[dakotaa]

couldn't really find a board to fit this under, but here goes...
two weeks ago, i took off my 5 year old TB Baron's shipping wraps after a show to find his front right leg totally swollen from ankle to knee. he was lame towards the middle of the second day, so we stopped showing, packed his feet, and put him in standing wraps until it was time to ship home.
the lameness specialist told us to keep him on stall rest for two weeks, to cold hose his leg and bute him twice a day, to poultice wrap at night, and to put anti-inflammatory pills in his food.
today, the vet checked up on him again and told us he has 1st degree tendonitis. this means six more weeks of stall, then a month of just flat work.
i wanted to cry. first, Baron's about to go crazy as it is, with just two weeks of torture. he's resorting to old, spooky, antsy habits, he circles and whinnies constantly, and he's losing all his patience and ground manners. second, he's still green and still in total training mode. two months of no riding and hardly any exercise, then another month of just flats, and he's going to be absolutely insane over fences. i have a horrible feeling this whole mess means going back to ground zero.
sorry, this sounds like i'm trying to throw a pity party for myself. what i really want to know from this is if you guys have had to go through this same mess, and how you helped your horse deal with it. ground work? just leading them out to graze or walk? i want to start up a program for him, maybe some Parelli or Clinton Anderson work just to occupy his mind a bit, but not put too much stress on his leg. problem is, i don't really know what to do exactly or where to start.
help, for the pitiful, clueless me?

 

[farmpony84]

With Beauty I took 4 panels of a round pen and put them together. I put them in a grassy area right next to a paddock and let her hang out there. It's the same size as a stall and she is not an idiot about stuff like that so she behaved very well, got sunshine and was pretty happy. I had a rough time hand walking her because she was full of energy (she was on stall rest for nearly 3 months when it was all said and done).

I wouldn't do alot of the parelli games because I believe you will still be putting excess pressure on that leg. Be careful whatever you decide... and good luck, a stallbound horse is never fun.

 

[justsambam08]

Trick training! Obviously something that wouldn't put stress on his legs, so maybe smiling, nodding, shaking....stuff that will engage his brain and at least give him a mental work out. Definitely get him out and do ground work, if he's going to start acting like a skitzo. There are a few parelli games you can play, that won't put a lot of stress on him... the "touch it" game (known as the driving game), basically like pointing that drug/cadaver dogs do, except horses. It takes a LOT of skill and practice and honing of body language to do it, but its all on a line and very controlled...not a lot of walking involved unless your "targets" are far apart.