✅ WHAT HORSES WANT YOU TO KNOW WEDNESDAY
BOX REST
I am pretty sure that every horse person will agree that it is extremely unhealthy, both mentally and physically, for a horse to remain in a box for more than 24 hours.
Even riders who prefer to keep their horses in individual stalls, make an effort to get them out as much as possible, knowing that keeping them in the box for to long will negatively impact their health and performance.
✅ BUT NOW YOUR VET HAS ORDERED BOX REST
Far be it from me to argue with your vet, especially about a case I have zero knowledge of. Nevertheless, I’d like you to think for yourself and examine the situation, before you decide box rest for days, weeks or even months is the best and only option.
Let us first take a look at the disadvantages and possible dangers of box rest:
- Impacted colic as the pass through is slower and often dryer than usual
- Eating standing still and from hay nets impacts the spine and muscles negatively
- Lower limb filling will start to occur, especially with shod horses, as the blood flow is already affected negatively
- The stress of being constantly locked up will negatively affect the healing process of whatever ailment the horse is in box rest for and the risk of other health issues rise
- When you are allowed to let your horse move controlled, the chance that your horse blows up out of having been locked up for to long, is very large. Blowing up means that the injury can return or even get worse.
- Does not get enough day light which negatively impacts vitamin A and D levels, which in turn impacts the healing process and can ad to depression.
- When your horse is finally off box rest, his posture, muscles and fitness will have declined drastically, which in turn promotes risk to a new injury either in training (however slowly) or release in to the grass.
✅ TO BE HONEST, IN ALMOST 40 YEARS, I NEVER PUT A HORSE ON STALL REST FOR LONGER THAN 24 HOURS
Am I a crazy person? Let me just say, I never saw anything good come from it. I weighed the risks of box rest against the risk of not doing box rest with the injury at hand. Up to now, I have always decided against it and with exquisite result. Vets were always surprised the horses healed much sooner as predicted.
✅ THEN WHAT DO I DO INSTEAD?
I fashion a very small paddock, let us say the size of 2 boxes, with a stable, soft and level underground such as sand, wood chips or rubber mats, between the other horses, with hay and other roughage galore (like straw), between other horses in their paddocks, which are calm and friendly with our rest needing patient. Where possible I have a portion covered as run in, in case of bad weather.
This way the horse:
- Is occupied and calm as he has Fourage & Friends (the two most important ‘F’s)
- Can move around slowly so bloodstream keeps functioning sufficiently, to promote overall health and healing of the injury that calls for the rest
- Cannot go crazy, run, jump etc. and above all, he is less inclined to do so
- Is not in risk of colic
- Keeps blood flow in legs and bowel movement
- Has less or nor stress
- Gets sufficient day light
And above all, is far more happy! I remain with 40 years of experience in horse welfare that happy horses, are healthy horses.
The way to do that is:
- Keep the horse specie appropriately
- Feed the horse specie appropriately
NB: If the injury is so severe (like broken limbs), that the horse has no option but box rest, proceed to the small paddock option as soon as it is possible, meaning your vet allows it on the count of the last X rays.
✅ WHAT MORE CAN YOU DO WITH (LEG) INJURIES?
- Learn about hoof function and anatomic correct trimming and hoof angles
- Give your horse large doses of TRAUMEEL (injected by vet or as drops via the mouth)
- Learn about correct biomechanical training both in hand and other saddle
- Learning how to rehab in hand
- Learn about specie appropriate feeding and keeping
- Pack injured legs, hoves or wounds with green clay
- Learn how to utilize ionized silver water.
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