Pictures Ideas for keeping a two year old occupied

JJS

JJS

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Flower is a little... odd, in some ways. When she was born, I was of the opinion that she should do as little as possible until she'd grown up. I was happy to put the basics in place, but I felt that aside from that, she should do nothing besides be a horse - an opinion that I know a lot of people share.

Unfortunately, she never read the handbook on raising youngsters, and leaving her to her own devices is the least productive thing you can do with her. She's always thrived on being given things to think about, and the less input you have, the more of a handful she becomes. Unlike my others, who are all quite happy being left to their own devices, she genuinely seems to like 'doing', which leaves me with a bit of a conundrum.

While I don't want to fry her baby brain, she does prefer to be occupied, so I've started trying to slowly introduce her to things she might come across in her adult life. So far, we've tried this...

XfZCcL3l.jpg


... and swinging legs over her back (as demonstrated in the picture), but I wondered what other stuff people introduced their youngsters to/what they've tried to keep them occupied? I've got a few ideas, but two (or 200) heads are better than one!
 
Mine was a “doing” youngster too and still is! As a two year old mine would come out for a little bit of in hand around the fields and down the road and back either on his own or ride and lead. Nothing much more than a walk around but it definitely kept his clever brain a bit more occupied!
 
I've had a couple of two year olds who just enjoy people and doing things. The 4yo I have now is like that. She genuinely wants to come in and have a job to do. As mentioned, walks out in hand are useful. You could bit her with something mild and introduce a bit of long reining too. In hand sessions over a few poles, round cones, walk over a tarp, past umbrellas or bikes or pushchairs, that sort of thing. One thing you'll probably find is that as much as they love learning new things, it's exhausting! So keep it short, which I'm sure you know anyway.
 
Exactly what Nudibranch said! Our 3 yr old is a busy little people person, a walk out every few weeks in company is something he enjoys. He's had some of the driving harness on and walked about, had saddle on and v.briefly sat on.
Next outing when it rains again is to the large puddles down our track for a play/splash
We did once break one of our 3 yr olds to harness, as he definitely needed something to do.
 
Take her for walks around the village, meet people, stop and chat, look at hedge trimmers, wheelie bins, kids playing football,etc. What I found useful was training my youngster to touch things with her nose. Start off getting her to touch the fence, lots of praise, scratch on neck near withers, move on to touching a fence post, post box, plastic bag, jcb (yes, we did that). It transfers to riden work and improves trust in their handler.
 
Just to say the picture the other day did not show what a big girl she has grown to be already. The picture is also so NOT health and safety and just how I played with and backed three of mine!!

Lots of good tips on here already.
 
I did some short in-hand walks with mine, but the best thing that I ever did for her, that still gives her joy on a daily basis was to buy her a very, very naughty yearling gelding. Little did I know just how much she would love bossing around said naughty gelding. He is the entertainment gift that keeps on giving. :D ;) The only issue is that he now wants a Shetland pony...
 
I had to do lots with my two year old, not because she was bored with herd life, or that she was remotely intelligent and needed things to stimulate her, but because she was, and is, a bit of a live wire and I wanted to introduce her to things gradually over a long period of time rather than chuck it all in aged 4/5 and have her explode on me.

I used to put her in the trailer with my other horse and have her walking around competitions or arena/course hires grazing or eating a haynet tied up outside the trailer with my parents while I went off and rode (always let the venue/organiser know beforehand and check it's ok). I took her to our local showing show and walked her around a bit until she settled and then went home. I also led her from my other horse while hacking which she really enjoys including introducing her to cows, sheep, gates and fields. I let her loose in the arena with poles, cones, fillers, jump wings etc. so she could roam about and sniff everything. In between all of these things she was out with a herd of mares or coming in for a groom/feed/farrier/dentist/vet etc. luckily she seems to be turning out ok and takes everything most things in her stride.
 
Lots of groundwork - good examples in the Richard Maxwell books:

https://smile.amazon.co.uk/Train-Yo...chard+maxwell&qid=1561712694&s=gateway&sr=8-2

https://smile.amazon.co.uk/Maximize...chard+maxwell&qid=1561712707&s=gateway&sr=8-1

Long reining
Wearing tack
Walking over poles/tarps
Courses around poles/cones
Build up to walking through narrow spaces (using jump stands (cups removed!!), cones, poles etc)

Teaching them groundwork to move shoulders/quarters independently etc and cue to stop/stand really tires their brain. When my horse was younger, and to a lesser extent now, he'd need a good 20min nap lying down in his stable after just 15-20mins of "brain work"
 
I would do short in hand around the farm track and fields, we would let him loose in the school and have a play in there my 2 year old colt found that much fun chasing us around.
 
Don't forget one of the most useful skills they can have, but which so many people overlook- standing still. Whatever I'm doing, wherever, I take the time now and again to make them stand. Build up the duration. It works for even the most fidgety types eventually.
 
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