Box rest is frequently prescribed after equine injuries but causes significant psychological welfare harm. Managing the welfare of box-rested horses requires specific strategies.
Box rest is medically necessary after many equine injuries but represents a profound welfare compromise for an animal evolved to move constantly across large territories. A horse confined to a stable 24 hours a day cannot fulfill its social, movement, or foraging needs. Boredom, frustration, and anxiety develop rapidly, manifesting as weaving, crib-biting, pawing, and excessive vocalizing. The welfare imperative is managing the confinement period actively: maximizing permitted movement, providing social contact through stable design, offering foraging enrichment with slow-feeder haynets, and using mirrors where weaving develops.