Cuna, however, is demonstrating that I probably need to reconsider my position.
He started out by stealing his neighbor's grain bucket and licking all the residual ugard powder out of it. Irony: I used to buy that stuff for my mare and you couldn't BRIBE her in to eating it. Now Cuna is stealing for it.
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| Wish you had a bucket, haw! |
I'm sure part of it is boredom from the incessant cold and horribleness, but there may be a jolly ball in his future (that I will steal for him... haha.)
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| Too cute together |
And napping. Lots of napping.
It leaves me a lot of time to consider: would Cuna actually play with a horse toy? Anyone own one? Anyone actually see a horse use one? Maybe there is something to this.
Yes and no, I still think there is little reason to go out and pay an over priced amount for a "special" ball for horses. I think some horses are more inclined to play with toys tha n others and that if your horse is on a large amount of turn out they play less. But what I do think is that any strange object is good for not only play but desensitizing. What I do is randomly purchase or find cheap objects to throw into their pasture. Just like kids, horses will become bored of any one single object like a jolly ball. It may interest them for a time and after a while become boring to them. Thus Cuna stealing another horses bucket. Its different than anything he has, is challenging to get and i am sure is quite proud of himself when he gets it. My guess is the jollies of the jolly ball will wear off before you feel you got your monies worth. Instead buy a $3 ball from the toy section of a store. When that bores him pick up a pool noodle on sale and throw it in. A tarp anything that is a different shape, or makes a sound or different color. Its fun to watch them try and figure each thing out and it stimukates their mind and senses each time a new thing shows up.
ReplyDeleteSug has not indicated an interest in toys, but I have seen a couple horses at my old barn go batcrap crazy with one of those ginormous exercise ball thingies. They'd have a blast, and I have to admit, it was good fun watching them. My daughter would go out and play, and it would be kid, horse, ball hysterical giggles.
ReplyDeleteI don't own one but our barn owner has a jolly ball. It's in her yearlings stall and she stuck Chevy in there last week for a little bit so they could clean his stall. Apparently he was playing with it so she threw it in to Chevy's stall, so....I's say some of them will play with them, especially if they are bored.
ReplyDeleteI got Max one of the smaller balls with a handle (such as this one http://www.sstack.com/horse-toys-boredom-breakers/Jolly-Balltm-For-Horses/) on clearance and it was very popular during periods of forced stall rest or too-cold-to-go-out days.
ReplyDeleteIt lasted really well, and kept him from destroying his buckets and feeder pans.
Good luck finding a toy for Cuna!
well my guy Parker loves his toys...he has a Jolly ball that he plays with every night, and he picks his feeb bucket up and carries it out of hit stall.
ReplyDeleteHe also has a big stick that hangs in his stall for him to chew on! Depends on the horse, but some definitely use it!
I'm pricing the extra large jolly balls at the moment - hoping for a deal. I've seen video of horses having a blast with one. My guy is the lone horse on the property now. Maybe it could be his friend...
ReplyDeleteThe downside is I wonder how long they will really last. The upside is they come with a cover that looks like a beach ball!
Limerick used to have a jolly ball... He was terrified of it! The only time I saw him touch it was when he picked it up and threw it out of his stall window. That being said, he absolutely adores his mini likit
ReplyDeleteGunner plays with a jolly-ball out in his field, he picks it up and harasses the other horses with it, very Gunner!
ReplyDeleteHouston has a LikIt and really likes it... Although he just repeatedly grabs it and drops it on the wall. Rather annoying after a period I am sure. We have had some horses that have milk jugs tied as a "psuedo jolly ball" I bet if you bought one he wouldn't touch it haha. Or that's prob what Hue would do.
ReplyDeleteIn my experience, buying a horse toy is like buying a kid a toy only to have them play with the box. LBH has never shown ANY interest in the horse ball we bought him, or the various toys we've made. However, he LOVES throwing his feed bucket at people (his aim is pretty good now). He also like to rip the caps off t-posts, play with rakes and shovels, open gates and eat hats.
