suggestions for stall rest

[Pete and Debbie LaBerge <plaberge@epix.net>]

Stall rest: Since I have just gone through this tedious (and volatile)
process, thought I would share some things that helped since questions
have come up before.

The horse (Serr Fadj) I was planning to rejoin the endurance world with
in May suffered a mishap at Un of PA while in for a sarcoid removal on
his ear -fractured his hip and had alot of hemorrhage 7 weeks ago. He's
a wonderful guy and I am planning to rehab him for pleasure.
(btw, am looking for another horse for endurance)

So, was faced with 8 week stall rest and I knew we had to do it till
things got stabilized. Since he hadn't lived in a stall for the 3 years 
I owned him (I didn't even have a stall) and he was fit, I knew it would
be an issue.  

First, my husband built a double-size stall in half of run-in shed
so the horse could look out on the field,and see horse and other
activity.

Second,since he was trained to electric, I rotated him around the lawn
in stall-size and bigger electric paddocks.This made all the difference
in the world in his attitude because he could have a change of location
plus thought he was getting away with something getting to eat the lawn.
The down side of this is that it is time intensive because you can't go
to work and leave them, but luckily my job schedule allowed me to work
from home alot this time of year.

This was much better for all of us than standing and hand grazing the
lawn for awhile. We got to the point where I could move the electric
paddock to the adjacent area while he was inside. (something I tried to
do frequently since I could tell my husband was biting his tongue about
the horse on the lawn)

Tried Quietex- didn't work with the kind of anxiety being stall-bound
can cause.

Definitely recommend the Acepromazine granules.
When he started to feel better he had some really crazy days and was a
horse I didn't know, just beside himself. The vet gave me some
Acepromazine granules to try (top dress on feed) That did the trick.
Every AM I could quickly get a read on how wired he was and give it to
him w/ breakfast, let him stay in stall an hour and then put him out in
portable paddock.

If our regular smaller fenced field wasn't on the side of a hill, I
could have put the portable fence in there which would have been more
secure- which I am doing now that he is much more stable.

The days I had to leave him in the stall all day were not happy ones. 
I installed one of those horse pacifiers which wasn't effective.
He always had hay and I tried to hang some in haynets and put some on
the floor in diff. places for variety, and so he'd use different
muscles.

If anyone is going through this, email me. I might have some suggestions
since I've just been problem solving it myself. Even getting them out in
a small paddock w/ grass for an hour or two before and after work really
helps. Definitely try the Ace granules to get the edge off before you
put them out or if they are getting anxious in the stall. He ate them
readily on a handful of feed.
Deb LaBerge