Not just dogs and cats can enjoy toys. Horses enjoy kicking around and following a nice horse ball toy, much like your dog enjoys playing catch with various dog ball toys. Do you know about horseplay? Even the name of this amusing action is inspired by your hooved companions.
When a horse is cooped up, having toys on hand can provide a number of advantages, such as enhancing training, encouraging mental well-being, and reducing boredom.
Horses are social animals and are naturally intended to spend their lives moving around and grazing rather than sitting by themselves in stalls. Stall toys can offer simple play and movement, which is suitable for the horse because it lessens stable distress.
Due to circumstances that are out of your control, allowing a horse ample turnout session is occasionally challenging. A simple ball play can prevent a horse from being anxious or stressed from being locked away for an extended period of time. Additionally, it can be utilized to keep your horse mentally and physically active both within a stall that is tied to a rope and outside in a turnout area.
Let’s learn more about what are horse ball toys for in this article!
What are Horse Ball Toys?
Horse-specific balls resemble enormous dog fetch toys, but they are created specifically for horses. They take advantage of your horse's innate desire to have fun and fill their days with enjoyable activities.
There are numerous styles of horse ball toys. Each of them has a unique role. All horse ball toys are stimulation for your horse or something you give him to support his instinctive behaviors.
Equine stimulation assists horses escape boredom and offer them mental and physical activity. All horses benefit from fun activities like balls and other toys, but stall-bound horses benefit the most.
What is the Purpose of Horse Toys?
The behavior of the horses we ride is always a worry, primarily for safety reasons. When kept in a stall for an extended period of time, even a normally well-behaved horse might become unruly, misbehaving out of frustration or worse. Being left alone doesn't make horses behave nicely, and they can develop unpleasant behaviors that their owners would prefer they didn't.
Even though turnout time is crucial, occasionally, situations prohibit a horse from receiving the excitement they require. Sometimes it's essential to restrain a horse for its own welfare, whether it's due to traveling to carnivals or events, severe weather, or even wounds that call for stable rest. Some horses are more adept at handling this than others, but it's good to offer them a productive task to complete while they wait.
Toys could also be used as obedience training. Some individuals will have used them to help a horse become accustomed to objects that frighten them, including wraps, flags, banners, and carrier bags. If given the opportunity to interact with and discover "frightening" things, adolescent horses, in particular, might develop desensitization to them. You can use your imagination when deciding how to employ stall toys with your horse.
Uses of Horse Ball Toys
As a new horse owner, it can be difficult to understand why horses need ball toys. The following points explaining what are horse ball toys for might help you comprehend this concept:
Avoid Boredom
Ball toys are good for keeping a horse from becoming bored if you need to keep them busy. They provide your horse with a novel and enjoyable activity. Horses enjoy routine, but, like humans, they also require diversity and excitement. And besides, the wild predecessors of your horse traveled great distances every day while engaging with their fellow herd members and exploring new environments.
Horseball toys can provide them with diversity and maintain their interest. Similar to puzzles and slow-feeding appliances, they are enrichment toys. Any kind of horse ball toy is a terrific option for passing the time.
Mental Stimulation
Horse treat balls are particularly effective at stimulating the mind. These horse ball toys are fantastic because they present a task and give your horse the freedom to decide if and how to engage with the toy.
Encourage Physical Activity
Being lonely in a cubicle can lead to physical and behavioral issues. Some horses may even get ulcers from spending a lot of time in a stable; this is partially due to the strain of immobility, but it is also because horses have a natural desire to nibble during the day, which causes their stomachs to create acid continuously.
The easiest way that stall toys can benefit horses is by acting as a replacement for their normal wild habits, such as hunting for food or interacting with other horses.
Horseball toys are a great way to increase your horse's physical activity. Horse-specific ball toys are a terrific method to promote mobility if your horse requires extra exercise. Some horses may engage in hours-long play and roughhousing with a yoga ball.
Others especially enjoy tossing around simpler toys like the tug-and-toss ball. Treat balls give a distinct form of exercise and call for fine motor abilities. Whether homemade or purchased from a store, Hay balls promote natural munching and peaceful, soothing movement.
Source of Entertainment
For horses who are prone to developing negative habits like barn swaying, fidgeting, scratching, wind-sucking, and moving sideways, having a ball in the stable is extremely beneficial. Horses who spend excessive hours indoors when they are lively are said to develop these bad habits. Particularly young horses have the propensity to yearn for more amusement than they can get in a simple stall.
Although it's down to you if you think your horse would benefit from ball toys or not, keep in mind that horses often become weary and that it could be necessary to occasionally rotate up the toys if you determine your horse would gain from them.
While toys can help make your horse's experience in the stable more enjoyable when your horse needs to stay in the stall, instruction, leisure rides, and just cleaning and interacting with your horse should be considered.
