For how long do people think is fair to keep a horse on box rest

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Rocky01

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I'm potentially facing this issue (he's at the vets). I love my boy so so much but am trying to work out if his lameness is serious how long is fair to keep him on box rest, he's already had 4 months on box rest, I just don't know how much more is fair.
 
If the prognosis is good, then as long as it takes. It is not easy keeping a horse on prolonged box rest. Perhaps there are some compromises you could make to make things a bit better for the horse. Sorry I do not know your situation. For my little horse who has very thin sensitive soles and periodic laminitis, I can let her have 2 stables with a small yard . I bought some horsecrocz boots for her and line them with disposable nappies for extra cushioning. At least she can have a little wander about to keep her joints mobile, plus I hang her hay net from a beam in the rafters so that it moves around - she has to move her head and neck more to get her hay.
4 months box rest - Well done you. It cannot be easy and I really hope it has paid off
 
Rocky01 said:
I'm potentially facing this issue (he's at the vets). I love my boy so so much but am trying to work out if his lameness is serious how long is fair to keep him on box rest, he's already had 4 months on box rest, I just don't know how much more is fair.
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I would say 'how long is a piece of string... box rest for a day or two is unfair IMO if you know there is never going to be a good resolution, but if there is a chance and the horse is still relatively content then I would say play it by ear... your horse will tell you how long is too long for him. do not give up if there is hope and your horse has not given up... that would be my advice :) I hope he gets better x
 
Depends on the horse and the prognosis.

Current horse I reach the stage where we want to kill each other within about a week. Small paddock rest with company of some form (even if that's just a horse in an adjacent paddock that can't wander off out of view) is far better tolerated by him. On prolonged box rest he boxwalks, weaves, kicks out at walls, tries to climb over doors and is generally very stressy and difficult to manage and keep sane. Honestly anything where I had to strictly boxrest him for more than about a month I wouldn't entertain unless the prognosis was very very very good and even then I'd be looking for alternatives.

Most "normal" horses I would boxrest for (some of) the prescribed period so long as prognosis was good and I agreed with the vet that the box rest was beneficial and the only option (yeah those would be the sticking points!) but I'd always be pushing for small paddock rest / a larger indoor area such as a barn as soon as possible for the mental wellbeing of the horse and the benefits of a little bit of gentle movement for the rest of the body.

Fingers crossed for you anyway whatever your horses issues are
 
Seen a stressy eventer cross_tied for about the same. He just relaxed into it after a while. And came sound after. Hope outcome is good.
 
Thank you everyone so far, it's so difficult. He's already done 4 months, whatever is going to be now is on top of that, hence the dilemma. :(
 
My big lad did 7months straight in a box (including one day at 5months where he escaped and spent 45mins jumping between fields and going hell for leather!) Followed by 3 months in but with in hand walking. He is used to box rest though and is generally a very laid back horse about being in a box which makes life so so much easier.
 
We did 9 months but we hand walked every day, had a horse next to him the whole time and was already very used to being in the box as he came from a competitive owner and here they don't tend to put them out much in the winter.
 
Rocky01 said:
Thank you everyone so far, it's so difficult. He's already done 4 months, whatever is going to be now is on top of that, hence the dilemma. :(
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I think it depends on the likely outcome. I'm not a fan of box rest, myself and at four months I'd probably either turn the horse out or put it down unless the prognosis was very, very good. Can you say what the injury that he has been box rested for is, and has the four months so far improved the situation?
 
I think it depends massively on the potential outcome and the nature of the horse. my ex-racer did a tendon last june, and although some people say turn away for a year for tendons, i went on the vets advise and he was on box rest for 6 months- at first complete rest, then started walking in hand for 5 minutes and gradually upped. then at 6 months in hand and gradually more grazing. but the recovery was pretty much garunteed if he rested, ublike some horses on box rest for mysterious lameness.

he is currently on box rest again! as last sunday ripped skin off his leg so has had stitches and has to stay in for 10 days plus possibly more (normally he is out on 10 acres) but he had a great temperament and i can put him out on a tiny grass paddock while i muck out for some green stuff as i know he wont bomb- where as most box rest horses cant be trusted!
 
I depends on the long term prognosis, also there are alternatives I have had horses on box rest that we have turned out into a fresh patch of grass the size of a stable fenced with high electric fence stakes every day. that particular mare was very stressed, she hated being stabled and would kick the walls, get herself cast, bite kick and rear at people but put her out for an hour am and the same pm to stuff her face on grass and she was as quiet and well behaved as was normal for her-she had also had compacted colic in the past so grazing was important from that point of view too.
I have done the same as above for a pony with dust allergies too-the vets generally just want the horse restricted and quiet and they don't all think the other problems it can cause-I also had a gelding at work that was usually such a quiet gent at work, after stifle surgery he lost the plot in the stable and the vet reluctantly agreed we could turn out in a small area, I did mention this horse would not cope with being penned in a small area and would spin on his haunches and fence walk but put him in a big area an he would be fine-the vet insisted and my boss supported him so I asked that the vet be in attendance when we turned out in case he was needed-after a few minutes the vet asked me to go and take the fence down, I did the horse wandered off to graze as calm as can be.
I don't like box rest (although sometimes it cannot be avoided) and I really do think we use it too often-many horse are calm and quiet if they live out full time with a routine on a quiet yard.
 
