Managing the stall rest horse in a small barn - UPDATE: he's home!

[eponacelt]

Unfortunately, despite the early hope that stall rest would be limited for my guy with a suspensory injury, it looks like we're in for several more months of it. Since that is the case, I can't justify leaving my guy at the large, relatively busy barn he's been at for over two years, because its just too far away for me to get there every day to care for him. So I have two options - find a big, busy boarding barn that can handle a lay-up or bring him to the small, quiet farm where I'm currently living.

I'll explore the boarding option, but bringing him home where I can spend time with him several times a day and personally manage his care is appealing. My biggest concern is that he'll be alone in the barn much of the time. No other horses currently live inside, although I could probably bring my older guy in at nights.

What are your experiences with stall rest horses? Would I be better off finding a boarding barn where there are lots of horses? Or would you keep him home where you can keep a good eye on him yourself?

I should mention that in the past 6 weeks of stall rest, the most agitated he got was when horses left the barn and he was most happy when people were visiting with him, FWIW.

[Nanerpus]

Bring him home and adopt a mini pony?

[Trees4U]

I would bring him home and spend time with him multiple times a day. Also, even though you're disappointed about his layup being extended- err on the side of caution! I had a vet tell me the ultrasound looked great, I slowly went back to work and we went down hard. Turns out the ultrasound was incorrectly read.
Even vets make mistakes :(

[LOVE*MY*NAGS]

Bring him home and adopt a mini pony?

I would bring him home where I could tend to him.
Isolation would be my biggest concern, either get a friend for him :D, or have him in a stall where he can see other horses, either out the door/window, something. Complete isolation would probably make him nuts.
Good luck!

[kipster]

I would bring him home also. I would consider taking on a buddy for him. Check with a local rescue and see if you could foster a horse for the winter. This could work out well for both you and the rescue. Or a donkey or goat would be really cute additions to your farm also!

[Fharoah]

My horse is on stall rest right now. The first three months were a struggle but now he is being such a good boy. I have seven horses on my property but only have three in the barn right now, each have there own stall and attached turnout. We have used electic to fence off a stall under his overhang so he gets 12x20 we also fenced off the stall next to him so they get the same area as him. This is his stall http://picasaweb.google.com/kayladrummond/Stall?authkey=Gv1sRgCIuJlPOvya7GTQ#540304319137482 2898

He has two altering stall buddies who will stay in 12x20 right next to him, every 24 hours they switch. It is not ideal to stall rest a sound horse but this surgery is really important and he is much calmer and much happier with a buddy, he has a history of being wild while on rest so is also on acepromazine. Your horse may be really happy just with human contact just give it a try. I would bring him home.

Best wishes!

[Tif_Ann]

It really depends on your horse. My pinto has been off and on stall rest all summer due to his squamous cell carcinoma. However, he does absolutely fine alone. He's kind of a loner in pasture, too, has only made a few friends and usually hangs on the outskirts of the pasture. Because he's nearly completely blind, he is in a smaller pasture now with only two other horses, one of which goes in at night, and is thriving. He is mellow in his stall - but a total pig, messy stall! - but also got plenty of human interaction throughout the day, from the barn owner and other people who stopped in. The rest of the stall horses came in every night as well, so he was only alone maybe 12-14 hours per day. I would have no problems keeping him in the "at home" choice you've described.

I'd be a bit more concerned about my QH. He gets very upset if he's left in alone in the mornings. He whinnies and squeals and generally let's me know he isn't happy. He does eventually calm down. I haven't had to have him on stall rest - knock on wood - so I'm not sure how he'd do long term. I'd probably try the "at home" thing and get him a buddy or look into a barn that would have other horses in if he didn't adjust well.

[Meredith Clark]

Just so I understand your post, is the boarding barn a lay-up facility where they'd do all the care for you or just a boarding barn where you'd be driving to take care of him?

If you have to drive and care for him everyday it most likely isn't worth it unless it's really close. It can be really nice and easy to have the horse at home and as far as him being lonely in the stall many horses can get over that with time.

I have a very fussy, worrisome gelding who's usually ok as long as he has lots of hay and can see horses. They don't have to be with him but he needs to be able to see them.

If you can position your horse so he can always see a friend he might be ok, not sure what your barn set up is.

