Horse Toys – Equine Entertainment For Less!
Horse toys can keep your horse busy and happy when he is at his stall. Left alone, horses can become bored and anxious, often leading to destructive behaviors and habits. But before you spend a lot of money on horse toys, try some of these inexpensive alternatives.
Raid The Recycling Bin: Your recycling bin is a rich source of potential horse toys. Plastic milk jugs and detergent bottles can be hung in your horse’s stall. Filled with some pebbles, they make an exciting rattling sound (for your horse) when they hit the head. Clean milk jugs can also be used as a treat delivery system. Put some grain pellets inside, leave the lid off and put it on the floor. As your horse rolls the jar, granules magically appear! Fun and food! What a great deal!
Vegetable Aisle: Horses love carrots. Play a little horse game by hiding some carrot bits around the barn (but not in the bedding). On a ledge, mixed in with the hay…anywhere he could explore with his ever-inquisitive mouth.
The Hanging Spud – Find an extra large turnip and poke a hole in it. Thread a rope through it, tie a knot at the bottom, and hang it from the ceiling. Turnip tie! This is a fun and tasty toy that is easy and cheap to make.
Bobbing For Apples: Float an apple in its bucket of water. Your horse will find this curious and intriguing.
Attention sports fans: a real leather soccer ball is a safe and durable toy for horses. However, the genuine article can be quite expensive. Garage sales are a good source for used soccer balls. Keep your eyes peeled for great yoga balls and hula hoops too.
Sounds like fun – a metal bell can entertain some horses. A word of warning: over time (like more than five minutes), bells can get pretty annoying to people, so use your best judgment here.
Equine Opera: Although there is no solid scientific evidence to confirm this, some horses seem to respond favorably to relaxing music. Classic? New era? People? Browse the dial to find your favourites. Hopefully, you will have similar tastes.
You have to have friends: horses are herd animals and need the company of their herd mates. If you can’t run out and get another horse, consider a goat. Horses love goats! They have a huge personality and require very little maintenance. If a goat is too much for you, a barn cat is another option. And they keep the rodent population in check, an added bonus.
Whichever boredom buster you choose, be sure to change it frequently. Horses are not difficult to entertain, but they do like variety. Changing sights, sounds, and textures also helps desensitize them to frightening stimuli, so they are less afraid of normal changes in their environment.