I did 6 months post broken knees in a field shelter with a gate hastily installed to make it enclosed with a horse that devoted to his life to trying escape. Well worth the battle; the knees healed perfectly and he had a full useful life for another 12 years albeit with bald knees.
 
I dont know whether horses are that aware of time. If hes settled into a routine after 4 months,Id say hed probably be settled for a few more months.
 
As others have said, it depends very much on the horse and the prognosis. Mine did 4 months 11 years ago and I would not have hesitated to do more with her because her prognosis was excellent and she really didn't seem to mind box rest much at all! I went up as often as I could (I was 14 at the time, and part of her box rest was over the summer holidays) and would sit with her for hours, she had ad lib hay and was completely spoiled. She genuinely didn't seem that fussed at all, no stress or bad behaviour that anyone could see. If I'd had a different kind of horse, the experience would have been different. Some horses are impossible to box rest and, actually, I think there are a few things that box rest is recommended for that I now would not box rest for. I wouldn't box rest my mare for what she had if it happened again, but I was 14 at the time and had non-horsey parents so the vet's advice was followed to the letter.
 
As said by others, it depends on what the lameness is and what the prognosis is.

I do believe that many vets over prescribe full box rest, often followed by a period of 'controlled exercise' in hand or under saddle. Many horses would be better with a field shelter or stable with free access to a tiny turnout area and adjacent company, and this is what I will do in the future if the lameness allows it.

Having said that, we had a shire cross mare here in cross ties for about 10 weeks with a suspected fractured wing of ilium, clearly she couldn't have been turned out but she came good in the end.

It's very difficult, I hope you get some answers at the vet.
 
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hard to say without knowing how the horse is taking the confinement what the box rest is for and the prognosis for a good recovery. but if the horse was not relaxed about it I would be considering turning the horse out for 6 months or more if it was possible or if the outcome was guarded or not good then pts would be discussed
 
Depends on the age of the horse, the potential outcome and if he has any other conditions like arthritis.

Mine's 18, has moderate to severe arthritis in both coffin joints - you wouldn't know this the way he moves. He also has spavin in both hocks. Both conditions have been treated and he is vet sound, ridden daily and turned out every day to prevent stiffness.

However, but I wouldn't contemplate keeping him on total box rest for more than a couple of weeks given his age and health as he would just seize up in the stable. If he was able to be led out in hand for a walk then it would be different.
 
My youngster did over 4 mths this year,I gave up 1/2 way through as he was increasingly unsettled at the livery yard I'm at,he went to a rehab yard where he was very settled & coped brilliantly, I think the lack of routine with me & seeing his friends coming & going to the field upset him & away from home he was so much happier. My older horse I wouldn't even contemplate prolonged or even any box rest,too stressed,poor appetite,ulcer prone & thrives off 24/7 turn out all year round, if he did something & couldn't be rehabbed in a small field then he would be PTS for both our sanity!
 
We're on 14 months and counting, with at least 6 more on the cards depending on healing.

Horse has had multiple rounds of extensive foot surgery, and cannot be turned out. Prognosis is currently very good for becoming field sound again - instruction to vets at the last surgery was that he would not be waking up from the GA unless they felt he had a fighting chance.

He was previously a nightmare about being stabled, so we were worried, but he's settled extremely well into his routine and is pretty chilled. He goes out to graze in-hand if the weather's good (i.e. ground dry), and enjoys lots of grooming and fuss.

I would do 4 months unless horse really didn't settle/injury wasn't healing as expected.
 
I had one on 7 months' box rest after doing a tendon in the field. He was retired but with a good prognosis so we decided to try it rather than pts. After the first week he settled into the routine really well and we didn't even need to keep another horse in during the day to keep him company. Starting the in-hand walking was trickier as he was feeling rather well! He went on to have another five years in the field before arthritis caught up with him.

I've had various horses on box rest over the years and they seem to get 'institutionalised' pretty quickly and cope well.
 
Mine has done 3 x stints of box rest - the first for about 12 weeks with a fracture (4 of those weeks were cross-tied too.) The second was for about 7 weeks, which he tolerated well. Then the final one was for about 5 months, which was supposed to be 6, but he lost the plot and I had to choose the s**t or bust method and turn him out.

So far so good, but I know for sure that if he suffers a relapse (torn DDFT), I will not box rest him again.

In a nutshell, then, it all depends on the horse/prognosis, which is what others have already said.
 
Rocky01 said:
I'm potentially facing this issue (he's at the vets). I love my boy so so much but am trying to work out if his lameness is serious how long is fair to keep him on box rest, he's already had 4 months on box rest, I just don't know how much more is fair.
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Hi there, I once had a Welsh Cob section D on 9 months box rest and he could be a really bad patient but he got used to it as long as you can keep a routine and he has adequate food and water and maybe a companion...

good luck
 
I've done 6 months box rest with a fit young horse and 12 months with an older horse.
Young horse fractured his ilium but prognosis was a full return to work with no long term problems
The older horse put a huge hole in his suspensory and check ligaments of his front leg when he slipped at a show. Prognosis was good for field sound, guarded for return to full work. Horse didn't owe me any thing so we gave it a try. He returned to full work
 
I worked at a stable where they had a horse on box rest for a year. He came right on it and seemed happy in his box. My old mare hated being stabled. One night was enough for her.
 
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