Tips to keep her sane!!

[Parisexx]

Hi everyone

I am moving yards in couple of weeks and on this yard there is a two week isolation period in that my mare will have to be in and obviously away from the main yard. I believe they do this as it's such a big yard, which I understand but any tips to keep her occupied in them two weeks. Obviously she will have plenty of hay but boredom is going to set in!!!

Ta guys

 

[Parisexx]

bump???

 

[ChwaraeTeg]

Hello Parise,
In the last 40 years of keeping horses, we have tried a few things to keep boredom at bay for horses in confinement.
The methods depended on the personality of the horse and the nature of the confinement.
I will post in stages as I waffled far too long and lost the whole thread and was timed out

 

[ChwaraeTeg]

There are a good few products on the market these days that might help .
There's a horse-ball treat dispenser that is quite good. Pony nuts are put inside and the horse has to nuzzle/ headbut/ kick the ball around to release the treat.
.
Another is a lick-it type thing that is attached to a wall for the horse to lick
.
and there are the hang-up horse ball toys.
.
We have used root vegetables to hang up .
They can't normally be eaten with just one bite,
'though we did have a clever horse who learned how to quickly dispense with the carrots and parsnips
then bring the swede off the rope and onto the stable floor.
He would roll it around much as the treat dispenser !
.
Some horses like a radio nearby , depending on the station. Others do not .
.
Going back before we saw boredom breakers on the market, we made our own.
Something similar to the hang-up horse ball toy was our old fishing marker buoy, which was made from unbreakable hard orange plastic, the size of a football.
We would scrub it , smother in honey and hang it from the roof outside the stable door.
.

All horses in our care have liked a regular routine.
If we ourselves could not visit the confined horse every 3 or 4 hours, we would ask the owner or a friend.
If practicable, we would also walk the horse each visit ( depending on reason of confinement)

 

[ChwaraeTeg]

All horses in our care have liked a regular routine.
If we ourselves could not visit the confined horse every 3 or 4 hours, we would ask the owner or a friend.
If practicable, we would also walk the horse each visit ( depending on reason of confinement)
Otherwise, the horse would have a groom, or a chat for as much time as could be spared.
.
Am sure there are plenty more boredom busters out there. Hopefully they will soon be forthcoming .
Hope the time goes quickly for you and your horse Parise.
Teg