Horse on box rest...what to feed?

[Bertolie]

Following a road traffic accident last week one of my horses is on box rest while his injuries heal. He normally only gets a low cal balancer with a small handful of Hi-Fi Good Doer. He has to have antibiotics and danilon mixed in with his feed twice daily but is now refusing to eat his feed. I was.given a sample of Calm & Condition which he wolfed down tonight but as its meant for horses in medium to hard work its obviously not suitable long term. Can anyone recommend a tasty feed that's suitable for a horse on box rest?

Thanks in advance.

 

[jennyf]

Always difficult. I would recommend just soaked hay, but as he has to have something to put his meds in, how about a small amount of Speedibeet? This is good to mix stuff into.

 

[stencilface]

Mine who is also on box rest/restricted turnout is getting a tiny amount of Topspec CalmCondition and a mugful of Topspec Comprehensive Feed Balancer twice a day. He is also getting through just about a bale of hay a day (maybe a bit less). Normally this time of year in normal work he would be on sugarbeet, alfa a and allen and page power and performance. I think its more important to keep up their roughage/fibre intake than feeding them hard feed. The feed balancer is there to give him everything he needs, without anything extra. The calmcondition (literally a few nuts) is there in case I run out and have to feed him that for one day

And I squeeze in some topspec joint supplement too (recovering, fingers crossed! from ligament injury).

I have been looking at feeds v carefully over the last few weeks, as I have been trying to find something to give him everything he needs, without giving him too much energy that will make his brain explode when I take him out for his ridden walks (although he doesn't know he's supposed to walk obviously, the moves he can throw are amazing, think we've some some piaffe, passage and some mini levades in recent weeks He'll be getting a calmer if he's not careful!)


I would give allen and page and topspec a ring, Allen and page sent me a sample of feed and a voucher for their feed (enquiring about a separate horse)

 

[lachlanandmarcus]

I find Dengie Healthy Hooves absolutely wolfed down by both of mine, the coblet that needs it and the 17hh hunter who turned his nose up at much more fancy and expensive feeds to get at it.

If you are on shavings/wood pellets, putting small piles around the edge of the stables keeps them occupied a long time whiffling out the last few tiny bits.

Its about 8.5 mj/kg compared with hay at 9ish and 12 hour soaked hay about 6-7. Hifi lite is about 8 I think.

Also 12 hour soaked hay (any more and it goes a bit meurghh but 12 hours should reduce sugars by a quarter or more) in small holed or doubled nets.

good luck, my lami prone girl was in for a month and she coped with being in, with the above diet. She is slimmer and sound now!

 

[Holly Hocks]

Allen and Page fast fibre is low/no energy and is high in fibre. The question is whether your horse will eat it. Although if he's eaten calm and condition, then he might because it's also a soaked feed.....my other suggestion would be speedibeet. Good luck

 

[**Vanner**]

My boy has survived his box rest on soaked hay in quadruple nets and a handful of happy hoof which his meds and now supplements are mixed in.

Mint is a lovely herb to add to a small feed to help disguise meds.

 

[clairew]

I'm feeding mine Allen & Page Fast Fibre and she's on box rest, I find it really easy to mix in any meds/supplements needed.

 

[Geraldine]

To get medicine of any kind down Bob I just mix it with a small amount of Speedibeet, he can't eat it fast enough and licks the bowl! He gets just enough to mix whatever he's taking with and he loves it.

I hope your boy recovers soon.

 

[forestfantasy]

http://www.dodsonandhorrell.com/products/horse-ranges/racing/convalescent-diet.html

 

[Izzwizz]

How about dribbling a very small amount of molasses on the feed? My mare was on box rest for a long time and all she had was a small amount of Happy Hoof to mix with her meds. She, unfortunately, is a greedy girly so didnt need much persuasion to eat her feeds.

 

[OWLIE185]

Grate up an apple and put te medication in it. You could also grate up some carrots and mix them in.
Feed you horse one slice of one hour soaked hay every four hours from the floor of the stable. Soaking will get rid of any dust and also the nutrition.

 

[Bertolie]

Thanks for all the suggestions.

We have tried grated apple and hollowed out apples and carrots without any luck. He can sniff out his meds at a hundred paces!

He will quite happily eat his hay (though saying that he is eating less of it), just wont touch his feed with the meds in. This morning my daughter gave him a small amount of the Calm & Condition (that he wolfed down last night) with his meds mixed in and although he ate some he didn't eat it all.

I am going to pop into my local feed suppliers on the way home from work tonight and will probably get some speedibeet, and if that doesn't work I give up!

 

[forestfantasy]

Some horses get very wise to meds! Too clever for their own good!

