“SHE has to stand in” – never welcome words for a horse owner to hear! Confining a horse for a period may be necessary to allow an injury to heal. But given that horses are highly social creatures that naturally spend 18-plus hours a day moving and grazing, managing this time well can be challenging for both the animal and those responsible for it.
A horse’s fundamental needs for his/her physical and mental wellbeing can be summarised as “the three F’s”: namely freedom, friends and forage. Turnout with companions typically allows these needs to be met, but occasionally a horse needs to be confined to a stable by themselves for days, weeks or even months. Such periods of box rest can allow significant injuries, such as pelvic or stress fractures to heal, enabling the horse to make a good recovery and return to a lifestyle more in keeping with their needs. However, the decision to impose confinement on a horse comes with the potential for a significant impact on that animal’s wellbeing, so this is an aspect of patient care that has received increased attention recently.
The individual horse’s temperament is an important factor to consider – some animals are naturally calm and appear to adapt to being kept in without any apparent issues. ‘Hot’ or anxious horses may show overt signs of stress, such as stereotypical behaviours (weaving, box walking, lip/tongue movements, cribbing etc.), becoming withdrawn (fixed gaze, a lack of ear and head movements, static posture, ignoring surroundings), stress responses (extremely alert posture, scanning surroundings), or exhibiting aggression towards people (ear pinning and threatening to bite or kick, as well as overtly aggressive behaviours). It’s worth keeping in mind however that the seemingly calm horses may also be exhibiting stress, they’re just less inclined to make it obvious. So, we should try and take steps to address every horse’s wellbeing while on box rest, even if they appear to be adapting well to confinement.
Important first point
While there is no one magic bullet to address welfare, there are multiple and often quite simple steps that can be taken to help horses adapt and cope with being stabled for long periods. Company is an important first point of consideration. Horses are inherently social animals, so ensuring that they can at least observe other horses from their stall is a start. However, physical content is also important and can offset stress. Some stable designs incorporate a ‘social box’, which has a section of vertical floor-to-ceiling bars with enough space between them to allow the horse pass their head and neck through into the adjacent stable. These designs are associated with improved welfare by facilitating social interaction but also allowing the horse their own space to rest and relax. ‘Companion boxes’ with openings within the walls or partitions to allow physical contact between neighbouring animals fulfil a similar role. Modifying the design of stables in this way may be impractical, so a simpler option may be to tie the horse’s preferred companion up outside the stable and allow them to interact and groom each other over the stable door. Doing this once or twice a day, while mucking out for example, can be a straightforward way to fit it into the daily yard routine.
If physical contact with another horse isn’t possible, other options include scratching of the withers and neck, or whatever other itchy body parts the horse responds favourably to! Daily grooming is usually enjoyed by the horse, as well as maintaining the coat and allowing any skin conditions to be identified early. Horses will also often stand and rest beside a large stable mirror – with the obvious caveat of ensuring that it is well secured to avoid the risk of cuts and breakages. Some equine hospitals have taken this a step further and place a life size horse model (the type used in tack shops) within sight of fracture patients being maintained in slings or other specialist conditions, where it’s just not feasible to allow contact with other horses.
Horse’s daily ration
It’s also worth evaluating the environment. Horses have an innate drive to chew plant material for most of their day, so the provision of ad lib forage and the use of straw bedding will ensure they constantly have something to nibble on. Several hay nets, especially those with small holes, also help keep the animal occupied. Try and avoid having any periods of fasting of more than 1-2 hours e.g. overnight. Automated feeders that can have the horse’s daily ration placed in them for it to be delivered in small, frequent amounts can also be useful but are obviously more expensive. The old-school approach of placing some large smooth stones in the feed pot can also help prolong feeding times. Most horses will benefit in a reduction in their energy intake while on box rest, so switching to a higher fibre diet that incorporates a variety of options, such as hay, haylage, chaff, chopped vegetables, and fresh cut grass or sods can be beneficial. Other creative options may include treat balls or hung vegetables or frozen juice blocks (these are particularly welcome in spells of hot weather like we’re experiencing currently). Some of these ideas can be swopped in and out to help maintain a sense of novelty.
Training is also a potential means to offset boredom. Learning new tasks successfully involves mental stimulation and dopamine spikes. So, this could be a good time to introduce short daily clicker and/or target training sessions and help the horse acquire useful life skills such as lowering the head on command, accepting oral medicine, stepping forward and back, standing still until asked to move etc. See the Lead Rope Logic series of videos by scanning the QR code on this page for some further examples of this. Teaching some physiotherapy stretches could help maintain muscle tone and strength while also keeping the horse’s mind engaged.
Medication may be an option for some horses, particularly for those facing very prolonged periods of confinement, and/or those that are struggling to adapt and haven’t responded well to the previous suggestions. A vet can prescribe drugs that reduce anxiety and help keep the horse calm - these can be an extremely valuable tool in some cases but are obviously subject to veterinary prescription and oversight.
Returning to exercise
Returning to exercise will depend on how the injury responds to treatment and the horse’s personality. It can be quite a fraught period, with attempts to calmly reintroduce some gentle hand-walking being overridden by the patient’s motivation to document their wellbeing by leaping around! Some judicious use of sedation may be helpful here – consult with your vet. It may be possible to place the horse in a slightly bigger space: for example, graduating from an individual stable to a double stall and then an indoor pen or school over time. This can allow the muscles and other tissues time to re-adapt to exercise and enables the horse to work out some pent-up energy without being able to get up too much speed.
Grazing is a good way to induce relaxation in horses, so beginning with access to some pasture in a confined space, e.g. a round pen, can reduce the motivation and opportunity to accelerate beyond a trot. Building a series of inter-connecting stable-sized pens via electric tape in a pasture can be very helpful, as the horse can readily graze but can’t easily accelerate past a trot to navigate the narrow spaces between each pen (Figure 1). The presence of a calm and sensible companion horse can also be helpful, especially in larger pens, as it reduces the likelihood of efforts to jump out of the pen.
Horses differ in how well they adapt to confinement, but it’s worth remembering that it’s probably not a situation that any horse would choose to be in. Being aware of the potential impact of confinement on an animal’s welfare is the first and most important step in addressing it. We should be mindful not to subject horses to confinement where it’s not indicated, and especially where a successful outcome is highly unlikely e.g. animals with very severe and painful injuries that carry a minimal chance of recovery. Should we really be asking these animals to linger on ‘just to see what might happen’? Box rest is a means to an end – optimal healing and a return to functional wellbeing. Awareness of a range of options that can be used to try and protect the horse’s welfare during confinement will give both patients and their owners the best chance of navigating it successfully.