Mary Poppins?

Ah thank you for thinking of me. I have been absolutely run off my feet these last few weeks. Have just gone for a lie down and a sneaky catch up under the covers.

Things with Ben vary day by day. I have suffered before with nerves but nothing like the complete lack of confidence I have right now. I have someone hacking Ben for me daily and I have ridden him a few times myself, but I find him looky and tense. Box rest is mental torture for him and he just isn’t his normal self. This makes me nervous and we feed off each other. I rode him for 2 laps of the arena this morning which was wonderful but I long to be able to ride like I used to. I do celebrate the small steps and try not to beat myself up. The rider I have for him doesn’t care if he spooks or spins. She just ignores it whereas I hate him acting like that because it is so out of character.

He looks so stiff when he comes out of his box and it is hard to know if he is lame or not. Apparently he looks better if he is ridden in the afternoon compared to morning. Maybe the warmer weather is better for him?

Tomorrow the vet comes back and one way or the other, I will be pushing strongly for the box rest to end. If he isn’t better after 6 solid months of rest, surely he isn’t going to get better at all? It is getting to the stage where decisions need to be made because I can’t put him through this for much longer.

So tomorrow is a very big day for us. Some magically NR vibes would go down very well.
 
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My take on it is that if he's spooking & spinning under sale then he may as well go out in a small paddock because he's unlikely to do more damage there than ridden, it's safer for everyone & he'll relax and after a few days a lot of the trouble will be gone. Yes a bit of sedation to start with may be wise, but you're now at the point where you need to look at the whole horse not a specific problem (and this is something some vets seem to find hard). Ultimately he's your horse & you do have a say, the vet may advise that more box rest with controlled exercise is the ideal for his problem, but you have every right to override that & say the Ben you know needs to be out before he does himself & his rider an injury.

Good luck for tomorrow.
 
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carthorse said:
My take on it is that if he's spooking & spinning under sale then he may as well go out in a small paddock because he's unlikely to do more damage there than ridden, it's safer for everyone & he'll relax and after a few days a lot of the trouble will be gone. Yes a bit of sedation to start with may be wise, but you're now at the point where you need to look at the whole horse not a specific problem (and this is something some vets seem to find hard). Ultimately he's your horse & you do have a say, the vet may advise that more box rest with controlled exercise is the ideal for his problem, but you have every right to override that & say the Ben you know needs to be out before he does himself & his rider an injury.

Good luck for tomorrow.
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The thing is that his rider is easily able to cope with him. For her, Ben is her easiest ride. She doesn’t get tense when something catches his eye, so he doesn’t spook or spin with her. But I do get tense and he is worse with me. I doubt I could get 100m down the lane without something happening. Remember that Ben is normally the most bombproof horse you could ever wish to meet. I always used to say that you couldn’t programme a horse to be as good as him. So while his behaviour is too much for me to cope with, for someone with more confidence than me, he is fine. Well, other than the time he threw her off that is!

I guess it is a question of pride as well. I hate to watch someone else hacking my horse. I want to do it myself.

So I am trying to keep an open mind. If his lameness has significantly improved, I will probably go for the controlled exercise option if my vet thinks it is best as long as we have an end date where he can be turned out. But if there is little improvement (as I suspect will be the case), I don’t see the point of continuing with box rest. If we are facing the inevitable decline, I want him to have some turnout to improve his mental state before making ‘that’ decision.

After all we have been through, I just want to see the softness in his eye and his old carefree attitude return. While it may be short lived, I want the end of his days to be out with his friends, not stuck in a stable. This may sound negative but I need to be realistic. I have done all I can do and there isn’t anything more I can give. So if the news is bad, I have a plan and will let him be a horse for a while before ending his pain before it consumes him.
 
Will be thinking of you tomorrow, MP. Please drop us a quick line to let us know what your vet says.

Can definitely empathise ref the confidence, mine has been up and down like a bloody rollercoaster in recent years!!

Good luck! xxx
 
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It's not negative at all, it's knowing and caring for the individual. All I will say is that sometimes, when all hope is lost, turning them out can actually make an improvement because they relax & allow themselves to heal or compensate. Not always, but sometimes. Tension from box rest can make some lock up & appear lame, I know because it's what my fool of a welshie has done in the past. All I'm saying is don't despair.
 
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It's not negative. If you are hacking him out and hes stayed sound still I think turn out would be the next stage. I remember doing limited turn out with mine initially, then gradually increasing over the weeks. I think you might see Ben calm and be less spooky once hes out.
 
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chunky monkey said:
It's not negative. If you are hacking him out and hes stayed sound still I think turn out would be the next stage. I remember doing limited turn out with mine initially, then gradually increasing over the weeks. I think you might see Ben calm and be less spooky once hes out.
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He will be back to his old self with turnout and I will be able to ride him again. He has hated box rest from day one, when I look back I can’t believe how much we have been through. I have hated watching him so stressed.

The honest truth is I have no idea how he is. When I watch him being ridden he looks like his legs have been replaced with tree stumps. He looks wooden and like he can’t move. I know that this is stiffness from the box rest, but I can’t see between lameness and stiffness. All I know is that he looks very uncomfortable.
 
MaryP You wrote:
He looks so stiff when he comes out of his box and it is hard to know if he is lame or not. Apparently he looks better if he is ridden in the afternoon compared to morning. Maybe the warmer weather is better for him?

Just to let you know that after major problems with my back in middle age I was warned that I should let my body warm up and loosen up before taking any exercise - the consultant said no exercise till after 11 a.m. That is why I didnt and still dont ride till 11 a.m.
I gradually started to ride at 10 in summer, but it is winter now, so it will be better for Ben to exercise later in the day.
 
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