In extreme cases we used to mix the meds with water and molasses and syringe them in their mouth like a wormer. Not ideal but when meds are essential you have to try anything!
Followed up with treats & a lovely med-free tea afterwards

 

[CBFan]

I would feed plenty of hay and a handfull of chaff and speedibeet with some mint and or garlic added to disguise the meds.

A stable lick (not one of the mollassed ones!) could be provided to help alleviate boredom and provide vits and mins.

 

[Bertolie]

In extreme cases we used to mix the meds with water and molasses and syringe them in their mouth like a wormer. Not ideal but when meds are essential you have to try anything!
Followed up with treats & a lovely med-free tea afterwards

Vet tried this last week - I am now sporting a lovely bruise on the back of my leg from where he showed his appreciation (The horse not the Vet!) Vet gave up!

 

[Wagtail]

If you don't have any luck then get a large syringe, disolve his meds in water and add a spoonfull of brown sugar and syringe them in.

Also, there are a few feeds designed for maintenance or horses at rest. Countrywide farmers do some nuts that are for this http://www.countrywidefarmers.co.uk/pws/ProductDetails.ice?ProductID=5857
And there are others.

 

[missshell]

When mine was on box rest and decided the meds were posion, I gave him a small feed (just chaff) with half the meds in and left it in all day. Then in the evening another small feed with the other half of the meds in and left that in all night. Eventually within the 24hours his greedyness got the better of him and he ate it all. The the next morning we started over again

 

[rockysmum]

I find Dengie Healthy Hooves absolutely wolfed down by both of mine, the coblet that needs it and the 17hh hunter who turned his nose up at much more fancy and expensive feeds to get at it.

!

I agree, our warmblood did very well and stayed calm on this for months on box rest.

To be honest she will eat anything but if I have trouble with medication I dont add it to the feeds. A jam sandwich always works for anything with mine. I like to see they have actually eated it all.

 

[teamsarazara]

When mine is on box rest, she has unlimited hay and all she gets feed wise is a full bucket of hi-fi good doer and a handfull of conditioning cubes twice a day so she doesnt get overly fizzy and takes up a good 2 hours a day of her time to eat it!

 

[teamsarazara]

Oh and for medication, have you tried syrup/mollases and LOTS of it?? Or put some of it in syrup sandwiches and some in feed?

 

[Bertolie]

We tried Speedibeet last night.....nope We are going to try a jam sandwich tonight as we really need to get the antibiotics into him. He is also now not really eating his hay. We have soaked it and fed it dry, in big holed nets and from the floor - he is just not really interested. He is allowed 10 mins in-hand grazing a day as long as he doesn't walk around too much, and will eat the grass when out. We have even picked grass for him which he will eat in the stable reluctantly but if we try putting meds in the grass he wont touch it.

The trouble is he is not a greedy horse - if it were my cob it would be so much easier as he is a greedy b**ger

Please keep any suggestions coming - we really do need to get the ABs into him although I'm not so concerned about the Danilon.

 

[OWLIE185]

This demonstrates what a good sense of smell and taste they have. Make sure you thoroughly clean the horses mixing bowl after use so that any smells and medications are completely removed. Honey sandwiches sometimes work.

 

[Bertolie]

This demonstrates what a good sense of smell and taste they have. Make sure you thoroughly clean the horses mixing bowl after use so that any smells and medications are completely removed. Honey sandwiches sometimes work.

*makes mental note to nip into Tesco's after work tonight and buy jam AND honey*

 

[lachlanandmarcus]

I would stick with the syringe (have used very effectively with bute with 17 hander who wont touch any bribes in any form as he knows they have med in them!)but have one person holding the horses headcollar at the noseband and the other person syringing in, do it quickly and firmly. If he goes to bite it might be best to wear gauntlets and padded clothes, all over if needed!; it's crucial he gets the meds and if you follow up with an apple or something nice they do get better with it.

For general feeding ou could try lo cal horsehage (Blue bag), if he isnt used to it he might find it very tempting. But Dengie Healthy Hooves is the thing mine just cant say no to!

 

[fandout]

Hi after my driving horse took a virus and was on box rest Horse First Realxme keep him settled in the stable- after he came home and had to get powders I mixed them with their Garlic & More and made a sandwich which really went down a treat. I think if you contact them they would send a sample of the garlic....

 

[Goldenstar]

grated carrots sometimes work but really any coarse mix he likes will do even if too high energy for a box rested horse at the moment the more important thing is that he gets his meds if he's not eating them then you will have to get the antibiotics injected and you can get anti-inflamatiites in paste form once everything is in his system he will probally start to eat.
you could also try removing all food for an hour before his drugged feed not ideal I know but worth a try.