Whether on pasture or in their stall, preventing horse boredom is important. Horses that are bored can become depressed and even develop negative behaviors. That’s nothing a little care and a little ingenuity can’t solve.
At Farmco, we’re a resource for stables and equine enthusiasts. That’s why we’re presenting our list of horse boredom busters — some are tips to try and others are equine products to invest in.
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Our Recommended Horse Boredom Breakers
If you raise or board horses, you know there will always be periods of downtime. You can’t be riding or turning out horses 24/7 — it just isn’t possible. That’s why having methods to entertain horses during these times is so crucial.
Every horse is different, and as a result, they’ll respond to these boredom busters differently. We recommend trying a few of these ideas and seeing how your horse or horses respond.
1. Introduce Balls
Playing with and knocking around sturdy rubber balls gives your horses something to do in their stalls and on pasture. While beach ball or yoga balls are great options, the most important thing to do is get balls that are too big to bite, or else your horses will destroy them quickly.
2. Bobbing For Apples or Carrots
If it’s fun for humans, it can fun for horses too. Once again, this horse boredom breaker plays on the fact that animals are always entertained by food. Dropping healthy snacks in your horse’s water can bring them hours of enjoyment as they work hard to get them out. Some horse aficionados even recommend this as a sure-fire method to get stubborn horses to drink water.
3. Grooming
One of the best boredom buster activities for your horse on a rainy day, grooming them provides entertainment and builds your connection and boosts overall horse health.
4. Use Feeder Toys
Like all animals, horses find food very entertaining. Use this to your advantage by giving them a toy that dispenses treats when they play with it. There are numerous types of feeder toys, some that are meant to be hung in stalls and others that are meant to be rolled along a pasture. You can make a DIY feeder toy by filling a hard-plastic Gatorade bottle full of small pieces of food. As the horses nudge it along, treats will get dislodged from the mouth of the bottle.
5. Try Traffic Cones
Traffic cones can make a great toy for horses. Due to the color, shape, and material, some horses are really interested in spending hours playing with ordinary traffic cones. You can pick up cones at most big box hardware stores for an affordable price.
6. Try A Mirror
Horses can be entertained by seeing themselves in the mirror, so mounting a mirror in their stall can be a great way to keep them occupied. However, before using this horse boredom breaker in their stall, check to see how they respond to their reflection on pasture while supervising them closely.
7. Use a Slow Feed Horse Feeder
Slow feed horse feeders are a great way to keep your horse entertained on pasture for hours. The netting on a slow feed horse feeder restricts the amount of hay horses are able to eat at any one time (and protects their teeth.) Not only does this keep them satisfied while eating, but it also keeps the horses from gorging themselves and becoming overweight.
The Farmco HF Series Slow Feed Horse Feeder
At Farmco Manufacturing we build equipment that solves problems for real farmers and horse enthusiasts. We developed our HF Series Slow Feed Horse Feeder for this very reason.
Not only is the Farmco slow feed horse feeder a way to keep your horses entertained on pasture, but it provides a variety of other benefits to horse enthusiasts.
- It promotes horse health by keeping them from overeating.
- It reduces your hay expenses by limiting how much horses can eat and by reducing hay waste. It also keeps the hay off the ground, which is important for discouraging your horse from peeing on their hay.
- By reducing the amount of wasted hay, the feeder also reduces the amount of time spent cleaning up discarded hay.
Bring the Farmco Advantage to Your Horse Farm
In addition to our popular HF Series slow feeder, Farmco builds a wide variety of equipment to help horse farmers and equine enthusiasts.
Farmco feeders can be found all across the country as we sell our products online and through our dealer network. If you want to learn more about the advantages of Farmco feeders or want to get your quote, contact us today!