Tendon injuries are among the most serious welfare challenges in horses, requiring extended periods of box rest and rehabilitation while balancing the welfare costs of confinement with healing requirements.
Horse tendon injury welfare encompasses the acute trauma of injury, the welfare costs of the lengthy rehabilitation period, and the chronic management adjustments required for the remainder of the horse's career. Box rest causes psychological welfare harm in animals evolved for continuous movement. Gradual return to exercise protocols must balance healing requirements against the welfare and physiological costs of inactivity. Horses that re-injure during too-rapid return to work face additional welfare harms from the setback. The emotional and physical welfare of horses in long-term rehabilitation is supported by turnout in small safe paddocks when possible, appropriate enrichment, social contact, and maintaining the exercise component of their routine even when ridden work is restricted.