Paddock toys

[sami4971]

Hello, hope you’re all having a good evening!

My mare recently came down with laminitis and so her and her 5 chunky pals are currently in a fatty paddock (she isn’t actually fat, just can’t cope with the grass sadly).

We’re very lucky to have an area that is good ground but bare, so they only have hay to eat, however it’s quite a small area and I’m worried about boredom setting in before we’ve had chance to fence them off a bigger area.

I’ve given them a big ball to play with, which they’re currently ignoring. Does anybody have any ideas of paddock toys that may go down well with 6 curious ponies?

Thanks in advance!

 

[ycbm]

Mine love ripping old rugs to pieces and cardboard boxes go down a storm. A football got given a severe beating, old boots get dissected into sole and upper. Be creative

 

[Boulty]

I'm in a similar situation at the moment. Things I've done so far include hanging cow parsley / dandelions / assorted weeds from tree branches so ponies have to stretch to reach them or alternatively putting said weeds in a haynet to make them last longer. (this would probably work with nettles and the like as well, I've just not been brave enough to gather any yet!) I also tend to dot many, many small haypiles around rather than one big one to encourage them to keep moving from pile to pile rather than staying in one spot. I also tend to hang a few haynets in random places so they've got a choice of how to eat. Latest experiment has been stuffing small amounts of hay between tree branches rather than putting it all on the floor to encourage them to forage / search for it (and again to encourage movement). If you've got any large rocks / logs dotted about you could try setting it up so they have to negotiate them to get to some of the food sources (don't make it too difficult just so they have to use their brain a bit)

 

[HappyHollyDays]

I have one on restricted turnout at the moment after being on box rest and I put a treat ball in for him. He soon learnt how to use it but unfortunately so did one of the goats who was far better at getting the food out than he was. Love all your ideas Boulty, they are really imaginative and so simple, I am going to pick cow parsley for him tonight and hang it from the tree.