[Zu Zu]

I would bring him home where I could tend to him.
Isolation would be my biggest concern, either get a friend for him :D, or have him in a stall where he can see other horses, either out the door/window, something. Complete isolation would probably make him nuts.
Good luck!
What LOVE*MY*NAGS said. I do not have one that could remain inside ALONE and remain sane. Mine are truly herd animals or at least pair animals.

[eponacelt]

Thanks for all the replies. To clarify, I would be looking for a lay-up barn that could handle all his care, but which is close enough that I could get over to be with him a few times a week. The advantage with the lay-up barn option, is that if I find the right one, they would ideally have the facilities like an indoor/outdoor stall, and/or a small outdoor paddock where he could be for part of the day. I know this kind of place exists, and I'm sure there's one in my area, but I'm not sure its what I want.

The alternative is to bring him home and manage all his care myself. I do have access to a small paddock (probably the size of three stalls) where I could put him when he's up for that, and I could bring my elderly guy home as well so that my lay-up has company in the barn at night. I'm definitely leaning toward this option for a number of reasons.

At any rate, thanks so much for the replies!

[camohn]

I have never done well with horses being on stall rest. If they were injured badly enought ot be on stall rest they are supposed to be quiet and since ours live out the critter in the barn was not happy in alone and fretted/paced more INside than out. I have generally done better with a small private paddock where they can see their buddies keeping them quiet than the pacing they did in the stall.

[Roxx]

My horse has been on stall rest since June. I could only wish to have the option of having her at home...man would my life be easier! She has always had company in the barn at night but usually alone during the day without any problems. So I think your option of bringing him home is a great option for you if you could bring your older guy in too.

[alteringwego]

He needs a buddy with him at all times. I've found from rehabbing many that most accidents are when others have left them.

[mellsmom]

My stall bound horse needs to see other horses 24/7. Mine are all out 24/7. The barn is in the middle of my field, so I have the 2 TB's out and the Draftie is in the stall with three round pen panels attached to the stall front so he has a small area to walk in besides the stall. I am gone 10-12 hours a day so there wasn't any other way to do small paddock turn out.

[Lori B]

Hey, so sorry your stall rest looks to be longer than hoped. I really understand, as my mare is nearly done with ~10 months of stall / paddock rest.

If I knew I was looking at a long haul and I were you, I would see if you could set up a sort of outdoor stall / very small paddock for your horse, as well as exploring the possibility of a buddy. Pony, mini, goat, something to keep him company.

My mare has done really well on her small paddock rest since July, and I now strongly prefer it for her. If your horse is going to be an eediot outside, it might not work, but I would also not be shy about trying a long term low-level drug like reserpine (we give Katy 0.15 ml every day, and it has done an amazing job of keeping all 4 of her feet on the ground the last few months).

The only bad thing about the small paddock set up this time of year is mud. If you could set up a portable round pen, and move it around periodically, that could help. My mare's paddock has been basically a dry lot (or a mud lot, lately) since about 4 weeks in, and the biggest burden of managing her happiness on this rest schedule has been handgrazing, which I try to do for an hour a day most days.

Good luck, and tell us what you end up deciding to do. It's a challenging problem, and because rest for suspensories is so looooooooong, it will wear you out, I know it has worn me out.

[SpottedTApps]

The best way I've found for horses laid up is to have a buddy "within reach." It's not ideal for another horse to be confined, but a couple of options are:

Both horses stalled at night, then during the day the healthy horse turned out to a pen/pasture that is only large enough the horse gets healthy exercise yet can't get out of site and turn the injured horse into a 12x12 pen set up with corral panels. The injured horse feels as if he is turned out. He has a different view of life than the same 4 walls. If you set his pen up inside the pasture/paddock where the healthy horse is, he feels part of the herd.

OR

Have a large corral/small pasture attached to the injured horse's stall, where the healthy horse lives at least 12 hours of the day if not 24 hours. Healthy horse can move and is still within reach/site of injured horse.

Personally, I like the #1 option better.

