Birker2020
Well-Known Member
For those with a horse/pony facing long term box rest (or even short term) here are some suggestions for you to keep your horse amused and his mind stimulated and to help pass the time.
If you are on a livery yard ask the staff to give the horse three or four small feeds (something simple like readigrass) during the day. This will give the horse something to look forward to.
Small holed nets hung all around the stable. This encourages the horse to move around in search of food mimicking its natural behaviour.
Fill the nets with pulled grass mixed with the horses usual hay/haylage (just don't store the grass beforehand or it will ferment and can cause colic).
Float a couple of apples on top of the water. That will keep them amused!
If the horse has a straw bed hide bits of carots/apples/treats in the bed to keep them amused (if their injury permits her to move around to this extent).
Leave a radio switched on to a classical station (horses don't like rock/pop music) and prefer less dramatic, slower types of music.
Ask everyone at the yard who walks past to spend five minutes giving her a fuss/talking to her. If you have a spare 20 mins sit with her in her stable and read a book or magazine. Think how grateful you have been for company stuck in a hospital bed with nothing to do.
Put a piece of log or branch with the bark left on.
Dig (I know its hard with the ground like concrete) a clump of turf and leave that in her stable. She will love that and it will have essential nutrients in it.
Mix apple/carrots/swede/polo's into her haynets.
A specially designed shatterproof horse mirror in her stable. Research has shown using a mirror has been show to curb some horses vices by as much as 75%
Swedes hung from the ceiling (no good hung from stable wall as too easily caught and eaten)
Horse licks on rollers.
Snackaball filled with treats/pony nuts. The hexagonal ones are good as they go in random directions so are harder for the horse to work the treat out. Ask if any of your friends can lend you one save buying one.
Football left in stable to kick about.
Tie an old towel to the stable wall/bars of stable which will provide the horse with endless hours of amusement for her to tug and pull at.
Paddock licks/mineral/salt licks
Above all keep to a routine. Horses thrive on routine.
If you are on a livery yard ask the staff to give the horse three or four small feeds (something simple like readigrass) during the day. This will give the horse something to look forward to.
Small holed nets hung all around the stable. This encourages the horse to move around in search of food mimicking its natural behaviour.
Fill the nets with pulled grass mixed with the horses usual hay/haylage (just don't store the grass beforehand or it will ferment and can cause colic).
Float a couple of apples on top of the water. That will keep them amused!
If the horse has a straw bed hide bits of carots/apples/treats in the bed to keep them amused (if their injury permits her to move around to this extent).
Leave a radio switched on to a classical station (horses don't like rock/pop music) and prefer less dramatic, slower types of music.
Ask everyone at the yard who walks past to spend five minutes giving her a fuss/talking to her. If you have a spare 20 mins sit with her in her stable and read a book or magazine. Think how grateful you have been for company stuck in a hospital bed with nothing to do.
Put a piece of log or branch with the bark left on.
Dig (I know its hard with the ground like concrete) a clump of turf and leave that in her stable. She will love that and it will have essential nutrients in it.
Mix apple/carrots/swede/polo's into her haynets.
A specially designed shatterproof horse mirror in her stable. Research has shown using a mirror has been show to curb some horses vices by as much as 75%
Swedes hung from the ceiling (no good hung from stable wall as too easily caught and eaten)
Horse licks on rollers.
Snackaball filled with treats/pony nuts. The hexagonal ones are good as they go in random directions so are harder for the horse to work the treat out. Ask if any of your friends can lend you one save buying one.
Football left in stable to kick about.
Tie an old towel to the stable wall/bars of stable which will provide the horse with endless hours of amusement for her to tug and pull at.
Paddock licks/mineral/salt licks
Above all keep to a routine. Horses thrive on routine.
