There are a number of horse toys available for horses to play with in the stable and field, and some of these can be especially useful if your horse has to be confined for long periods for reasons of illness or injury, such as a tendon strain or laminitis.
The most ideal toy is the Snak-a-Ball, which is a hard plastic ball designed to be used with pony nuts of similar, and encourages the natural foraging behaviour of your horse. You may have even seen some slightly more unusual animals using them in zoos as they are very tough and very useful for other animals such as zebras, monkeys, anteaters and other more exotic species to use! The pony nuts are put in at one end and the stable toy has to be rolled and manipulated by the horse in order to get them to drop out of the other end. This is an ideal way to encourage trickle feeding and prevent bolting of the food which can lead to choking, which can be a problem especially with greedy ponies.
Other useful toys include the tongue twister, a sturdy plastic ball that swivels and is attached to a wall and can be filled with 2 little Likits (Likits are described in a previous post). When the horse tries to bite the treat, the ball swivells away and the horse has to work to get hold of the tasty reward. Stable toys for horses help to enrich the equine environment and ensure the horse remains mentally relaxed which also aids a quick recovery.
No comments:
Post a Comment