BOX REST ADVICE NEEDED URGENTLY (also in Vet Sect)

[hrhmika]

As of next week i will have a fit ex-racehorse on box rest for 3 weeks (brilliant) following a knee operation, any advice on diet, any calmers i could use, anything to occupy him anyway i can make his bed as comfy as possible please help, any hints or tips, and anyhting to help him heal, i though aloe vera??? ANY HELP so appreciated!

 

[PennyJ]

I found one of those nut-ball things an absolute godsend with my busy-bee and fit mare, also small dose sedalin 2x a day until she got used to the box rest (tendons). However the best thing of all we found was allowing her to graze in hand whilst her stable was being mucked out in the morning. That was the single biggest thing that helped her keep her sanity I think...

 

[Aces_High]

I totally agree with post above but be careful with the in-hand grazing as he might very well have odd freak outs and do more damage. When my horse fractured a pastern and was racing at the time he had 6 weeks tied up before 6 weeks box rest and I'd hand pick grass and take it to him as not worth the risk of a freak out episode. Diet wise - Baileys Racing Light. Sometimes after ops they can go off their feed so maybe some Meadow Sweet as tends to help the fussiest eater eat. I wouldn't worry about calmers and stuff like that as they do adapt well. The other thing is to hang a horsehage hay net stuffed with hay in the middle of the stable - takes them ages to eat. I threw over some baler twine from a roof truss and made a loop at the bottom to tie the net to. Again though if he's very fit they often are not great hay eaters. Have you had many racehorses before? What age is he? Is he flat or NH?

 

[NicoleS_007]

My tb was on box rest for near 4 months last year and adapted very well although he did get into the habit of eating his poo due to bordem I fed mine conditioning cubes and a bit of chaff just to keep the weight on him and his pretty cool headed!! Many people just feed hay or haylage which would probably be just as good if hes a bit highly strung!! ... I used one of them treat balls to keep him occupied (for a bit) also a haynet place into a hay rack takes them ages to eat, and a haynet tyed to the side of the hay rack keeps them occupied and takes for ever to eat as it swings around lol .. I attempted hand grazing and he went mental so ditched that idea and hand picked a bucket of grass for him

Hope all goes well

 

[CBFan]

3 weeks is nothing! Try a year! get some sedalin from your vet and use it if he seems to get wound up. Routine is so important. especially to an ex racer who will be used to routine. I tried to discourage people from fussing my filly when she was in but he might prefer the attention? he should be pretty used to being stabled the majority of the time surely (being an ex racer) so as long as you don't pump him full of silly feed he should be fine?

Hay is by far the best thing to feed him to A) keep him busy and B) maintain a healthy weight without making him highly strung. Feed as much of it as he can eat.

You can try snackballs etc but if he's not suposed to be moving about they kinda defeat the object don't they??!! Try apples and carrots and sweet on strings in his doorway?

 

[pedilia]

My TB exracer has been on box rest for the past 6 weeks, he has coped amazingly well. His routine is quite strict as he thrives on routine, he knows when its feedtime etc.

He ignores a treatball, I did hang apples with baling twine around the stale for him, also buried carrots in his haynet.

 

[toomanyhorses26]

when mine was on box rest - we had a door chain fixed so there was no door - helped withno door kicking and kept a good breeze running through his box. I fed mine copious amount of good doer/happy hoof etc and haylage in a triple small holed haynet and he stayed sane and kept a good weight. We put him into a box where he could see stuff going on but wasn't on a busy traffic path as he can be a bit nippy and din't want to encourage that.