# Stable boredom busters



## shoegal22 (18 September 2015)

Getting to that time when the ponios are coming in of a night, trying to think of boredom busters for the stables. Got a decahedron ball ( disaster last time, no interest in it and resulted in rotten carrots I couldn't get out!). I'm going to double up the Haynets so they don't eat it all in 20 min. When I had ponies in the older days lol I used to hang root veg such as swede from the rafters... Is this safe? Now worried about horses eating twine etc! What are you all doing if anything?


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## Shay (19 September 2015)

We hang strings of veg from the roof all the time.  Just be sure the roof bit you hang it to is secure and that it isn't too high to reach.  A loose swede hidden in the hay (we feed from the floor not a net though) is also a good game.  One gelding roots through his hay pile the second he gets in sure it is there every time.

You can also try putting pellet type feed in the ball instead of carrots.  If you couldn't get them out no wonder the horse couldn't!


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## EQUIDAE (19 September 2015)

Shay said:



			You can also try putting pellet type feed in the ball instead of carrots.  If you couldn't get them out no wonder the horse couldn't!
		
Click to expand...

Baileys Hifibre Plus are good for this - alfalfa and linseed nuggets that are about thumb sized.

If you screw those rubbishy greet door mats to the wall you give them a lovely scratch post.

I'm out of ideas now as mine are rarely stabled...


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## Barnacle (19 September 2015)

- Mirrors are also fun - obviously need to be suitable for horses as if they break it's not great! Some will mostly ignore their reflection but others really have fun with it.
- You can place apples in a water bucket for some apple bobbing...
- You can hang licks from the ceiling as well... Because of the swinging, they'll take much longer to consume. There are loads of commercial licks and toys... Some of them are really fantastic.
- Depending on the bedding, scatter some treats so the horse has to "forage" for them. 
- As well as one of those cheap mats Equidae mentions, you can use the end of a broom in the same way - put it at wither-height


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## shoegal22 (19 September 2015)

Oh wow! Fab ideas thank you! I used to do the head of a brush years ago but totally forgot! I Can't wait to try the Apple bobbing game. Good advice with the treat ball, tonight the tiny bits of carrot still managed to get stuck and ponios were most annoyed!


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## Me-and-Nick (19 September 2015)

My boy has just a cheap, basic mineral lick with a big hole in the middle with rope through it hooked onto his stable door. He does lick it quite a lot and seems to enjoy it! 
He also always has 2 full haynets put into his stable whenever I leave him in their and leave the yard. But he is actually very happy staying in, he prefers it in the cold and waits at the gate sometimes whinnying at me to go and bring him in  The yard is fairly busy, there's 10 stables and every horse can see all the other stables. There are about 20 horses there and about 10 live out all the time and their owners have a wooden box with all their stuff in in the tack room. And everyone has there own tieing up space, either outside their stable or at the fence to one of the fields. 
He is never in alone. I have made a best friend at the yard and her horse Frankie is best friends with my boy Nick. If one of us brings ours in we always have to bring the other in or they have a meltdown. So they are always together and are very happy in their stables next door to each other. Neither of us have a problem with our horses getting bored or causing trouble as long as they are in together although I do try to keep him a bit occupied. 
My best friend bought me a LikIt gift set for christmas and my boy Nick really loved the apple and cherry flavoured LikIt treat bar so I used to break off a few squares and put them in his food bucket with his scoop of food as he has to lick the treats a bit before he can eat them so that would slow him down and keep him busy for a bit while I have to clean his tack, fill up haynets etc.

You might be interested in this page, thinking about maybe getting the horse ball 
http://www.horseandrideruk.com/article.php?id=3743


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## Me-and-Nick (19 September 2015)

Wont help in the long term but if he has to be in because the fields are to wet etc. You could get them out and trot them up and down the road/lane to stretch their legs and tie them up outside their stable and you could do some trick training. I have trained my boy Nick to give me a kiss! He now does it to anyone who asks and even people who just walk past him stable haha. I started by holding a brush in front of him and when he sniffed it/his nose touched it I gave him a treat and rubbed his forehead between his eyes. As soon as his muzzle touched the brush I said 'kiss' and gave him a treat and a stroke. Once he learnt that 'kiss' meant to touch the brush with his nose I then pointed to my nose and said 'kiss' and he caught on and touched my nose with his nose. I then gave him a treat and asked for a 'kiss' again and kept giving him a treat when he did it! Now I just point to my nose and ask for a kiss and he gives me one every time and gets a cuddle as a reward! 
http://www.equusite.com/articles/trick/trickCfAnswerNo.shtml
http://www.equusite.com/articles/trick/trickCfAnswerYes.shtml
http://www.horsetricks101.com/2015/09/31-things-to-do-with-your-horse-other-than-riding/
http://www.horsetricks101.com/2012/08/10-simple-tricks-to-teach-your-horse/


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