Staring at the same four walls for days–or weeks–on end is never a welcome prospect. For some horses, however, it's just what the doctor ordered. Stall rest–a term that all horse owners and stable managers dread–is generally prescribed following severe injury such as fractures, large wounds, surgery, and in some cases of lameness. How strictly imposed the stall rest is depends upon the severity of the diagnosis.

"Let's say you have stitches over an area that, with a lot of movement, will rupture," illustrates James Pelura III, DVM, MS, of the Davidsonville Veterinary Clinic in Davidsonville, Md. "In that instance, confining the horse to just a small paddock would be good. It depends on the injury, and how much movement is going to cause an exacerbation of that injury."

"There is a little bit of range (when it comes to) stall confinement," says Clifford Honnas, DVM, professor of orthopedic surgery and lameness at Texas A&M University's College of Veterinary Medicine. "For example, with some cases of joint surgery, I will confine the horse to a stall for 30 days, but I will allow the owner to take the horse to a little patch of grass and let them munch for 15 or 20 minutes. It's not going to do anything to rehabilitate the joint, but it helps keep their minds right. They get so much energy pent up from being in a stall and having nothing to do."

One of the most severe cases that Pelura has treated involved a patient recovering from elbow surgery. The stitches were in an awkward place and would tear if the horse bent his joints to get up and down. To prevent this from happening, the horse wasn't just confined to his stall; he was cross-tied as well. The stall rest lasted for 30 days