Box rest is frequently prescribed for equine injury management but creates significant welfare challenges requiring active management strategies.
Box rest welfare management requires accepting that the treatment creates welfare costs that must be actively managed rather than ignored as an acceptable price of recovery. The simultaneous loss of movement, socialization, and environmental complexity during box rest imposes multiple welfare stressors. Active management strategies - maximum forage provision, visual and auditory contact with other horses, enrichment items, hand walking when permitted - reduce but cannot eliminate these costs. Veterinary management should minimize box rest duration and consider partial turnout in small paddocks as a welfare-positive alternative when clinically appropriate.