The authors postulated that a period of forced recumbency during an acute attack of laminitis may counteract the disabling effects on the secondary epidermal laminae. On the basis of this concept a study was made of the behavior of three healthy Shetland ponies when placed in a box in which the ceiling was too low for a standing position but allowed comfortable sternal recumbency. When the height of the box was about 125% of the vertical distance between the withers and the sternum, the ponies lay calmly during most of the experimental period and the rare attempts at rising did not seem to put any major load on the hoofs. The possibility of using short-term forced recumbency as adjunctive treatment in an acute attack of equine laminitis is discussed.