# Stable distractions things to do



## missmare (28 December 2017)

in winter my horse is stabled every night and occasionally during the day 
What sort of things do you do for your horse so they don&#8217;t get bored in stables? 
She has a salt lick and treat ball (not every day) 
if she&#8217;s staying in for a while I will give her one of those mini hard hay block things

Is there anything else I can do to keep her distracted and mix it up a bit

Thanks x


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## Blixen Vixen (28 December 2017)

Ever considered one of those Lickits. A lick with all sorts of nice bits that&#8217;s bolted to the wall but spins. Must admit I haven&#8217;t installed one myself but they do look really fun for the horse.


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## ihatework (28 December 2017)

I don&#8217;t. They have a Haynet and eat!
I&#8217;m not a fan of treatballs/lickits.

Radio is generally on if everything is in due to weather or hunt.


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## Theocat (28 December 2017)

Plenty of work, and plenty of equine company! There are millions of other things you can try, but they're usually distracting from boredom rather than mitigating it.


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## Shay (29 December 2017)

I'd avoid likits like the plague. Too much sugar and less work in winter is a recepie for disaster!  You can double net hay; leave two or three nets in different places so they move about the stable a bit (if it is big enough).  You can string root vegetables or a sprout stick on baler twine and hang from the ceiling or in in corners.  A whole swede can be a football for a bit.  (Not if you have edible bedding).  But don't make the mistake of thinking that your horse would get bored standing in the stable just because you would.  Horses are generally quite happy watching each other, snoozing and generally contemplating the world.  Some horses do get bored stabled - especially on things like box rest where there is literally nothing else.  But most don't.


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## FizzyBum (2 January 2018)

My TB climbs the walls if he's in and has been recently due to veterinary treatment.

My favourite boredom busters are: - 

- Make a hole through a swede and hang it from the ceiling with baling twine so he has to work hard at getting a chunk from it,

- Split his forage between three different nets and hang in different places around the stable to keep him moving. I have one dry hay, one soaked hay and one haylage so he can pick and choose,

- Encourage foraging by spreading a scatter feed of carrot, parsnip, apple etc and treats plus some pony nuts (or whatever she is allowed) on the floor and cover in hay (I've thrown the bed up at this point so whatever's left when he's had enough and I relay his bed can be thrown on the muck heap),

- Cut small holes in an old milk bottle, fill with pony nuts and hang from the ceiling so he has to bop out the nuts,

- He loves a football / yoga ball on the floor.

- Put something strong smelling in a flexible trug (like haylage, swede, parsnip or mints) and put another trug of the same size inside the first so he has to work out how to get the top trug out to get to his bounty.

Luckily my TB is a poor-doer and fruit, veg and haylage don't seem to heat him up so when he's in on a short-term basis, he can have a good variety.

I hope this helps...


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## Leo Walker (2 January 2018)

Mine has a hayplay stuffed with hay, occasionally a treat ball with grass nuts but he hasn't been doing enough work of late to justify that. He gets carrots and apples hidden in his hay and chucked round his stable. But mainly he eats hay and sleeps!


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## missmare (3 January 2018)

Thank you so much!! Will deffo try not the bucket thing


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