Box Rest Tips

[eventer28]

One of my mares went lame almost 3 weeks ago, box rested her for two weeks and then lameness work-up at the equine hospital. Diagnosis via MRI: Small tear to the collateral ligament and bruising to the navicular bone on the offside fore. Treatment: IRAP and Tildren and 3-months boxrest. The vets were very happy they diagnosed the injury so early, which they say means she has a very good chance of making a complete recovery. This mare is very happy to be in the stable, super chilled type that loves her food. The problem is the price of hay the livery yard owners charge per small bale (£6.50). My mare is a 16.3hh middleweight with the appetite of an elephant, happily munches her straw bed when her haynet runs out. At the moment we are getting ad-lib haylage for £14 per week but this will end next weekend. She is a good doer but i'm unsure of how many small bales she will need per week? She gets grumpy when hungry.. Any tips for stretching the hay? Is straw bed munching likely to cause problems? Cheers!

[Spit That Out]

Double net your hay so it takes it longer for her to munch. I've never used one but people are raving about those trickle nets at the mo.

Also try things like hiding a couple of carrots in the net so she had to try and get it out.

Hang veg kebabs in the stable to give her something to play with, i used to put a swede on the bottom with parsnips, carrots all swinging around

If she is a good doer then soak your nets for 12hrs, rinse off (throwaway the dirty water) then you can feed a bit more so will last her longer. Remember to weigh your nets as not all slices of hay weigh the same!

[AdorableAlice]

Can you buy a big round bale, far cheaper and lasts well.

My lad is on long term box rest so I know where you are coming from !

Soaking is a very good way of keeping them munching without the calories. I double net the smaller holed nets that cost £7/8 ish a piece. Trickle nets are good but very expensive and you can make the same principle with double netting.

I would be concerned with large intakes of straw it can bung them up and they are already at risk of the gut stopping through lack of exercise. I don't use straw for the box rester but I think there are various sprays available to try and deter them from eating their beds, no idea if they work though.

I keep bucket feed sloppy, using a traditional bran/multi vit/chop mixture.

[MiCsarah]

Can she not got out into a stable sized pen during the day? Means you will save money on hay by her eating the grass

[eventer28]

I was thinking of buying those trickle nets.. For every mouthful of hay, she takes a small drink of water.. She developed this habit over winter when she had a terrible strangles infection. We can't buy anything other than the b***dy £6.50 small bales, livery yard rules. Thank god she is a good doer or I'd be broke!

I have to hand walk her everyday to prevent the ligament from contracting..

[eventer28]

Originally Posted by MiCsarah

Can she not got out into a stable sized pen during the day? Means you will save money on hay by her eating the grass

Unfortunately not.. She would jump over the electric fence to get with her field buddies.

[Littlelegs]

Split the hay ration up into 4 or more lots so its spread out. I did swops with other liveries, so one put a net in at 5.30 am, I gave more 8.30, another lady at lunch time & so on. I swopped mine onto shavings during box rest as she was eating most of the straw. Have a word with the yo & see if you can bring in your own hay as an exception during box rest.

[The Fuzzy Furry]

Have just been going through this with Big Fuzzy - who is a gannet of some magnitude, cannot be left in the yard on her own, and has a very low boredom threshold....

Hay - yes, I used her horseage nets to start with - doubled, still got through lots of hay
Soaked it & double net, still using hay...
Then got a copy of an eliminet - that really got her goat - lots of tantrum & face pulling about not being able to get huge mouthful of hay
Now coping with it......and I've adapted her horsehage nets to be like the eliminet by adding twine through them - and giving 4 or 5 nets a day, total now of 4 small bale sections a day. 50% less than she might otherwise have been eating..........

Bedding - has to be on non-straw bed, she would have not a stick on the floor otherwise. Comfybed has stood up to big tantrum hooves reasonably well.

Good luck - hope yours comes through it. I have vet back this Thurs for check up