The Pit of Eternal Despair - AKA Stall Rest/Hand Walking UPDATE

[kande50]

It's harder to control with a shoe on, but they trim them this way instead of backing the toes up.

If you can nail shoes on, or if you can find a farrier who will nail them on the way you'd like it to be done, then try it. Back the toes up as much as possible and then set the shoe back as much as possible and then keep track of what happens to the hoof.

I was shoeing most of my own when I first started looking at this, but some of them were shod year 'round, and it was becoming more and more obvious that no matter how often I reset and backed up the toe the hooves still ran out.

Now I keep them all barefoot and only put winter shoes on for a few months, and usually only on the ones I can't keep the boots on, and that pretty much solves the running out problem.

I tried frog and sole support pads, but it's wet around here and pads just trap more moisture in the hoof and make it even weaker. So that wasn't a solution, either.

[StraightForward]

I don't have any desire to shoe my horses. In this case she needed a custom clip and bar shoe forged. I should probably just buy a forge and learn to do that too, just for fun, right?

I was already uncomfortable with the toe length after he left. The shoes wouldn't fit the same with her toes backed up.

[kande50]

I don't have any desire to shoe my horses. In this case she needed a custom clip and bar shoe forged. I should probably just buy a forge and learn to do that too, just for fun, right?

Well, it is interesting, but if you don't want your horses shod then you're right, it would be a waste of time to learn how to nail shoes on. I did it back when I was having my horses shod anyway, and wanted more options than what would have been available to us otherwise.

[StraightForward]

Vet is coming out again today. I think she was trotting a bit better when I checked a few days ago. Everyone cross your fingers for us. It's been 10 months and a week.

[Josette]

Sending jingles for a good soundness results.

[StraightForward]

Thanks Josette! Things were looking good with the ultrasound today - just some residual swelling in the tendon sheath. Now we are treating some SI pain, since she had pre-existing SI issues that have likely be aggravated by compensating for the ouchy leg. No on to a month of tack walking, and then slowly adding in some trot work. Maybe I'll have my horse back by Christmas.

[musical comedy]

How are you treating the SI pain?

[StraightForward]

Meds (spacing the name just now) and Magnawave treatment for now. Possible injections later depending on how it goes. Based on how much I was able to improve her through work in the past, I'm hoping we won't have to move to injections though. Just getting some movement again should help a lot.

[musical comedy]

My friend suspects her horse has an S/I issue, that's why I asked. She would be someone interested in magnawave. I'll pass it along. Hope it works for you. You are a very patient horse owner.

[StraightForward]

Robaxin (methocarbamol) is what we're giving her. Precision Pharmacy makes a compounded powder form of it. Haha, I'm simultaneously trying to work and coordinate getting my trailer sold today and getting kind of scatterbrained.

She was receiving Magnawave treatments every month or two for almost a year, I just discontinued when she was out of work, but I think it's part of how I had success in getting her "moving like one horse" as my instructor put it.

[redsoxluvr]

Hope your mare feels better soon! Stall rest is the bane of my existence. At this point, if I were faced with a lengthy amount of time stalled I would probably think long and hard about euthanasia. I tried to rehab my boy for nearly 4 years after a severe tendon injury and I would be hard pressed to do it again.

[Tsavo]

Hope your mare feels better soon! Stall rest is the bane of my existence. At this point, if I were faced with a lengthy amount of time stalled I would probably think long and hard about euthanasia. I tried to rehab my boy for nearly 4 years after a severe tendon injury and I would be hard pressed to do it again.

My BO put her horse down in the face of a year of stall rest. No jury would convict her. No jury would convict any owner who put a horse down facing months of stall rest. The cure is worse than the disease. I would like to see some evidence that stall rest vice turnout in a non-large area is better for anything.

I was given ~80% chance of chemo curing my horse's ocular SCC. I chose enucleation because I am convinced my horse would have chosen that over the treatment even if it worked. They sometimes embed a tube under the scalp to deliver the meds because horses hate the constant treatments. When they didn't offer that, the decision made itself.

