Tips for box rest

Hormonal Filly

Hormonal Filly

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As above really.. any tips? :eek:

We have between 4-6 weeks to go. We can do 5 minutes in hand walking increasing to 30 minutes in the time period.

He has a treat ball and I hide carrots in his haylage net which he likes, I've also bought a 'bizzy bites' ball to hang up in his stable but don't want to give to many molasses.

Hes clever and in 2 days hes already worked out how to untie 3 knots, so have also bought a clip when I tie him up. Thought about teaching him tricks to keep his mind occupied?
 
I honestly don’t believe in doing all this stuff. It just keeps them ‘busy’.

Much easier if you can get them to relax and zone out.

Stuff them full of hay (soaked if necessary). A radio in the background. And provided they aren’t being daft don’t do to much.
 
Cut apples in water bucket for Apple bobbing. Lots of grooming and massage to relieve stiffness. Tie up on the yard whilst mucking out so he can enjoy the warmth from the sun. In the past, I've made a pen with electric fencing in the field so my horse could enjoy the fresh air and see his friends.
 
ihatework said:
I honestly don’t believe in doing all this stuff. It just keeps them ‘busy’.

Much easier if you can get them to relax and zone out.

Stuff them full of hay (soaked if necessary). A radio in the background. And provided they aren’t being daft don’t do to much.
Click to expand...

I am of a similar opinion, try not to overstimulate them, if you do too much they get more active when you really want them relaxed and quiet spending most of their time nibbling at hay or snoozing at the back of the box, I leave mine alone as much as possible and find that helps far more than keeping them busy.
 
ihatework said:
I honestly don’t believe in doing all this stuff. It just keeps them ‘busy’.

Much easier if you can get them to relax and zone out.

Stuff them full of hay (soaked if necessary). A radio in the background. And provided they aren’t being daft don’t do to much.
Click to expand...

With my other gelding I’d completely agree, hes relaxed, laid back and just chills out in his stable. Then on the other hand my Welsh is the opposite. Hes young, well 6, full of spirit and if I don't give him something to 'do' specially early morning or evening when the yards active he will have a fit. I know I can resort to sedation but trying to get him to chill out as much as possible, we are only 4 days in so hope he’ll get used to it as we go on.

The carrots in the net make him quietly nibble away and so far he only gets a treat ball first thing to keep him occupied while horses go in/out.
 
agree with IHW and BP.
When any of mine have done box rest the best thing for them has been company, and forage.
I don't think horses experience boredom like we do, quiet routine and a chilled out owner is the best thing we can do for them.
 
Aimeetess said:
With my other gelding I’d completely agree, hes relaxed, laid back and just chills out in his stable. Then on the other hand my Welsh is the opposite. Hes young, well 6, full of spirit and if I don't give him something to 'do' specially early morning or evening when the yards active he will have a fit. I know I can resort to sedation but trying to get him to chill out as much as possible, we are only 4 days in so hope he’ll get used to it as we go on.

The carrots in the net make him quietly nibble away and so far he only gets a treat ball first thing to keep him occupied while horses go in/out.
Click to expand...

Me, well I’d time his hand walking and hand grazing around either end of the day when there is yard activity.

I still wouldn’t be doing anything special while he is in his stable.

But at the end of the day he’s your horse so you do what feels best
 
I bought some of these for my mare on box rest last summer. Natural grass with no added sugars. Kept her busy and distracted whilst other horses were coming and going (you can get them cheaper on e-bay and in multi-packs too).

https://www.millbryhill.co.uk/equestrian-c4/silvermoor-swingers-gorgeous-grass-ball-p13715

I also picked buckets full of fresh grass from the verges and tipped them on to the stable floor - helped with the haylage/antibiotic/painkillers squitty bum and the sudden change from out 24/7 to stabled 24/7.
 