ReplyDeleteHenry throws his Jolly Ball out of his stall so I put it on a stud chain to his gate... he plays with the chain more then then ball LOL
ReplyDeleteI've know some people to take an old milk jug and tie it to something with bailing twine. Free jolly ball, just not as pretty looking.
ReplyDeleteMy Chance plays with the jolly ball with the handle all the time. The big inflatable ball seems to have sprung a leak, but it too was a hit. My fiend's horse loved one of those treat balls. A tether ball entertained a lot of horses I've seen. Even a used bleach bottle tied to an overhang or the fence can provide amusement.
ReplyDeleteIf Cuna is playing with the feed tub, he will play with toys. The only trouble is that if it's something he can pick up and fling, it might end up in an adjoining paddock, out of reach. That's no fun.
My guys also like to roll the plastic barrels around.
And even a used fabric feed bag can be fun.
I got a Jolly Ball for my mare and she thought it was a nuisance. The dog ended up inheriting it, although he too quickly lost interest. A mirror, however, is a completely different story. She's fascinated by them and its a decent time waster but it isn't exactly a toy.
ReplyDeleteApollo likes toys. His favorite? Two empty milk jugs tied at the handles an strung over the stall bars. For the price of two gallons of whatever, handy-dandy horse toy!
ReplyDeleteApollo likes toys. His favorite? Two empty milk jugs tied at the handles an strung over the stall bars. For the price of two gallons of whatever, handy-dandy horse toy!
ReplyDeleteMy trainer's 25 y/o Trakehner gelding likes jolly balls, but only when he's confined to a dry lot. When he's turned out, he couldn't care less. Some of the broodmares at the barn enjoy flipping their rubber feed tubs around with their hooves, but I'm pretty sure they wouldn't be jolly ball fans. My horses haven't ever expressed any desire for toys, but they're all turned out 24/7 and are thus concerned with sniffing each other's poop and finding the juiciest bits of grass.
ReplyDeleteMy horse doesn't have a toy but I'm seriously considering buying him one. He destroyed some of my brushes playing with it, and he gets into everything. I want to find something cheap and horse safe that he can throw around in his stall so I wouldn't want a jolly ball. Something he could chew on would be good.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if providing horses with toys would make them more or less inclined to chew on stuff they're not supposed to chew on? My two-year-old chomps on brushes, helmets, saddles, crops, fences... Anything. He'd probably play with a ball, but whether that would make him chew other stuff or make him stop doing it, I don't know.
ReplyDeleteI do know that one of the other owners at the stables bought a giant purple Pilates ball for the horses. Some were bored and some were terrified... but the ball reposes in the tack room, forgotten. Then again, they weren't really playful horses, except for the TB I lease. But he prefers to play with potbelly pigs or his imaginary friend, for all I know. :-P
Anxious to see what you try. Hemie has been chewing on his halter and lead rope lately so I've been thinking about getting him a toy. I read somewhere that large dog rope toys work. My first horse liked soccer balls and traffic cones. They'd fling and kick between stalls.
ReplyDeleteI have a Likit and have had mild to moderate success with those. Most of the time Simon ignores it, but he's on stall rest right now and there are teeth marks in it so I know he's played with it some.
ReplyDeleteYOU ONLY WISH YOU HAD A BUCKET TOO.
ReplyDeleteMy guy loved his Likit intermittently, but now that he's on pasture 24/7, I haven't bothered with one. At my old barn, there was a Welsh cross who went nuts without something to play with. So, he had a jolly ball in his stall and his pasture. He used them both a ton and seemed really enriched.
ReplyDeleteMy horses are into playing with horse toys but I don't own any. I have made a few homemade ones before that they loved - of course that could be because they involved food.
ReplyDeleteChrome and donkey both LOVE toys! I actually buy them dog toys because they are cheaper (tennis ball on a rope and those rubber rings linked together). They have a jolly ball too that I got as a gift. They play with their buckets, an old tarp that they found on the lease land, sticks, etc. Very playful lol. They do destroy them if I leave them in all the time though so I have to take them away unfortunately. It's actually the donkey that chews the toys and destroys them.... sigh. I think I'm going to try the milk jug thing too because I've heard that a lot.
ReplyDelete