We have a 17 yr old stallion with severely dropped suspensories and pain management has become an issue to keep him happy and wanting to jump the phantom. We have the phantom lower than normal as he will not mount the phantom if it is any higher. Ground collection without the use of drugs has not been a success but it might become a reality if we cannot get him to collect on the phantom. We have taken him out to collect and sometimes he seems stiff in the back as well as his hind legs. There is one leg worse than the other. When we can get him to jump but not collect we put him away for a short time and collect our other stud. I give him 10 cc of Cronyxin IM and wait a short time and bring him out later. This has helped in every instance but I am worried about the regular use of this(3X/week for 6 months a year)as well as the fact that it is masking the pain. Is Banamine the best pain killer for this instance? If not, what do you recommend? How long before collection should I give it? This stud will be responsible for 75 mares this year and I am apprehensive. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks,
First thing I'd do is have a good chiropracter take a look at him. Some of that pain might be coming from tweaks in his back and hips/sacrum that are fairly easy to adjust. I've seen chiropractic work take nearly-unrideable dressage horses schooling PSG and turn them around in 2-3 sessions. It's inexpensive and worth a shot, just ask around for a GOOD chiro as the difference between a decent one and a super one is huge.
Second, I'd redouble efforts to teach ground collection. You'll drop the stress on his hips and back legs about 90% with ground collection, and if you are having a busy season this year I suspect it will make a big difference.
Regarding painkillers, it has been my experience that any worthwhile painkiller is also going to have some negative effect on libido - apart from all the other negative effects, of course. Banamine is no exception, in my experience at least. For a young and frisky stallion, it's barely noticeable. For a boy who is more shy, it might be a big difference.
What nutritional supplements are you using? All of our boys are on a mix I do myself that includes chondro/MSM/DMG/creatine/bee pollen plus a dozen more of my famous secret herbs and spices ;-) I'd get him started on something like this right away as it can take a few weeks to get the results showing in his work.
Finally, have you done some massage on him? I work the lower legs of our showjumping horses routinely in the show season - it helps to expel fluids and encourage good scar tissue formation.
Oh, and I'd look at accupuncture if you have a good accupuncturist locally. It's the best pain management technology out there, if done by a gifted practitioner.
I really don't like to set up situations where a stallion is routinely brought out to collect but doesn't ejaculate and needs to be returned to his stall. This quickly becomes self-reinforcing, and before long you will always need to bring him out twice! It's a subtle art, but teaching them to collect the first try, every try is the key to efficient collections and happy stallions. Anyway, that's always my goal.
I've done onsite consultation as far away as Germany for older stallions who needed to learn ground collection due to injuries prevent phantom collection. It's hard to explain over the phone the ins and outs of teaching the technique (I find it difficult at least). Well, for young stallions that are full of themselves, the only difficult part is teaching it safely. For the older boys who might be a bit less randy, I find that having lots of experience with lots of different stallions can be very helpful.
The big joke around my barn is that, if I started accepting requests to fly about and teach ground collection to stallions, I'd never have time to school our showjumping stallions and take them into competition!
Regards,
D. Spink Hengststation Exitpoint www.stallions.net Chilliwack, BC Canada
Anonymous Posted From: 216.209.108.159
Posted on Monday, February 09, 2004 - 12:42 pm:
Thank you very much for your advice! I looked into purchasing MSM/glucosamine supplements for them and will get on that ASAP. I do not know of any acupuncturists or equine chiropractors in my area but I will call around. I think if I give banamine before I attempt to collect him and therefore do not have to put him away then I will end the frustration he must be feeling. I will work on an equine massage therapist for his back and hindquarters as well. I really appreciate the quick advice as I am looking to get him as good as he can be before the season starts. Thanks
Kate
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