Box rest how did you cope....

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05kitty93

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Hi,

My mare has recently been diagnosed with 2 ligament injuries and basically she's on box rest for at least the next 6 weeks and off work for approx 6 to 9 months this is following a 3 day stay at the vets, numerous nerve and a joint block. Vet coming out in a weeks time - I'm deverstated!

How did you cope.....any suggestions?

Thanks
Ruth
 
lots of toys... hang up empty plastic bottles (remove lids!), hang up a pillow at back height (they like shoving it around, rubbing on it etc usually), put a whole swede on a string for her to nibble and push around.
leaving the radio on classic fm goes down well!
picking fresh grass, giving her a good groom every day and a bit of a good massage. even sitting in the stable for an hour while reading a book gives them company and keeps them happy.
v best of luck, hope the time goes fast...
 
OH's cantankerous event horse has damaged collateral ligaments in both front hooves....was told by horsepital that she would need to be box rested for at least 2 months....that's before they had to cope with her in a stable for 72 hours....when I went to collect her they said she could go into a pen (stable sized) as if she did what she had whilst there, she would cause herself more damage. She did however have to be box rested for 24 hours after each IRAP and after each shockwave treatment, we managed this with the help of Sedalin. She has been much less stressed and much quiter in a pen than she would have been in her stable (she is a boxwalker) and one of her buddies has been near her at all times for company. Good luck :-)
 
Radio, routine, company, and not too long between visits. (so don't have it standing in it;s stable all day not seeing a soul.)
 
they cope better than you think! might want a bit of acp for a couple of days, add lib hay. the hard part is the transition to back into field or walking in hand or on walker!!!! once back out in field can you leave her out 24/7 with a friend? good luck! time passes quicker than you think!
 
Thanks for the advice and suggestions they're very much appreciated. She won't be left on her own for long I'm up there most of the time anyway talking to her, grooming her or just sitting and watching her.

I'l put the radio on and thanks for the tip re classic fm and will pick some grass for her too.

Oh and any famous HHO vibes going spare we would appreciate them too. lol.x
 
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I just dont get the big deal with box rest.

Mayb its cause Ted spent most of his last year on this God forsaken earth on it?

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For many it's a huge deal. My horse simply wouldn't tollerate it, and it's actually one of my worse nightmare scenarios.
 
[ QUOTE ]
I just dont get the big deal with box rest.

Mayb its cause Ted spent most of his last year on this God forsaken earth on it?

Lou x

[/ QUOTE ]

Feel free to try and keep mine in on box rest!

He was in for 10 days, spents it doped up, HAD to have company or he would try and jump out and still spent those ten days ploughing round in circles in his box.
He had to go out in the end, it was doing his leg no good being in, so it was the lesser of two evils.
 
my horse was on box rest 2years ago for 4months and she hates being in at the best of times .so wasnt a fun 4months .put radio on ,plenty of toys and visit as much as you can to keep them company i ended up puttin my shetland in for a lot of the time to keep her company aswel

hope she gets better soon x
 
Hi Ruth,

Sorry to hear your horse is broken at the moment, at least its not in the baking heat of summer.

My horse would love to be on box rest - she loves her stable to bits and would love to just stand in all day munching hay! Unfortunately I am a mean nasty mummy and she goes out everyday with the others!

I can only really suggest like the others, spend loads of time with your girlie giving her loads of fuss and grooming, and keep a nice big haynet (tiny holed one) on the go so she has plenty to munch to ease the boredom.

I hope your mare is better very soon,

All the best

Gem
 
Another idea is to get a goat or sheep and the horse becomes attached to it so is much calmer, or a stable mirror etc.

The best way ive found for box rest is to make sure that they have plenty of hay!!
 
Box rest needn't be traumatic if its approached in the right fashion. First of all recognise that there's no choice, it has to be done, its for the well of your horse, and once you've got over that hurdle its plain sailing, although I would admit 6-9 months is a long time! Just provide your horse with enterntainment. This will depend on the extent of his injury/illness, but apples in his water bucket for him to do apple bobbing will keep him entertained, lots of small haynets hung everywhere in his stable, bits of carrots/apples strewn in his bed (be careful he doesn't start digging his bed up if he has a bad leg for example), a snackaball, a clump of earth with grass attached will keep him occupied, as will a piece of bark from a tree. Split his feed up into as many smaller feeds as you can to give him something to look forward to, obviously if on box rest he wont be on hard feed, but you can give him chaff, carrots, apples, dates, plums, pears, etc. You could leave a bucket of speedibeet water or a bucket with apple juice or peppermint cordial mixed with the water. You could give him a football to kick about, a bit of towelling strung through the bars in his stable, a plastic bottle hanging from the door for him to bat, a lick or two hung around the place, a swede or turnip suspended from the celing, a radio left on a classical music station (not every one likes ACDC)!! Above all ask all your friends at the yard if they could spare a couple of minutes every day to just go in a pat him, give him a brush, pick out his feet, or just have a quick chat with him.
 
My mare is currently completing month 5 out of 6 months box rest. She has severe colateral ligament damage in both front legs. I have had an extremely stressful time as my mare does not like to be in and she is only 5. I found that tying her up outside on the yard in the morning and at night was extremely beneficail. It was only about 8 steps out and back in so was really no different from how much they can walk around in stable. This was the only was of keeping her semi sane. She was psychotic without it. I ended up in A and E with a near miss to my head from bucking in the stable.

Also I found having another pony (who happened to be lamanitic) wondering round the yard helped her massively.

I'm afarid I could not escape the sedalin either. We could go for days being fine and them have to sedate her 3 days in a row.

I am now hand grazing and hand walking her for 10 minutes a day as pure box rest is getting dangerous and I cannot put her in a paddock becasue she goes mad.

if your horse is unlikely to stay quite I would talk to your vet about hand grazing each day as I really do feel you end up in a worse position 6 weeks down the line with a highly strung horse. I wish I had done this with my mare. Now I am finding it very hard to introduce her back into any type of normality withoit trying to kill herself.

Good luck. I'll keep my fingers crossed for you.
 
Bailey is on his 2nd month of 6 months boxrest, following a collateral ligament strain. He is hacked out at walk for 30 minutes daily which we are building up to an hour. He was down right dangerous to handwalk and I didn't want him on sedatives incase he tripped and make the injury worse!!!!!!!he is not the easy to hack out either, have a bronc most days but it is far safer on top than on the ground. I think!!!!!!!!Anyway he has a sign on front of his box that says "cuddle me I'm on 6 months boxrest" plus I only work partime so can be up at the yard for most of day, he has about 3 hours during the middle of the day to snooze then I am there again to sort out my other horses and to pamper him. He is tied up on the yard to watch the others come and go and to get the sun on his back. he has 3 fibre feeds a day and ad lib hay, lickits, swede and his radio. I am very lucky as he is very calm in his stable and doesn't mind being the only one in. I just need to invest in some superglue for my breeches. Good luck and your not alone.x
 
I have a stall chain for my boy which I found really helps. You could also try hanging licks, one of the big horselyx tubs, hanging a swede/ turnip from the roof of the his stable keeps my boy occupied. My friend also used to bring her horse down to my stable for visits to have a sniff and say hello! Maybe if your horse has a particular friend that you could tie outside your stable for them to have a little groom? I think it helps them to keep the contact with others. I spent as much time as possible with my boy which is difficult around work etc but it helped to keep his spirits up and it gave me good chance to pull his mane, trim his tail etc. His coat was gleaming with the amount of times i brushed him! Good luck, its not easy. I felt so mean but its a case of being cruel to be kind, they soon adapt to a new routine.
 
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