We started off crushing the pills and mixing it with molasses and sweet senior feed, he ate it pretty decently. Then we started just splitting the pills in half and again mixing it with sweet senior feed and crunchy hi fiber feed and the crunchiness of that food seemed to mask the pills a bit (water was added to all of this). Eventually he would just eat everything no problem as I believe he got used to the taste of the pills 
He isn’t the pickiest eater however. My vet did say I could crush and add to water in a syringe and let it dissolve and administer it that way if he absolutely wouldn’t eat it!
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Animal communicators always intrigue me but I don’t know if I believe them enough to shell out the money I have definitely thought about it though! I’m glad it worked with your horse 
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Just a small update and I want to thank everyone for your advice! I never thought this forum would be so immensely helpful, even just the amount of support I’ve gotten has been nice as well. It’s definitely been a struggle feeling lost and alone while trying to manage stall rest
I emailed my vet as I just don’t think stall rest is working long term. She did suggest reserpine- however with the fact he already seems to have ulcers, she said she agrees that maybe we shouldn’t irritate his gut further. She had me take some videos of him moving, and she was impressed with how much better he is moving compared to six weeks ago. She agrees that his overall wellbeing comes above anything else- which I think is paramount especially as I finally took a photo of him and compared it to him in December, which I’m including here. It’s shocking and very disappointing for me to see just how much he has dropped in a month.
She said we should try him out in his small pen 24/7, at least for the next few weeks to give his ligament a bit more time to heal before potentially turning him out with the herd. While he doesn’t love the pen, I think it’s a better option than the stall and fingers crossed he settles into it better if he’s out there 24/7. This spring like temperature we’ve been having definitely doesn’t help. Thank you everyone for weighing in however!
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Twice I was cursed with 6 mos of stall rest for soft tissue injuries. I would take a great book and sit for an hour reading in the company of my horse. I don’t know if that’s an option for you but it proved to be calming for my horse and very bonding. He really enjoyed the company. He would come touch me and go back to eating his hay.
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Agreed - we generally syringed with water also. Sometimes if its only a few for some odd ball need I can sneak them in a few of those thick molasses cookies. But syringing is easier once they start to get suspicious. .
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Awww it’s so hard. I’m glad you’re trying something else with your vets blessing. It’s so hard keeping them quiet and seeing the rest of their fitness kinda waste away - mine is certainly going to have a lot of fitness to build once she’s ready to leave rehab. You’re certainly not alone. I hope the small turnout helps! {hugs}
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Oh good luck and please keep us posted on how he does.
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Bad news: Went to let him out of his stall and into his pen this morning and he was quite lame again- looked like he did 6 weeks ago with a bit of toe walking and resting the leg a lot. It looks like he actually laid down in the stall which he hasn’t been doing, and I’m not sure if he got stuck or something, but he wasn’t lame last night when he was put in 
So disappointing
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So sorry to hear about your boy. These situations are so frustrating and stressful, really for both of you.
For your peace of mind, and his, it seems that the two best choices are rehab or just turn him back out.
He will most probably be easier on his own body and mind if he’s back in his routine. You said he’s 20 and has lived out 24/7 for quite a while? I cant imagine he would act much like an idiot… dose him good to get thru the initial few hours. I know several people who have sent horses to rehab and had good success, but I will say that most were looking at bringing them back for some level of competition.
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I’m so sorry to hear this update. I think I would still consider loading him up on whatever calming med you think is working best and turning him out in his pen. If it makes him feel less stressed, it might end up being less stress on the ligament than what he does to himself when stalled.
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Or as 2tempe suggests, send him to a rehab facility. Sometimes they can accept a new routine better when everything is new.
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We have him out right now in his pen with some ace and bute on board. I’m planning on leaving him in the pen with a friend and staying the night to keep an eye on him. I don’t think I can stomach putting him back in a stall now 
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Oh this breaks my heart…what kind of tear does he have? A meniscus tear? Did you do anything specific for that like IRAP or Prostride? So hard for healing at 20. Can you keep him on ulcer guard, respirine and then either back in the stall or in the pen? If he quickly becomes that lame back in a pen, that would have me concerned that this injury just isn’t going to heal well. Sure hope your vet has some other suggestions but I would think this tear should be healed better than this by now 
He has a hypoechoic lesion in his dorsal patellar ligament, which the vet said is a tear, as well as fraying/stretching/desmitis in his medial femorotibial collateral ligament. This was found with only ultrasound. I didn’t pursue an arthroscopy, so my vet did advise me there could be other damage that we can’t see. They were worried he may have something going on in his pelvis/hip as well with how he was palpating. Vet hasn’t suggested IRAP or Prostride.
Vet said 6-8 months of healing. His vet was so impressed 2 days ago with how he was moving, I’m not sure what he did in his stall to get back to looking like he did 6 weeks ago I think he got stuck laying down and kicked the wall hard or slipped in the stall or something like that.
I called the emergency vet line for advice, and that vet said hopefully he just tweaked it and it’ll be feeling better again by tomorrow.
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Yes he’s lived out 24/7 since he was 8 years old. He has some bad stall habits as he raced when he was 2/3. At this point I don’t think he can do worse then whatever he did in the stall last night. We’re going to do our best to keep him quiet in the pen, but at 20 years old I really just want him to be able to live out his life comfortably. He means the world to me and I’m happy with just that from him, he doesn’t owe me anything.
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When I was rehabbing my mare from a suspensory, I put her on Tendon EQ. I have no idea if it helped or not, but it made me feel better.
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And is your horse on anything else during stall rest? Surpass, Equioxx, etc. I think it’s worth asking if PRP or Prostride could be of benefit to help healing. Not sure if he is a riding horse any longer or not or if you’re just looking to get him comfortable. I guess I’m asking because pain can also cause spookiness and stomach issues.
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I think IRAP or ProStride would be potentially helpful for that. Also probably time to look into rehab facilities. A lot of them really do make the transition to the new routine well when it’s not home.
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Oh no, this is not an update anyone wants to hear. 
How frustrating for you (and him).
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He hasn’t been, but other than the first 2 days of his stall rest 6 weeks ago, he has not been lame at all. He had already been on banamine for 3 weeks for an eye ulcer previously and while I had been giving him equioxx before all this, I wanted to give his gut some time to recover from all the medicine he had been taking. He’s on some bute right now but is still sore
I’ll definitely ask about further treatment options to help with healing however!
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