Box rest?!

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Warrior_princess

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Hiya,was just wondering if anybody had any good ways to occupy a horse on box rest that doesnt involve too much food! My 8 year old mare has just had a tenoscopy and the annular ligments cut in both her hind legs, followed by a septic tendon sheath and another tendon flush. Shes been home from Leahurst for almost two weeks now and shes bored!! I cant walk her out yet till the weekend so shes stuck in on her own most of the time. I tried a stable mirror which she absolutely freaked out at!!!

Anybody else on long term box rest?! Just for a bit of support!xx
 
I think the longest I did with one was eight months .
Feed lots of different types of forage hay , haylage , chopped straw , hay bloks in lots of times through the day .
Keep a friend next door on a rota if you can establish a routine where you do the same things at the same time each day.
I try to fill in the day with a couple of grooms a foot care session ( you need to watch for thrush on box rest ) and a sessions with the equissage daily.
I don't give toys lickits or that sort of thing as they seem IMO to wind them up and I want them as level as I can get them.
If the medical condition allows I do passive stretching of the limbs and carrot stretchs foor the neck daily .
They do settle to it in time.
 
My mare had over three months box rest earlier this year due to tendon injury. I took her off hard feed completely and just gave her supplements in a base of Fast Fibre but she had ad lib haylage and imo this was the key (with her) to keeping her happy.
So I would say - don't stint on forage! You can worry about weight later. (Puts tin hat on!)
 
d_morrow said:
Wow Goldenstar - eight months! Phew! Character building for horse and owner!
Just to say OP - I also fed extra magnesium oxide - for calmness. As Goldenstar says - they do settle to it.
PS don't buy branded mag ox. You can get it for half the price from Progressive Earth on ebay: http://stores.ebay.co.uk/Progressive-Earth/Vitamins-Minerals-Amino-acids-/_i.html?_fsub=1819977018
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[I]Hi, This was from a previous thread from someone like yourself asking the same question. This was my answer to her:[/I]If you are on a livery yard ask the staff to give the horse three or four small feeds (something simple like readigrass) during the day. This will give the horse something to look forward to.

Small holed nets hung all around the stable. This encourages the horse to move around in search of food mimicking its natural behaviour.

Fill the nets with pulled grass mixed with the horses usual hay/haylage (just don't store the grass beforehand or it will ferment and can cause colic).

Float a couple of apples on top of the water. That will keep them amused!

If the horse has a straw bed hide bits of carots/apples/treats in the bed to keep them amused (if their injury permits her to move around to this extent).

Leave a radio switched on to a classical station (horses don't like rock/pop music) and prefer less dramatic, slower types of music.

Ask everyone at the yard who walks past to spend five minutes giving her a fuss/talking to her. If you have a spare 20 mins sit with her in her stable and read a book or magazine. Think how grateful you have been for company stuck in a hospital bed with nothing to do.

Put a piece of log or branch with the bark left on.

Dig (I know its hard with the ground like concrete) a clump of turf and leave that in her stable. She will love that and it will have essential nutrients in it.

Mix apple/carrots/swede/polo's into her haynets.

A specially designed shatterproof horse mirror in her stable. Research has shown using a mirror has been show to curb some horses vices by as much as 75%

Swedes hung from the ceiling (no good hung from stable wall as too easily caught and eaten)

Horse licks on rollers.

Snackaball filled with treats/pony nuts. The hexagonal ones are good as they go in random directions so are harder for the horse to work the treat out. Ask if any of your friends can lend you one save buying one.

Football left in stable to kick about.

Tie an old towel to the stable wall/bars of stable which will provide the horse with endless hours of amusement for her to tug and pull at.

Paddock licks/mineral/salt licks
 
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How do you know she is bored, or are you putting human emotions in to the picture. Lots of small holed haynets, but if box rest is what she needs then so be it.
 
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