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  Discussion on Stuck in the stall
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Posted on Friday, Aug 4, 2000 - 6:27 pm:

my horse just had colic surgery. We just brought him home from the hospital, he is stuck in his stall for four weeks with only hand walking. I was wondering if you had any tips to help keep him entertained, he doesn't take interest in any horse toys. He spends all his time trying to get out or whinnying to the other horses. Any advice would be appreciated.
-Kathy

Posted on Saturday, Aug 5, 2000 - 2:22 pm:

Hello Katherine,
I have just posted an article on this subject in the Training: Behavioral Problems section titlled Stall Resting Horses. I hope it helps.
DrO

Posted on Sunday, Aug 6, 2000 - 10:47 am:

I have no idea if this will help at all, but I was leading my yearling through our baby obstacle course the other day and found he was absolutely fascinated with the mirror. He sniffed it and whinnied to it. If your horse is by himself, I was just thinking if you hung a mirror somewhere outside his stall that he might see it as another horse and feel less alone.

Also, we have an orphan filly who we have been trying to keep entertained. We bought her all the normal balls and things you hang up in the stall. What she ended up playing with was the crosstie chain that we had looped through her feed door to keep it from closing. It makes a wonderful banging noise and she'll play with it for hours. (Buy kids the expensive toy and they end up playing with the cardboard box (grin)).

Good luck!
Nancy

Posted on Thursday, Aug 23, 2001 - 8:52 am:

This may be a little late, but we like to break apart two or three flakes of hay and spead the the hay all around the stall. This makes the horse walk around and search more for the hay
( like how they would graze if they were turned out ). Plus, it takes them longer to eat their hay, thus keeping them occupied a little longer.


Holly

Posted on Thursday, Aug 23, 2001 - 9:24 am:

Holly -

I'm just running into this dilemma as I'm new to having my horses on my property. I've been giving them their daily hay ration at once (4 flakes), but I was concerned about spreading it out beause of the propensity for them to urinate/defocate upon it. Is this a plausible concern or will they just "eat around" everything?

Dawn

Posted on Thursday, Aug 23, 2001 - 11:54 am:

Hello Dawn and Holly,
There are advantages and disadvantages of feeding on the ground or floor of the stall.

Advantages:
Some believe this helps lessen the contamination of the lungs with mold spores.
Slower feeding.

Disadvantages:
Increased wastage (around 30% on average)
Increase opportunity to pick up parasites
Increase opportunity to pick up sand
Increase exposure of the lungs to ammonia
DrO

Posted on Thursday, Aug 23, 2001 - 10:27 pm:

I have found a system that works great with my horses when they are stuck inside{bad weather,winter nights} When I clean the stalls with mats in them, I sweep the front corner of all bedding and shake the flake there. The one without the mat, I use a soft rubber tub in the front corner, shake the flake well. The first thing my horses go for is the small shake and tender pieces,then the rest. They know it's their feeding corner and they have never "dirtied" on their hay. Which enables me to spread out their feedings over time and they can still eat in their natural position.
Even my 3 year old who was never stalled before 9 months ago, quickly caught on to that being her food corner.
I don't know, maybe my horses are weird, but it works for me! With very little waste.......

Posted on Friday, Aug 24, 2001 - 4:38 pm:

Hi Dawn,

I do not break apart and spead a flake of hay unless the horse is on stall rest (solely for the purpose of keeping the horse occupied for a little while). My stalls are very large so the problem you spoke about is not really a problem. Normally, when I feed I do not break apart the flakes and I just throw hay in a corner of the stall and the horses go to the bathroom in another corner at the other end of the stall. I like to feed hay from the ground, because it is natural for a horse to eat with his head down and also to encourage proper drainage. That is just my personal preference though. I am not saying one method is better than the other. However, I do not think I would feed hay off the ground if I had to serve it on the beach.

Holly
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