Horsey people advice waneted regarding stall rest and an injured horse

[Paige]

I would gladly show you guys the photos but I'd get banned for posting gore. My lovely TB mare I was trying to give away due to being pregnant is no longer going anywhere any time soon. She tore her entire shoulder off trying to get into the paddock with my pony so she could eat her. I have no idea how the hell she managed to **** up a good fence and hurt herself so bad but she did one fine job impailing herself.

The vet came down. I wasn't there for this but this is what my mother told me. He was there from 5pm till 9pm stitching her up. She had a lot of internal stitching that is disolvable and then her outter stitching. She is probably going to have nerve damage (POOR BABY ) and to keep her on stall rest till she tells you she's ready to get back to being a horse. Our vet went away for the weekend but will be back Monday to check her out. He left us with her antiboitics, both an injection and oral medication as well as bute to give her for the pain.

Day one after the injury she was hurting but in good spirits. She gladly walked out of her stall to be held while her bed was cleaned. Day two I found her OUT of the barn in the morning. She not only unlocked her stall which she has never done before, but also got the dutch doors open and was walking her gibbled butt around the field happier than a pig in ****. I put her away for the day but at dinner time she was so full of herself I took her for a handwalk. She is on a small dose of bute (she's 16.2hh and taking one small scoop that the bute comes with).

My mom thinks she should only be staying in her stall. I think short little bits of exercise isn't going to hurt her if she wants to do it. Herman said that when she wants to go out, take her for a walk... but I've seen horses hurt themselves this bad before and they aren't ready to walk so soon. What would you do? Her wound is healing well already, she's hardly limping and we were told she probably won't be walking any time soon. My only concern about activity is she is taking a small amount of bute and I don't want her to be over doing it because of that.

Also thought I'd add Herman (the vet) predicted she'd be lame for 4 months before she'd be back to herself, with a possible permident limp. So if that's the case her speedy recovery just seems baffling. She was more lame when a new farrier trimmed her foot too short.

 

[bubbatd]

Such a shame !!! I'd leave it up to the vet .

 

[nancy2394]

I don't know anything about horses.. but I'd think if she's tolerating a little bit of supervised excercise that would be okay for her. I'd just make sure she's not putting any tension on the suture repair the vet did. She's probably restless and needing to move around because she's probably a bit sore and stiff. Poor baby I hope she gets to feeling better soon. Sounds like she's making a pretty speedy recovery so far.

 

[Vintage Boxers]

anatomical mistype

Here is my advice....from a person who dealt with a--"could have bled to death" horse injury, and it was only 2in lac to the pastern that was skimming cutting and artery. And then had to HAND WALK the bleeding horse back, after i ran for help...oy...

Let her rest, tie the stall shut if you have to. Give her 1-2 wks of rest and bute and cold hosing to keep the swelling down.
After that, THEN start VERY short handwalking.
But remember, the bute will give her the feeling that she CAN do it, even if the body can't.

After 1-2 wks i would do the short handwalking followed by a cold hosing, short brush or rubdown and some down time.
Then you can add little bit by little bit every week or so, just remember, not only is the "cut" healing but he NERVES are healing and that will give her mixed signals all the time.

I wish you luck, and give a pat and a kiss to your pretty trooper!

 

[Dekka]

I have dealt with more than I care to remember of these sorts of things. If you want you can PM me a pic, I have gore pics of my own (i keep before and afters when I can) so will not be offended by yours

I might ask the vet about lowering the bute, I know its anti inflamitory as well as pain killer, but she might injure herself more if she isn't feeling the injury. That said I will hand walk as long as the injury does not effect the muscles or joints that are used in walking.

 

[nancy2394]

Oh good, it sounds like you got some good advice from some people that do know about horses. I didn't realize horses were so destructful to their bodies... lol

 

[Paige]

I'll certainly send it your way Dekka. She is locked in her stall but it's more getting her out to save hers sanity so she doesn't get cabin fever. She went out for a grazing walk this morning which basically was her only walking a few feet to eat grass while her stall was cleaned. She is a very people orientated horse so she's enjoying the company. I can't see it being harmful. Even though she's big she can pace pretty good in her stall. She's moving more in there then out.

 

[joce]

My boy was injured and we could not do much bute because it was like he felt no pain and wanted to go go go. I can not remember what the minuscule dose he ended up on was but it was enough to help but not enough to get him hurting himself(or anyone else at that point) more.

I always think exercise is better if at all possible. Same with any injury you want movement. Helps them from just pacing the stall to. I have seen giant things of scar tissue from lack of movement and it just locks it all up.

Problem is many will try to bolt after being stalled so long or just act like general idiots. If there is anything that will calm her its not a bad time to give it when you go to hand walk.

I want to see pics. I have seen big chunks off and they come out of it just fine if it gets to heal well from the inside out. The biggest problem I have seen is where the flap is just thrown back into the space and sewed on but it does not adhere right and then will be infected while the skin on the top is healed. But hopefully the internal stitching will avoid that.

 

[Dekka]

I'll certainly send it your way Dekka. She is locked in her stall but it's more getting her out to save hers sanity so she doesn't get cabin fever. She went out for a grazing walk this morning which basically was her only walking a few feet to eat grass while her stall was cleaned. She is a very people orientated horse so she's enjoying the company. I can't see it being harmful. Even though she's big she can pace pretty good in her stall. She's moving more in there then out.

That sounds ideal, that she will go out and hand graze. And yes a little polite walking is MUCH safer than them stall walking, or bashing themselves due to cabin fever.

 

[Paige]

She isn't a bolter by nature. Shes an ex race horse (failed one as she was lazy) and is used to being stalled a lot. She likes to walk but isn't prone to bolting as she would much rather get scratches. I feel blessed in that sense that at least it was her and not the other nutters who wouldn't be handling bed rest so well.

 

[joce]

Was it just the skin? Kind of degloved? Hopefully she will heal up quickly! The pic reminds me of my friends italian greyhound whos skin would rip from anything

Scars just leave character

 

[Paige]

She was waltzing around with a nerve exposed. I wasn't up there I just got second hand details from my mom so I am not 100% sure of how deep it went.

 

[BostonBanker]

I've spent more time than I care dealing with stall rest.

I'm a bit in the middle of the road as far as how to handle it, and obviously I'm not going to suggest either way based off just information. I know people who are very hard-core "stall rest is the devil, they must be moving at all times", and honestly, they scare me a bit. Some injuries simply need time to heal with as little motion as possible. One spook and bolt can set them back to the beginning of the healing before you have time to react. I was three months into treatment for both front flexor tendons when I was hosing in the outdoor wash rack and a motorcycle on the road nearby spooked my normally super quiet horse. Two snapped cross-ties and he was galloping down the lane into the pastures, and we were practically back at square one.

If my vet says stall rest, I stall rest. My horse is very social and adores attention, so I'll bring a book and hang out in his stall, or spend an hour picking out his tail and just fussing over him. Clicker training silly tricks got us through the stall rest during his IV treatment for Lyme. Things like that. We haven't had to do any really serious stall resting in a long time - even with the bruised coffin bone last year, he got a very small patch of grass to get turned out in. But sometimes what is needed is restricted movement. Yes, horses naturally should be out moving all the time; but of course, in nature, most of our horses would be dead quickly from such injuries.

I wish her the best of recoveries. We had a wonderful mare at our barn get nerve damage from a fairly similar sounding injury (got stuck on a door latch and ripped open her shoulder/side). She never did get back to the same as a riding horse, and was retired to be a full-time broodmare not long after. But she lived comfortably until she was put down a few weeks ago at 22.