Advice on box walking needed please

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Bright_Spark

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Amber has started coming in at night as she has dropped a bit of weight recently. She also had a week in at the begining of the month due to having a rain scald type thing on her back.

Since she had to have 2 months of box rest, she now gets very stressed in her stable and box walks whenever she is stabled. Before that she was fine in the stable- some mornings I'd have to drag her out!

I always make sure she has lots of hay/haylege and feed to keep her ocupied and is turned out and brought in at regular times, but every morning her bed is all over the place and all her dropping and some wet are trampled into the bed.

I was just wondering if anyone had any advice about box walking?

Would a really deep bed be any better, or a shallower one?Bed is about 6 inches deep and aprox 11ft x 12ft in size currebtly if that helps.

Many thanks.
 
Apart from getting her lots of toys, stable ball things, hanging swede on a string etc I would suggest you try stable mirrors if you think it's worth the expense. I used mirrors in my horses trailer to try and help him travel better on his own and so far they are working a treat!

Good luck
smile.gif
 
It would seem that she is assocaiting being in her box with being confined for long periods of time. I wonder if you could break this idea by bringing her in for 30 mins to an hr once a day, doing something with her that she enjoys, such as grooming, using stable toys etc. Just a thought. I wonder if that might break up the idea in her mind that she is shut in for a long period of time until someone comes to get her.
Does she also have other horses around her to provide some comfort? I agree with giving plenty of forage to keep her occupied.
Another thought - I wonder if relaxing music might help? You could try it during the day........
 
We use mirrors at work a lot and in general they help but some horses react really badly to then, if any thing is going to react it's usually a colt. Having said this, my horse has a slight seperation anxiety thing when I leave the yard and have thought about trying a mirror for him. He used to pace but at his new yard he has a closed front box and so weaves instead. At the mo he's out all the time but when he comes in at night I think I'm going to have problems.
Also try lots of toys, especially the balls that the horse kicks to get food.
 
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