Page 101 - September 2020

Horses confined for prolonged periods may become increasingly frustrated
by lack of exercise, leading to other adverse effects on their social behavior.
VETERINARY VIEWS
VETERINARY VIEWS
CONFINEMENT FOR AN INJURY
Stall rest does not always have negative consequences. Short-term confinement
likely has little influence on joint and musculoskeletal tissue health and maintenance. Horses are obligate weight bearers and as such will engage these tissues even at rest. Some horses may incidentally ‘exercise’ more when stall confined than with paddock confinement – that is why ‘rest’ needs careful defining to be effective. In consultation with your veterinarian, a horse owner can help with physical therapy of an injured, stall-confined horse by performing passive flexion and range-of-motion exercise and stretches.
Certain injuries (e.g. bowed tendon, post- arthroscopy surgery) are amenable to turn-out exercise in final stages of rehabilitation prior to return to controlled exercise or conditioning. Exercise and/or turnout should be supervised and graduated in steps not unlike conditioning strategies used to achieve certain goals and targeted expectations.
Every horse tolerates stall rest differently. A stall-sized run associated with an inside stall is helpful. Whenever possible, give horses as much outside time as reasonable for mental and physical health. In many cases,
it may be practical to use stall-sized panel
enclosures to form outdoor confinement that allows a horse access to clean air, physical and visible proximity to other horses, and grazing time achieved by locating the panel enclosure on grass.
BEHAVIORAL EFFECTS OF CONFINEMENT
Confinement also affects horse behavior. Horses are social animals used to covering large distances when ample space is provided. In common with other social animals, they experience behavioral problems when isolated and confined. Stabling that does not meet
a horse’s needs for exercise often results in expression of high levels of activity when given the opportunity to exercise. This ‘rebound effect’ indicates that stabled horses are frustrated by the inability to exercise.
How much exercise a stalled horse needs each day depends on many factors, not just exercise. Horses require other things not easily available in stables, such as the opportunity
for social behavior and grazing. Absolute time out of the stall is not the critical factor; what a horse is able to do in the time outside the stable appears equally, if not more, important.
Horses confined for prolonged periods may become increasingly frustrated by lack of exercise, leading to other adverse effects
Short-term confinement due to an injury likely has little influence on joint and musculoskeletal tissue health and maintenance.
on their social behavior. With time, the prevention of movement, social interaction, and grazing becomes channelled into problem behaviors, such as weaving and crib biting. Continuously stabled horses are more likely to misbehave during handling and trailer loading, which have important implications for horse and rider safety.
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