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  Discussion on Where to place toys?
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Member:
Maggienm

Posted on Saturday, Jan 6, 2007 - 10:18 pm:

My weanling is eating the corral, she has minerals designed for horses, salt block, access to a good quality round bale, 12% cubes every day and of course bottomless water.
Her mom doesn't eat the fence so she didn't learn from example.
I thought I would try a ball or two and one of those tasty 'licks', just to try to give her something to do.
Any suggestions on where or how the ball should be hung?
Thanks
Member:
Dres

Posted on Sunday, Jan 7, 2007 - 10:29 am:

Lori, what kind of turn out is your weanling in? This could very well be a sign of boredom/lack of activity? Be careful of the 'licks' they are high in sugar.. . I used them one time for a gelding on stall rest.. HOLLY COW.. he came out bucking and snorting out of his stall.. normally a very quiet horse.. A girlfriend experienced the same thing with the lick its...

On the first day God created horses, on the second day he painted them with spots..
Member:
Maggienm

Posted on Sunday, Jan 7, 2007 - 11:15 am:

I have mom, her baby and a mini in about a two acre pasture. I can't increase her area, what I am trying to do is find a place where I could board her for a few months with some other weanlings. The only way I would be able to separate mom and baby for weaning would be to keep them in separate stalls.... but how long would that take...don't think it would be very nice either.
Yes, I am nervous about the sugar content of the lick.
Before I put the lick our for her there were some loose crumbs on top, both my son and I tried it, it wasn't very sweet but it really was tasty!
Member:
Hpyhaulr

Posted on Sunday, Jan 7, 2007 - 12:36 pm:

A few weeks ago I had Amanda hang lickits in all the stalls.... not a single one of our kids has paid a moment's attention to it. On some level I am happy about that having read the previous posts. They all LOVE their mineral blocks, but could not care less about the lickits.
Member:
Qh4me

Posted on Monday, Jan 8, 2007 - 12:08 pm:

Hi Lori,

As for the ball in the pasture, I wouldn't hang it, Just throw it in the pasture with her and I am sure she will play with it. Get a nice big one with a handle on it for her to grab. I have a weanling and he plays with his ball all the time. Jumps over it, and carries it around and throws it up over his head. It is pretty amuzing to watch him. Just be careful that she can't get her foot caught in the handle of the ball. I have one hanging in his stall too, just high enough that he can bat it with his nose. He plays with it quite regularely as well.


Member:
Jmarie

Posted on Tuesday, Jan 9, 2007 - 11:51 am:

This thread really tickles me! I have at least a dozen stall balls and Likits in every stall. They all like the Likits,though some are more conservative about them than others, but the balls lost their thrill after a day or so. One likes playing with the traffic cones in the ring, and they're delighted to rip each other's blankets off, play the fly hat game, and steal anything they find where it shouldn't be. My youngest taught me that my helmet floats well in the trough. I tried making toys out of clean gallon jugs with pebbles or treats inside. No go. Same with the big, apple-scented plastic apples. Two of the boys liked to chase each other with sticks. One did use a jolly ball to smack one of the older horses over the head repeatedly until he got exactly what he deserved. We had a horse at one barn whose toy of choice was the water hose, and another who liked the fake grass covering the roll-top. He'd spend hours flipping it in the air and running to wherever it landed to do it again. Zip likes to flip his feed bucket in the air and catch it on his head or his butt. He turns to look at the bystanders and waits for their applause.

My daughter took two of the horses with her when she got married, and in an effort to ease their first time away from the herd, she bought each a Likit. The gelding--your basic pig--ate his. All of it. All at once. The mare, however, always a lady, was not at all sure about this thing hanging over her head and at first avoided that side of the stall entirely until my daughter made a formal introduction. She'd been taught to smile for cookies. Picture it: she next spent two days standing in her stall smiling at the Likit and not getting why the treat wasn't coming to her.

They're all now and always have been on full turnout, locked up only when the weather is so hazardous it trumps otherwise healthy living, yet one of the boys will very purposefully take a chunk out of a fence board while I'm standing right in front of him. He's not a cribber or a wood chewer; he's an attention-seeker. All of them, however, spent an entire winter stripping the bark off the landmark oak in the pasture until we had to fence it off. They didn't eat it. They piled the bark at the bottom of the tree. When the babies were "teething", nothing was sacred!

I'm telling you all this by way of saying that it's great that you've begun to figure out what your weanling's currency is. Mineral blocks are certainly a good choice. Meanwhile, enjoy the giggles that come with this process. There's nothing funnier by my standards than watching a young horse try out new behaviors and experiment with the environment.
Member:
Zarr

Posted on Tuesday, Jan 9, 2007 - 5:14 pm:

Are lickits the same as pony-pops have thought about getting some of those ?? Tried balls of various sizes but the mustang always kills that round snake!! Pest(foxtrotter) will take the broom from barn and chase everybody for awhile then there is always chase the chickens and make them squawke! But the best so far is the open any latch and let yourself in the backyard and watch pops come out the door and dance! I was hoping for pony possible solution. Cindy
Member:
Quatro

Posted on Tuesday, Jan 9, 2007 - 10:39 pm:

Babies are so entertaining, aren't they. Levi chewed on his wood stall, so we had to line the top of it with steel angle iron to keep it from degrading.
As you can see in my profile, Levi's favorite toy is an old chunk of carpet. He and Cody play with it constantly. Once I was hanging over the gate in the horse yard talking to a customer, when Levi quietly walked up behind me, and thumped me in the head with his rug, teasing up a game of tug-o-war. Most of the time you have to engage them in their toys, so when they are bored they will play with them. They also have a 50 gallon drum that they chase around the yard.
Of course lots of free choice grass hay seems to keep my little piggy occupied.
Have fun
suz
Member:
Muffi

Posted on Wednesday, Jan 10, 2007 - 11:02 am:

I have the big Blue Ball that I bring in and out (see other post in the Entertainment section for picture) but I hang Old Corn Oil bottles ont he fence with Twine from Hay bales. they chew them, bat them around etc. I have also hung the Dead Ball (yea- my Arab killed that round snake too!) so I Have a ton of stuff hanging on the fence bars for them to play with all day - then they have each other over the fence and the Poor tree that they never notices until we got Snow and now they strip it (bark) for fun, no they dont eat it so most of the Bottles are hung around the tree to distract them.
I will try the carpet trick I like that idea - won;t hurt them either if they Roll on it - Our turnout is currently limited - new Facility and the Snow has slowed down the Paddock Upgrades! so they need to be amused - A LOT.
Oh and regarding the Lickets - I put one in every once in a while for a very limited amount of time because it's like a little kid on crack when they get too much. So becareful using them judge your horses tolerance to sugar and or molassas.
Also the Jugs on the fence do not have lids - they can be popped off and eaten so keep that in mind. Saftey is most important.
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