Best feed for box rested horses?

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0399

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My horse is on total box rest (except for 2 x ten min walks per day). I want to feed her something a) because it is the highlight of her long and boring days and she'd be horrified at meal times if she was the only one without! and b) because I still want her to be getting a balance of essential vitamins and minerals.
She is currently on Baileys number 2 cubes and nothing else.
Can anyone recomend feeds for box resting horses? I want the impact to her weight to be as minimal as possible and I don't want her taking any energy from it.
Thanks!
 
What about just feeding a pelleted balancer like Lo Cal? She could have it in a snack ball if you liked to make it last longer, get her brain working and add a bit of interest?
 
She used to be on lo-cal ages ago (she was in work at the time) but I didn't look into those for box rest as I thought they'd be a bit much for a horse doing nothing... I'll have a look at them though :)
No snack balls or anything unfortunately as she's in with a tendon injury so I don't want any twizzing round the stable!!!
 
She has 15lbs of haylage per 24 hours. She is perfect weight-wise - I guess if anything she could lose a bit!
 
A chop based feed like Alfa A or Hifi Lite? That hasn't really got much in it, but is something a bit extra! :)
Kelly's just come off box rest about 3 weeks ago after 5 months due to lami, and she was and still is on Happy Hoof, and her weight's never fluctuated this summer at all!
 
My boy was on box rest for a total of 9 months! anyway he had Alan&Page fast fiber and hi-fi lite, and speedibeet, vit and mineral sup, magnesium, and glucosomine. And ad lib hay/haylage. He's a big boy at 17hh and he never had colic or any other problems. Good luck, boxrest is awful for all concerned.x
 
If you really feel you have to feed her something, I would say something like Fast Fibre or hi fi lite...

Giving anything more can put your horse at risk of tying up and once they have it, they are prone to further attacks.

Obviously some horses won't be affected by this but be very careful!
 
my horse is on long term box rest too with a fracture and have been investigating the same thing!

she only ever got a token feed at meal times with the other horses to stop her fussing so now only gets a scoop of hi-fi lite. i am about to start her on formula 4 feet though as i feed it to my other horse and it cant be used as an all round balancer too. she has her shoes off and i would like them to stay off as i hope to turn her away once she can go out again so this will help teh cause in the long run.

good luck with the rest of your horses box rest, how long does she have to go?
 
My mare was on box rest for 14 months (the last 3 she was ridden but stabled) due to a tendon tear. She has Happy Hoof as I have to watch her weight and I like it as it has grass nuts, mint and I think garlic in it. She did well on that and didnt gain any extra weight. Shes now on Mollichaff Hoof Kind which is similar to Happy Hoof, just cheaper and shes now turned out.
 
my horse was on box rest recently, I fed him 4 x small feeds of Alfa A Lite & Rowan Barbary Ready Mash Fibre a day. He stayed in good condition & never suffered any feed related issues & he enjoyed his feeds that broke up his boring days ;)
 
She has a tendon tear so it'll probably be 12 months before she'll go in the field again... She'll start an exercise plan as soon as her scans are good enough.
I'm thinking of going down the balancer route... with a fibre... Alfalfa or something. Most of you have mentioned giving an additional source of fibre along with forage.
She had a balancer when competing but I had it in my head that it'd be too much for a resting horse, that she'd get fat and even more fizzy than natural off it but reading about it suggests otherwise.
I'm probably best agonising over what to feed her because if it wasn't that I'd think of something else :D
 
0399 said:
She has a tendon tear so it'll probably be 12 months before she'll go in the field again... She'll start an exercise plan as soon as her scans are good enough.
I'm thinking of going down the balancer route... with a fibre... Alfalfa or something. Most of you have mentioned giving an additional source of fibre along with forage.
She had a balancer when competing but I had it in my head that it'd be too much for a resting horse, that she'd get fat and even more fizzy than natural off it but reading about it suggests otherwise.
I'm probably best agonising over what to feed her because if it wasn't that I'd think of something else :D
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Your horse has the same injury mine did - tear to her DDFT. You are right in that you need to keep the diet pretty basic as you wont want her to have an energy build up. I found that Izzy did very well on the Happy Hoof along with her Oestress and later with NAF MSM which is for tendons and ligaments. In the colder weather she had a little Speedibeet mixed in with her Happy Hoof and that was enough. After her initial box confinement (complete confinement) for a month she was then allowed 3 x 5min walks per day. You really wont want your horse to have too much energy built up as when the hand walking phase starts the last thing you need is a horse pulling away from you and undoing all the healing that has taken place. Izzy also had a bit of Just Grass in a bucket mid-day and just hay. Your best to keep it as basic as you can. If you want any help or advice of my experience just PM me. Iz was on box rest for 14 months (long story) after various conditions were diagnosed before the tear was discovered and its a long road to recovery. To give you hope tho, hers was a bad tear and we are now back to hacking out up to 2 hrs and have just started doing a bit in the school.

Good luck with it.
 
Mine has a tear to the SDFT. It's the second time it has happened... both times whilst out in the field. Nightmare!!!
Is happy hoof a complete feed or does it require a balancer / supplement to go with it?
 
Happy Hoof is chop with grass nuts, mint and garlic if I remember rightly. She doesnt have it now, she has Mollichaff Hoof Kind which is similar. I didnt feed any balancers or anything cereal based, she didnt need it.
 
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