I know there are numerous occasions when stall rest is
recommended, but it simply isn't natural for a horse, especially the high-energy
Arabs, to be confined for long periods of time. My 24 year old retired
endurance horse was springing around in the pasture and did something quite
traumatic to his hock. He was severely lame and the hock enlarged. I
had just spent a horrendous amount of money taking him to a pricey clinic to
patch up a skewered kneecap, so I just told him this time he was on his
own. He stayed out in pasture quite happily, and over time, the hock
healed just fine. It is enlarged, but he is sound and still
going...energetically as usual. I'm afraid I'm not a big believer in stall
confinement as a healing tool. Nature is a great healer.
I had a horse who had splint surgery. I was
supposed to hand walk him for a month and keep him in a stall. He was
out all the time too, maybe kept in at night, but the rest of the time
out. I lasted 2 weeks. I thought he was going to kill me so I just
turned him out and figured what would be would be. He was 6 when he had
the surgery. He was still trucking down trail at 22 and not only that,
he became my daughter's horse, then my neighbor's horse, and then a hack horse
for little kids. Being back outside made all the difference and he went
back to being his normal self. And yes, he was 3/4 arab who could spin
on a dime. Jeanie