There are some things worse than losing an eye and there are even some things worse than death for a horse.

[redsoxluvr]

My guy tore both flexor tendons in a turnout injury. He was in a Patton shoe for months, then a 12 degree wedge pad (really, they had to nail 2 6 degree pads together to get 12 degrees!) I did everything I could do to help him, and he had a full team of vets who did everything they could.
It was awful and has scarred me for life. As you say, there are some things worse than death for a horse, and I fully agree with what my horse went through. I finally gave up over the Christmas holidays. I was home sick for 5 days straight with the flu and was able to see how much pain he was in day to day. He was literally propping himself against the stall walls to take the weight off his leg. I would never put a horse through it again.

[StraightForward]

Let's remember that I've dealt with two subsequent, different injuries here. The coffin bone fracture started it all, and is fully healed. We had a month back under saddle W/T/C before, with extenuating circumstances, the relatively minor soft tissue injury happened.

Barring additional setbacks, we start tack walking next week (3 months post-injury), and should be back to normal work by the end of the year. If there is another major setback, I will probably just turn her out and see what happens. I agree with the "Big E' for horses that can't be happy on turnout with no to minimal medical intervention.

[musical comedy]

No jury would convict any owner who put a horse down facing months of stall rest. The cure is worse than the disease.

I think plenty of people would highly criticize an owner that put a horse down if there was the even the slimmest chance of recovery, even if that recovery meant pasture ornament forever.

[Tsavo]

No jury would convict any owner who put a horse down facing months of stall rest. The cure is worse than the disease.

I think plenty of people would highly criticize an owner that put a horse down if there was the even the slimmest chance of recovery, even if that recovery meant pasture ornament forever.

Fine. But I will suggest months or a year of stall rest at least in the case of my BO's horse is cruel.

[heddylamar]

I'm positive that StraightForward has made the best choices for Annabelle. We don't have daily insight into the mare, vets, farriers, facility, etc. StraightForward does.

I can't say that I'd automatically leap to euthanasia for an injury the vet indicates is repairable in an otherwise healthy, promising young horse.

[kande50]

I think plenty of people would highly criticize an owner that put a horse down if there was the even the slimmest chance of recovery, even if that recovery meant pasture ornament forever.

There are always plenty of opinions available. Some are horrified when someone else doesn't put their horse through hell to try to save him, while others are horrified when someone does. It's why most just ignore the endless opinions (unless those opinions confirm their own) and just make their own decisions.

[StraightForward]

I'm positive that StraightForward has made the best choices for Annabelle. We don't have daily insight into the mare, vets, farriers, facility, etc. StraightForward does.

I can't say that I'd automatically leap to euthanasia for an injury the vet indicates is repairable in an otherwise healthy, promising young horse.

Thank you. This thread took a weird turn.

[Ryeissa]

As someone who was judged by others at the end of Rye's life, I have to chime in that there is no need to project. I was following my vets instructions and those who didn't ask me didn't know what I was up against.
Turns out yes I was facing a death sentence but I didn't know that. I could afford treatment and it was emotionally something I could handle

[Xanthoria]

Let's remember that I've dealt with two subsequent, different injuries here. The coffin bone fracture started it all, and is fully healed. We had a month back under saddle W/T/C before, with extenuating circumstances, the relatively minor soft tissue injury happened.

We're leading parallel lives. My guy's lateral cartilage avulsion fracture was considered healed enough to go back to work in June after 8 months of rehab, then he tore a hind suspensory in July.

Barring additional setbacks, we start tack walking next week (3 months post-injury), and should be back to normal work by the end of the year. If there is another major setback, I will probably just turn her out and see what happens. I agree with the "Big E' for horses that can't be happy on turnout with no to minimal medical intervention.

If all goes perfectly, we will be tack walking in a month - about 2 months since he went on stall rest - start trot work in November, and canter in December. If not, and I think my vet is being really optimistic, it could easily be April or later. And for me too, if the big guy breaks again he's staying out in pasture or looking at a trip to the one in the sky...