[bambam]

Depends on the horse. My mare simply cannot tolerate being in by herself even when she can see other horses and so (right now unfortunately) somebody has to be in with her 24/7 or she wigs out. My gelding will tolerate being in by himself but he is very unhappy and I have never tried it in a barn where there was not a fair bit of activity to keep him somewhat entertained.
Before making a decision, can you test what he is like being in with no company since he would be all day at your place? I cannot tell from your post if he is currently in by himself at all. I would not risk it until I knew he could tolerate being in by himself all day.

[joiedevie99]

If you go the at home route, pick up some pipe panels and make him a 12' x 12' 'stall' outside in the field so he can go out with the oldster during the day. Then bring them both into stalls during the night.

[babecakes]

my vote, a full time buddy.

I have read here before that hanging up some unbreakable mirrors can help too.

[MunchkinsMom]

Here's what I did, but it was not a long term layup, just long enough to recover from colic surgery.

Let me start out by saying I have 3 horses on a 9 acre pasture with free access to the 6 stall barn.

I had to hand walk my gelding every hour (thank heavens I work from home), so he could graze (no hay diet added to the angst). So I would take him out for his walk, and then take one of the other two horses to stay inside with him for the next hour. Then the next rotation, I would make the other horse be the babysitter. So he always had one horse inside with him at all times, and the other two horses would get longer turnout and then an hour of stall rest with him.

I will say that if it were a long term thing, I would have considered sending him to a layup farm, where most likely there are other horses in the barn on stall rest also, and a staff that is knowledgeable in their care.

It was awfully hard work doing it myself.

[Touchstone Farm]

Can you split the paddock in half temporarily? Then your older guy could be on one side and your rehab guy on the other? Then bring them into their stalls at night?

When I've had a horse on stall rest, I was able to close the bottom half of the dutch door so she could look out and see other horses in nearby paddocks. Then as she was allowed more movement, I could open the door into her small paddock.

I'd bring him home with his friend. Think of the $$$ you'll save not boarding two horses for awhile. (Just trying to find the silver lining for you!)

[Gry2Yng]

I'll be the lone vote for big layup barn. My boy did very well in a show barn where he was hand walked 4x a day and in his stall at all other times. We put him in a stall next to the grooming stalls and the indoor. He loved all the activity and never got lonely. He was an angel for handwalking and I only had to ace him if I rode with someone else in the ring - he is a total show off.

ETA: he had a stall gate and hung his head out all day if he wanted. His layup started in October in Chicago. It go miserable pretty quick - and hand grazing ended by about this time of year.

ETAA: Also, horse is very high strung - Upper level event horse and just a nut in general, so I was quite surprised at how well he did.

[TrotTrotPumpkn]

He needs a buddy with him at all times. I've found from rehabbing many that most accidents are when others have left them.

I didn't read all the replies, but this is my experience too. Even with a buddy my horse got ulcers. Without a buddy he kicked out a supporting beam, kicked through his bucket, gashed his head (it goes on, but I think you get the idea)...

Good luck.

[eponacelt]

Thanks again for all the replies. The decision has been made to bring him home. My old guy will be in with him at night, and he'll be able to see other horses during the day. And there is a small, small round pen that I should be able to put him in when he's a little better and on nice days. We're also looking into borrowing a mini from a friend to keep him company.

Fingers crossed that this works well!

[Lori B]

I'll bet many folks on this thread are not opposed to layup barns in principal. For me, it was completely infeasible because the duration of our rest was not at all clear early on, and I would probably have had to pay part or all of the board for my stall at the barn I definitely want to keep her at after she recovers. I do not doubt for a second that a layup facility would have been able to keep Katy's schedule, meds, and evolving turnout needs very well, and with less mental effort than I expended myself. But I just couldn't afford it.

Good luck with what you've decided to do, keep us posted. Be patient with suspensories, they can look ok on ultrasound but still just not be ready for work. I learned this at length the past year.

[eponacelt]

Got the boys home today after the vet visit (in which the vet thinks its really a stifle injury, not a suspensory injury).

I'm already feeling like this was a good idea. I can see the stall rest boy from my kitchen window and the old guy loves his new pasture with a really nice run-in shed. We still have a long way to go, but this feels right. I should also note that this is the first time I've had my horses home. Mr. eponacelt and I are in the process of purchasing a farm (hoping to close late January), so this was going to happen soon anyway, but I'm sure that this is a good move for us.

Thanks for everyone's thoughts and ideas!