Something to chew?

WelshD

WelshD

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My 18 month old colt is going through an 'everything goes in his mouth' stage

He burst the dogs football yesterday and his gelding fieldmate has been having his legs grabbed and sucked

Soo my other animals are asking if I can get little Oz something to mouth please

Any ideas what I can safely give him?
 
my wb loves things in his mouth too even tho he is 7
I have hung several of the dog rings around his stable. his favourite is a round flat one. he chews on it and bangs it on the rug rail for hours!
I did have to put food on it to get rid og the new taste at first though.
 
Teach him to 'retrieve' with a large dogtoy or similar - I did this with my mare when she was a filly - she will still enjoy the odd game in the stable now. Break the different actions down into the tiniest chunks for learning.

Otherwise, it's a phase most of them go through, accept that stuff is going to be broken and use it to your advantage to 'de-spook' to whips, tack etc (under supervision!).

You may want to investigate getting a lead-line or two made up from yachting rope - they can't chew through it as quickly as the ordinary type of ropes. When my youngster was not sure about something new she would hold the rope in her mouth almost like a comfort blanket, it's still useful now if she's a bit worried.
 
As catkin says. Retrieve with dog toys. My OH did this with my mare and is fantastic as the toy (about a foot long tug of war rope) could land on her feet/arses and shed turn round to pick it up rather than spooking... Now when a bird flies up she turns to watch it instead of jumping... Fast movements means a game.

Anything else artificial was only played with when we stood there or interest lost. But found that putting a large lump of salt in a bucket with handles would keep her occupied for hours dragging it round full, emptying out and lobbing bucket around.
 
Is your mare related to mine Pandora's Jar?:)
Anything bucket-y left lying around is fair game especially if it can be persuaded to make a noise! And bitting was a doddle - couldn't wait to get her gob round this new thing.

Seriously, it was great in producing a bold little horse. Just don't let them get too expert in undoing knots (but that's a whole different story:rolleyes:)
 
Lol mine like leading either with it picked up in mouth every so often... Or leaning on lead and muzzling it.... Her sister is even stranger, she wraps lead rope round her nose, if you let her will use whole lead rope and walk along like that... She's a strange one!
Thankfully neither do knots .. just zips!
 
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