer are discussing tack walking. So fingers crossed! There is definitely a light at the end of this tunnel and it will be worth it in the end.

[Syrynx]

That is fantastic! You must be so relieved!

[alekezam]

I just found your thread for your horse and it sounds very much like my geldings injury! Hypoechoic lesion (dorsal patellar ligament) and desmitis of the medial femorotibial collateral ligament.

I’ve considered a rehab facility but would like that as a last resort. He definitely just hits a threshold of anxiety and then nothing seems to bring him down unfortunately.

[alekezam]

I really like how you worded him being out on pasture vs in a stall- and I’ve asked the vet exactly that tonight At the end of the day, he’s 20 this year and while that’s not old by any means, I just want him to be pasture sound. I’d love to ride him again, but if his sanity and well being means sacrificing that then I’ll do it.

[NaturallyHappy]

And some of them seem to “work up” and fight to get through the sedation. I wish I had more suggestions. Can horses have trazedone and ace?

[alekezam]

He’s definitely that type- he had to go to a vet hospital once and to get a line in him for IV they had to sedate him twice because once wasn’t enough. I have been given ace to use if needed, so it’s okay with trazodone, unfortunately he would likely need it at 12-2am and I can’t be there to give it to him then.

[Pico_Banana]

When you’re in a tough situation like you’re in, I’m a believer that you have to be flexible with some of the “usual” rules, as long as you can do so safely.

I think you can up the dose of trazodone. I attempted to foster a horse one time (total foster fail) and she came to me with a TON of anxiety. Jumping the fence, pacing, weaving, etc. All. The. Time. It was basically an emergency situation in attempting to not let her hurt herself/cause colic/etc. until we could get her to calm down.

We ended up giving her a ridiculous cocktail. Trazodone twice daily. She’s only 900 lbs and IIRC, I started her out at 20 tablets each dose. Coming in to her stall was the worst, so I would give her 2 cc’s Ace before bring in. I also had her on a daily calming supplement (I think I used PP Training Day as I wanted something that packed a punch.) I also handwalked her about 4 times a day (she lives at home with me).

All of this was cleared with my vet.

Eventually I weaned her off everything.

Good luck OP. I don’t envy you.

[NaturallyHappy]

As a barn owner, I’ve gotten up in the middle of the night for medication. Is there anyone where your horse is who might be able to do this?

[jingal]

Maybe try a goat companion? Or a miniature horse?

[alekezam]

Unfortunately I can’t just go out and buy another animal he’s also terrified of goats

[alekezam]

Not an option unfortunately

[ATXmom]

We are! It’s been an adventure for sure and not for the faint of heart.

OP - I hope you can get your horse settled in and find the right combination of meds and turnout.

[LuvMyTB]

On month 4 of stall rest here–just moved my mare to a rehab facility last week. She coped with the overall stall rest incredibly well, and handwalking too at first–but as the walking got longer and weather got colder she slowly started to go bonkers. I am pretty well versed in long rehabs and this is the first time I decided to let the pros handle it. A week in and she is doing very well–they are long lining her which she much prefers to hand walking and only needed medicating on the first day. They have a controlled environment, controlled schedule, and emotional detachment–none of which I could provide where I usually board. They also have all-weather footing paddocks, which I didn’t have access to either, so introducing turnout will hopefully be safer.

It’s scary expensive, but I can’t afford to replace this horse, so trying to give her the best possible chance at recovery. Added bonus: my anxiety has gone WAY down not worrying about trying to walk her when no one is riding, walking a nut job by myself at 8pm, worrying about working late or bad weather and not being able to get to the barn, etc.

[Feathered_Feet]

I’ll second this. Traz and ace are both remarkably safe at large doses. Obviously work with your vet, but if there’s a risk of re-injury (or - god forbid - a worsening of the initial injury, which is what happened to my horse… and trust me, it got BAD… like 4.5/5 lame, with talk of euthanasia), and nothing else is working, load 'em up. That would be the easiest thing to try now.

Obviously the timing is not ideal, since there’s no one in the middle of the night to drug (I get it - I board too, and I can’t imagine any of my barn managers getting up at 2 am to drug my horse for me), the oral traz might be your best bet for a slow, sustained release.

I know vets used to use fluphenazine and reserpine a lot. Not sure why they fell out of favor, but might be worth probing for 3rd line option sedatives as backup.

[Halternatively]

I’ve had a few horses on prolonged stall rest, and know how emotionally taxing it is for you!

I would take into consideration his age; his level of unhappiness; the effects of his agitation on his gut, mind and existing injury; and your desired outcome (pasture soundness) and weigh your options.

One option could be to allow Dr. Green and time heal him. IME, once my recovering horses were allowed turnout, it became less exciting and they just went out and buried their faces in grass for the day.

Is there more than one pasture at your current barn? If so, could he go out with a group of the older, quieter horses?

Or, is there a retirement barn nearby where he could live with a herd that moseys around instead of runs around? This would be far less expensive than a rehab barn and could be a quieter place for him to have turnout.

Best of luck to you and to your guy!

[mmeqcenter]

One of my mares is loony-tunes in stalls period, injured or not. I’ve had her for a little over 10 years, and she is 100% a horse that I won’t stall rest for more than a couple weeks. So, if she ever has some crazy catastrophic injury and just really can’t be out on Dr Green for months-on-end, I’d euthanize. She mentally just cannot handle being stalled, and IMO their mental health is just as important as their physical health. It would suck, of course, she’s my bestest girl, but that’s part of horse ownership. Last year, she had a small check ligament tear. I stalled her for two weeks per vet instruction. She got even more lame. So I threw my hands up and put her back out (she lives out 24/7 normally), and she was perfectly sound another two weeks later.

As with all things, it depends on the individual horse, and the injury, and etc. etc. etc… but…

*flame suit on * I am not a believer in stall rest as a general rule for many injuries. I’ve seen far more repeat injuries in horses that were stalled to heal than those that went out for some Dr Green. It takes longer with Dr Green, yes, but I feel that they heal much stronger than stalling. Just my experiences, though.