Tell me what to buy! I have no idea what kind of stall toys Eli might be interested in. I have been looking at online and brick & mortar places and I wonder if I should buy everything and throw it all at Eli to see what sticks? That seems rather uneconomical.
I am pretty sure I’ll get him an Uncle Jimmy’s Hanging Treat Ball.
Do I get a Jolly Ball?
What about the the rolling treat dispenser thingy? I am less sure about that because Eli is on shavings and dumping treats into shavings just encourages his already-annoying behavior of dumping his grain into his shavings. How many shavings does he actually consume? I have no idea. But maybe I could use it in the barn aisles at the end of hand walking …
Another great idea a friend suggested was to get a giant stuffed animal and hang it. But how gross would that get? I guess Conrad’s stuffingless toys are pretty nasty but I let him keep those. And then Stacie mentioned yesterday that a giant rope toy for dogs could work, so that’s a good possibility.
I also remember a long time ago someone hanging giant wood block bird toys in a horse’s stall when that horse was on stall rest.
Maybe I could make something?
The small upside to this confinement is that Eli will not be able to play bitey-face with anyone, so all of those bites on his face will heal.
Horses vary a lot in their likes and dislikes of toys. When Coco was on stall rest I got her a jolly ball and she never touched it. Now my border collie and whippet are the only ones who play with it!
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I do wonder if Eli would even touch a jolly ball. So far he’s been doing well with just the hand walking, at least.
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Jimmy Balls are great (Though Tate never understood them so I have two waiting for Remus to return!) Hang them so he can’t smash them against the rails/wood and eat one in one night (ask me how I know ahem Remus). There are also those Lickits? They are treats but hang and also have like toys you attach to them.
Good luck! The nice thing about the Jimmy Balls are the flavors and they even have sugar free ones. Shop around on the pricing. They can definitely run the gamut!!
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Ooooooh I can totally see Eli smashing it lol
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The roller treat balls are kinda meh, I’ll be honest. A few horses at my barn have them and I bought one for my lease horse and he wasn’t interested and most horses that have them just let them kick around the stall. Maybe its because the owners never put any treats in them but I digress. There were these lickit rolls like the hanging ball I got, my horse ended up figuring out how to eat the whole thing so we ditched it but he did like it while I had it. My current lease horse has a cone, I dont see him play with it often but it gets moved around the stall.
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I was think the treat roller ball wouldn’t stay in his stall but we could play with it in the barn aisle or something.
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Yeah they get kinda nasty in the stalls.
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I can imagine! Eli isn’t too messy in his stall but I am sure he would figure out how to pee on it or something like that 🙄😂
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One horse who was in a run in left it so the treat hole was facing up, and then it poured for three days. Gross rotten treat water 🤢. That wasn’t pretty to clean.
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I was worried about the amount of sugar in those Jimmy balls (lots of molasses and oats and Amber hasn’t had oats and it was during her laminitis stall rest so double no on the sugar) so I never got one for Amber. I’ve seen a lot of DIY ones tho. Stringing carrots up with baling twine without something for them to push against it’ll work just like a Lick It or Jolly ball. There’s a cool one of mixing apple slices, carrots and gatorade and freezing it as a nice “cool down” snack for the heat of the summer. I don’t have many other ideas tho lol. Sorry!
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Ooooh I like the frozen snack idea, that could be fun!
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I tried a Jimmy’s ball for Rio when he was on stall rest once. He loves likits but eats then in 2 hours flat and they are pure sugar. He didn’t like the Jimmy’s after a bit, and the bit he did go after it he got gross sticky stuff all over his nose and in his forelock somehow. So in short, I don’t recomend them, but you never know!
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These Jimmy’s balls are starting to sound really gross!
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One horse at our barn who had to be on stall rest has large teddy bear stuffies tied to the bars of his stall. If they are taken away he starts to weave. Also he has his stall door open so he can look out into the aisleway. He has a stall guard across the door to keep him in. That seems to help him a lot as well.
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Eli has coated stall chains up usually all the time, the horses seem to love it. I really like the stuffed animal option!
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I noticed today that there is another horse with a small stuffie. This horse is new to me since I as away in Florida over the winter. So I’m not sure why he has a a stuffie as I don’t think he is on stall rest. I shall have to enquire!
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If you want to avoid a horse covered in sticky grain I’d avoid that Uncle Jimmy’s and go with these and buy the holder for it as well.
https://www.bigdweb.com/product/licky+things+horse+treats.do?msclkid=71bb89ba90f91150e827d503668b430d&utm_source=bing&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=NX_NTM_Search_DSA_All%20Pages&utm_term=bigdweb&utm_content=All%20Pages
https://www.bigdweb.com/product/stall+snack+holder+with+jolly+ball.do?sortby=bestSellers&refType=&from=fn&ecList=7&ecCategory=100622
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I was think the Lickits might be better for entertainment, thanks for the recommendation!
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My horses enjoy the likits! The uncle jimmys are good too, although we only use them in the winter now, as they seem to attract flies in the summer… the horses love them though!
I’ve heard some people use these as toys; https://www.amazon.com/stores/node/15230108011?_encoding=UTF8&field-lbr_brands_browse-bin=Farm%20Hoppers&ref_=bl_dp_s_mw_15230108011
But I’ve never tried them. apparently they last well, although they don’t feel like they would last my horse long. He is rather rough on his stuff… I guess it depends on the horse. I was tempted to get him a unicorn one though! Haha
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I did not even think about the flies — that is a really good point.
Annnnnd now I want Farm Hopper for myself 😂
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When I was a kid my horse had a traffic cone in his stall to play with. The soft rubbery kind. I got one of the treat balls for Jamp, but he didn’t get it. Or maybe he was just disinterested because I filled with peanuts which he was tired of? Hard to say for sure.
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I haven’t actually ever tried peanuts with Eli and maybe I should, since those wouldn’t be so sugary. I stuff his face with apples so he might appreciate a more savory option.
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There are some cubes you can fill with hay. Seems to keep horses from getting bored as it takes longer to eat their hay. And adds some enrichment…
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I have seen those! Eli already eats his hay reeeeaaaally slowly but I could stick a little alfalfa un there for incentive.
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