Feeding for recovery

Nutrition and welfare are intertwined and both remain vital when a horse is on box rest. Edward Busuttil MRCVS demystifies feeding the resting horse

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HORSES recovering from surgery, injury or illness often need a period of box rest (vet clinic, 20 November). While essential for healing, confinement presents challenges to both welfare and nutrition. Restricted movement and lack of social interaction can increase stress, impair digestion and elevate the risk of gastric and respiratory issues.

Simultaneously, energy needs fall, requiring careful dietary adjustment to prevent weight gain or metabolic issues.

NUTRITION AND WELFARE

STABLED horses are denied natural behaviors such as grazing, walking and socialising. This can lead to stereotypies like crib-biting, weaving or box walking, alongside signs of anxiety and boredom. Physically, reduced movement can result in weight gain, muscle loss, digestive stasis and gastric ulcers.

Nutrition plays a critical role in mitigating these effects – an appropriate feeding plan must address both reduced energy demands and support mental and digestive health.

Accurate body weight estimation is essential for planning a suitable diet. It guides forage allocation, nutrient intake and tracking of weight changes. The gold standard is a weighbridge, but most owners use weigh tapes or body measurements. Consider clipping a couple of patches to ensure that your weigh tape consistently passes through the same areas, to avoid artificially “changing” your horse’s weight.

An often used formula is: Weight (kg) = (heart girth² x body length) / 11,880

Although not exact, it provides a useful estimate for monitoring trends over time. In my personal experience, fluctuations in weight, particularly when a horse is on box rest for an extensive period of time, should not be too concerning as muscle mass decreases and posture changes also result in slight changes with your measurements.