Box rest - confining horses to their stall to aid recovery from injury - creates significant psychological welfare challenges. Managing box rest effectively is essential for equine mental health.
Box rest creates a welfare paradox: it is medically necessary for recovery from many injuries, yet the confinement it imposes causes genuine psychological suffering. Horses confined without adequate mental stimulation or social contact develop abnormal behaviours that reflect chronic frustration and stress. Managing box rest with welfare in mind - maximising social contact, providing enrichment, introducing controlled movement as early as clinically safe, and monitoring for gastric ulcer development - substantially reduces the welfare cost of necessary confinement. Vet and owner collaboration on box rest welfare management is essential.