6 wks box rest - HELP!!

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annbal

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Any inventive deas for breaking his boredom?

Shadow is about to go on 6 weeks box rest after he has his legs operated on tomorrow. I have a treat ball for him but he finishes it within the half hour. Any other ideas without spending too much money (the vet has taken it all
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I have also tried hanging swede but again he just destroys it within minutes....
 
I used to hide bits of veg in my boys bed, so he spent a few hours sniffing them out. also had one of the licket balls that hang up, that worked though lost count of how may times I almost knocked my self out with it.
 
My mare is on 6 weeks box rest at the moment, it's no fun!

I've doubled my haynets and that keeps her interested, got my OH to drill through turnips and hung those and did the same with chunky carrots. I'm now considering resorting to NAF "Magic" as she's becoming quite stressed.
 
Ive been here, got the T-shirt and did a mix of the above..

Radio, double haynets, hidden veg in haynet (i didnt do bed as he was making such a mess searching for it)
Also found chucking a swede in was good fun for mine to play/eat for a few hours but i never hung it, i just put it on the floor like a ball to eat.
Lickit tubs, hanging veg/fruit from ceiling on a 'safe' string etc.
 
Routine, routine, routine. And at least three visits a day from you, plus ask others to give a kind word and pat as they pass the stable door.
 
you can get inflatable balls as well and i used to give ready grass or similar with veg in which is good as it can be a shock to the system going from grass all day to none and can cause colic if your unlucky
 
as many different types of forage as possible - my horse got haylage, soaked hay, chaff, and fresh grass every day. Ask people to chuck a bit in, especially at lunchtime if you are in work.
Mirror was a huge sucess with my very stressy horse, but not so cheap.
 
Be careful with lickits! Sent my warmblood boy loopy and he wasnt even on box rest! ! Not sure if all the sugar etc does any good! He is 17.1 and could pin the licket on the ceiling and just chew it right up in about 5 minutes flat! I couldnt work out why he was being so sharp as he is sooo laid back and was only on pony nuts and chaff!
Til i stopped with the sweets at night!
 
Have you ever put an apple in their water and watched them bob for it, very funny! One horse i knew threw and absolute paddy though because she couldnt get it!
 
I don't know what sort of stable arrangements you have but if there could be another horse in a neighbouring box it's helpful. My yearling filly had to be on 6 weeks box rest recently following a field injury and as I don't have stables she went to a friend's. Friend was really pleased as it meant she could keep her potentially laminitic Welsh B in the box next door and they were company for each other. I wasted huge amounts of money on LikIts and one of those huge dangling apple things - filly never even looked at them but she did like "talking" to her friend next door. Their boxes were right outside my friend's kitchen and she moved the TV to where they could see it and leave it on when everyone was out! I went and "did" her twice a day and friend and her family were around a lot too as they have two young sons so neither horse really got time to be bored.
 
Hi,

My horse was recently on 2 months box rest, although he was actually allowed to walk out twice a day for 20 minutes. I thought he would never cope but he did.

I tried all the usual, likits, double nets etc, but actually found he just liked having me for company. I spent hours in the stable with him, just brushing him, fussing with him and he became alot more affectionate than before. He would follow me around the stable and just enjoyed whatever I was doing with him. So my advice would just be to spend time with him, I am also a great advocate of routine and I think this helped greatly.

Good luck, you will survive it, I think it actually makes us feel more guilty than it actually bothers the horses !!
 
My TB mare did 3months from August to November last year. I did a mixture of all the above plus she had a horslyx in her stable. If you can, move to a stable where there's the most activity for her to watch. My mare had to stay in the barn system but I was able to move her to a slightly bigger box and used my gelding's box for her too so she had a day box and a night box which i think just gave her a bit of a change of scene. Good luck, you'll probably find she takes to it better than expected after the first few days and yes routine is very important in keeping them settled.
 
I've just finished with one on box rest from beginning November and one on box rest from 22 Jan. For the first one who box walks and weaves we found that a stall chain instead of the door made a huge difference, she didn't seem to like the radio much, nor tvand wasn't interested in a mirror. I let her have three feeds a day as eating is her favourite thing - but made up of chaff and beet - nothing exciting. She got buckets of carrots several times a day. From February I made her a stable-sized pen in the turnout area and that helped. Then I could move the other box rested one into her stable as a day stable for him, which he seemed to enjoy.

Companionship was the thing that made the most difference to them both though.
 
MY gelding was on 11w box rest after a fractured cannon bone- mercifully healed ok, but he was an absolute nightmare on beox rest - Very stressy, weaving, box walking etc- I tried to keep to routine every day - fed him 2 small meals, haylage in small-holed nets, hubbie drilled through turnips and we hung them up, I hid carrotts in his bedding and nets - I also kept my daughters shetland in more than usual as a bit of company....but he still went mad when we took her out and kept trying to bite her bum (they are friends again now!!) -plenty of grooming and fussing and pampering - he looked like a show pony when he finally got released!! I also used Magnitude magnesium calmer, still using it now as its helped de-stress him generally. I can completely sympathise- box-rest is the worst thing to get through, but eventually you do get to the end of it together ..
 
My mare was on box rest for a year after a really bad tendon injury.

i would say.. if you havent already, gradually change him onto a cooling mix and reduce the amount slightly to stop him from having so much energy

give as much hay as he will eat.

a feed ball is great for stabled horses to relieve bordom.
it did wonders for my mare

some horses also like other toys like a football, a hanging scented apple, hang a tennis ball to the celing. things like that. it doesnt work for all horses but its worth a try

also spend as much time as possible with him, grooming and making a fuss of him, even if you just take your book or laptop down to the stables and sit in or by the door of the stable. he will be grateful for the company.

hope he feels better soon
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