Making box rest as pleasant as possible

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Does anyone have any tips for helping keep a young horse as happy as possible on 6-8 weeks of box rest? This is the first time she has ever been on box rest having lived out until she was 5 when I took her on.

I have bought a treat ball that I can put bits of carrots, apples, nuts etc in and one of those tongue twister balls you fasten to the wall with the two mini lickits in
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She also now has an Equissage that she is having on for 20 minutes every morning after I have mucked out which she seems to really enjoy despite the fact I thought she would a bit more jumpy with it to start with.

I have put a bucket of water in with her and some apples in it so she can bob for those... but also because she has an automatic waterer which is quite big and seems to smell after a day or two because it gets shavings etc in it.

Does anyone have any other ideas?
 
Not keen on treat balls my stallion sprained his fetlock standing on one. A small holed haynet and plenty to watch is enough really. We have had horses go hyper on lickits so you need to becareful your not feeding more energy.
 
I found with mine that giving him as constant a routine as possible (work permitting) helped him settle. Other than that I just made sure he had plenty of hay and that he could see other horses. I got someone to put in his treat ball to distract him for the first few days when his field mate was being turned out but he soon got used to the idea that he wasn't going too.
I was dreading having him on box rest, but I found that it gave me the chance to spend more quality time with him than I have for the past couple of years and it has really built up the bond between us.
Hope it all goes well.
 
plastic mirrors are quite a good idea the horse can stare at its reflection and so thinks it has a companion.Normally works but i have seen one horse attack one before because it felt its new companion was a threat!!!!!!!
 
Get a cheapo battery powerd radio. Tune it in to Classic FM and hang it up somewhere that the horse can't get it.

I would avoid lickits. They are very expensive sugar. No horse needs sugar and it can fizz them up and make them stressy.

Mirrors are fab.

Apart from that, loads of grooming & love will see your horsey through.
 
We had a horse that severed a deep digital flexor tendon as a yearling and had to spend 6 months on box rest. We made her a pen in the calf shed (we had a dairy farm) so she always had company.
 
Echo the thoughts on Likits,

Used to give mine a can of Guiness a day, it kept her eating (cos she went off her food after a few days getting stressed) the Guiness seemed to calm her
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or she just like alcohol
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Ive just got mine a Horslyx, read all the info and its not actually that sugary or I would have bought a pasture (Saracen) lick. Its got a restrictor grill to stop him licking too much but they tend to self regulate after a day or two. He has a box that he can see what comes or goes and adlib hay. Also lots of grooming and carrot stretches.
The radio idea is fab, worked on loads of stress heads and really calms them.
 
My horse managed to eat a likit over night and it sent her completly hyper. I would feed one again.

You'll be surprised how well they adapt to box rest.
 
[ QUOTE ]
I found with mine that giving him as constant a routine as possible (work permitting) helped him settle. Other than that I just made sure he had plenty of hay and that he could see other horses. I got someone to put in his treat ball to distract him for the first few days when his field mate was being turned out but he soon got used to the idea that he wasn't going too.
I was dreading having him on box rest, but I found that it gave me the chance to spend more quality time with him than I have for the past couple of years and it has really built up the bond between us.
Hope it all goes well.

[/ QUOTE ]

Thanks, I will try to keep everything as consistent as possible. I am trying to use the Equissage in the morning then it keeps her relaxed through the day. And I am trying to keep tying her up on the yard while I finish off her bed for 15 mins with a net so that she is used to this being her routine. I go when it is quiet (early morning and later on at night) so that should keep her mind sane even if it is just for 15 mins
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plastic mirrors are quite a good idea the horse can stare at its reflection and so thinks it has a companion.Normally works but i have seen one horse attack one before because it felt its new companion was a threat!!!!!!!

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Grace has had a mirror for 9 months because she was incredibly attached to my other mare and would go crazy whenever she left her in the stable. So I bought her a mirror and have never looked back because the result was instant! She sleeps by it and snuggles up to it whenever she is in her stable dozing
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Get a cheapo battery powerd radio. Tune it in to Classic FM and hang it up somewhere that the horse can't get it.

I would avoid lickits. They are very expensive sugar. No horse needs sugar and it can fizz them up and make them stressy.

Mirrors are fab.

Apart from that, loads of grooming & love will see your horsey through.

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She always has a Stable lick in with her anyway, and doesn't gobble at it because it has always been there... I have bought the garlic ones and I know a certain company are bringing out a salt one very soon
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I'll definitely get her a radio... good idea. I'll get one of those shower ones with a cord and hang it in her stable with smooth fm or classical fm on
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[ QUOTE ]
We had a horse that severed a deep digital flexor tendon as a yearling and had to spend 6 months on box rest. We made her a pen in the calf shed (we had a dairy farm) so she always had company.

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Aw, that was a good idea. Luckily, it is winter turnout so she will always have company
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We have geldings and mares going out on alternate days so there will always be a few horses in the yard with her!
 
I was lucky when mine was on box rest. Apart from it only being a week it was also half-term so I could spend plenty of time with her. Even when I was poo picking the field she saw me coming and going. Don't know if popping up during the day is an option for you but as others have said they really do settle well after a while. I thought mine would be mental as she is young and even coming in for worming she was hyper but she settled really well and seemed to enjoy her afternoon snoozes! Sorry not much help there but thought i'd offer my limited experience on the matter. As for treats she had a lickits ball, kindly donated by auntie daisy, and a swede which she was less impressed with. She is so daft that she only remembered the lickit every now and then so it did last longer than one night. I'm sure Grace will be fine and that you'll do a great job looking after her.
 
My TB mare is 2 and a half mnths into 3 mnths box rest for suspensory injury, we've had a few dramas but nothing major and I was really surprised how she settled into the box rest after the first week or so (and she is naturally a hyper stressy mare!)
I agree routine is important, mine is that I tie her on the yard where I can see her while I muck my two boxes out. Then I groom her and pick out / wash her feet. I then get the 'day' box ready for her to go into (my other horse's box who currently is still turfed out lol) and leave the 'night' box ready for the YO to swap her over in the evening if I can't make it. She has ad lib hay, a small feed once a day as I'm feeding supplements and a calmer, she also has a horslyx and a horseball. I also leave a radio switched on for her during the day. She does have days when she comes out of the box like an utter loon but is usually if her routine has been disrupted in any way, such as the horse opposite went out a bit earlier than usual or I'm a bit late getting there lol (hyper-sensitive horse!) GOOD LUCK with it..I'm glad ours is almost over although I'm dreading even putting her out in a small paddock as I know she will bronc to her hearts content and I'm worried she will do the damn ligament in again!!
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Another one for you is to get some readigrass and put it in a tub truck, kept Pidge happy and made a change from hay.
 
Is there anyway she can have a tiny (stable sized) area outside her stable? When one of mine was on box rest for months - he got seriously depressed so I gated (used 3 large gates) off a tiny section outside and left the door open so he could at least stand outside which made him 10 times happier!
 
Nope... I am on a livery yard and this would not be allowed unfortunately
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Her stable is 16ft x 12ft though, so she does have quite a bit of room in there.
 
we have recently had 2 different horses on box

1 rising 3 yr old, a 4 yr old and a 5 yr old
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we hid apples and carrots in haynets, put apples in water buckets, gave them acess to licks (cant remember the name - not high sugar ones though) and just spent time grooming them. one of the horses used to have 3 grooms a day to stop her from getting bored!

we also kept the radio on for company, but as there are alot of kids at our yard there was always something going on on the yard ( from about 9am til 6 or 7 pm!)

just routine, time spent bonding and even someone sitting in the stable with them for short periods worked
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