They may surprise you, both of mine have had box rest at some point in their life and one in particular who I thought would be an absolute nightmare turned out to be pretty good, plenty of hay and company (I alternated his overnight usual company with a shetland during the day) stabled next door. He was only in for 3 weeks so not too bad.
My mare had a couple of months box rest some years ago and she chilled right out despite then being on a busy livery yard at the time, although i think the regular activity kept her interested even though she had no company during main daytime hours, she was an angel!
 
I had a 3 year old on 5 month box rest last year - the first week was absolute hell she was trying to jump over the stable door (with anti-weave bars!) and bucking and bronking. After a week or two she got accustomed to her new routine and settled. I cut out all feed and treats and fed just adlib soaked hay in a greedy net feeder because she really didn’t need all that extra energy. A bit of fuss everyday and a groom and she coped really well
 
I am another who does not believe in toys I work to make them calm .
Giving horses any form of molasses treat type product is just a bad idea .
Silvermoor swingers as a good non molassed boredom breaker if you need to use something .
I always provide horse company 24/7 .
And different forages at different times of day .
 
When we have had to 'box rest' one we have had twice a day what we call a mooch and a munch.

We make a couple of hay stations (for us it is on our arena, but it could be a yard) and we mooch from one to the other, having a munch at each one. We find that eating and mooching from one to the other keeps them calm. For the first few times we have 2 of us, one each side, with a lunge line, but once they get the hang of it, it seems to be a one person job.

We try to do one hour at one end of the day and half an hour at the other. It has a relaxed feel, more than hand grazing where they can get a bit frantic!

I don't have anything special in the stable except a radio. They will have ad lib soaked hay in a small holed net so they have to work for the food. I also make the hay outside different, so it is interesting and will keep their attention whilst doing the mooch and a munch. So that would either be dry and in a larger holed net or it would be haylage but still in a small holed net.
 
Thank you all! Great advice given. The wound looks good and stitches coming out slightly early.

He has company he can see all day everyday but I only have 1 other horse whos in at night to keep him company, but can't stay in during the day as well. Hes been really good so far, he gets no sugar nuts in his ball at dinner time. I did buy him a different type of 'lick' I've not seen before, that was advertised as no molasses but it seems that was a white lie.. but think i'm going to have to limit how long he has it, as yesterday I struggled to even lead him out of the yard where as previously hes been a dope on a rope. That will teach me! :rolleyes:
 
Mine's on week 14 of box rest with a good few more to go. He's reacting very well to it. I think the key with him is routine. He gets breakfast, lunch and dinner haynets. If I'm off work I go up at lunchtime and spend time with him outside the stable so he can see everything going on. Same in the evening, and he gets a good groom every night. He can see others across from him that sometimes stay in during the day so he always has someone around. I watch him on camera and he has a routine where he normally sleeps or lies down in between feeds!
 
I have never had my horse on box rest (touch wood) but i did have to keep him in for 4 days after an incident in the field. i didnt play games with him ect, all i did was buy a slow feed nibble net. It would keep him occupied for hours.
It sounds awful but i took away adlib hay on these 4 days so to leave him slightly hungry so every time i did top up his hay (2 small sections would take about 3 hours to eat in the nibble net) he was happy just to given more hay. If id let him gorge his hay quickly he would have been bored and a bit of a handful.
As he wasnt poorly i did hand graze him a few times a day and lunge him to let some steam off.
 
Aimeetess said:
As above really.. any tips? :eek:

We have between 4-6 weeks to go. We can do 5 minutes in hand walking increasing to 30 minutes in the time period.

He has a treat ball and I hide carrots in his haylage net which he likes, I've also bought a 'bizzy bites' ball to hang up in his stable but don't want to give to many molasses.

Hes clever and in 2 days hes already worked out how to untie 3 knots, so have also bought a clip when I tie him up. Thought about teaching him tricks to keep his mind occupied?
Click to expand...
https://h0rseservices.weebly.com/horses-on-box-rest.html
 
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