Extended box rest prescribed for injured horses creates significant welfare challenges from confinement stress, altered gut motility, and behavioral frustration that must be proactively managed.
Box rest imposes enormous welfare costs on horses, who are highly social, mobile animals. Complete confinement causes significant psychological distress - horses on box rest frequently develop anxiety, stereotypies, and aggression. Reduced movement also creates physical welfare problems including increased colic risk, muscle atrophy, and laminitis from dietary changes. These welfare costs must be weighed against the necessity of rest for recovery, and every effort made to minimize confinement duration and maximize permitted controlled exercise, social contact, and mental stimulation during the rest period.