Rope toys for babies?

[Tee]

Probably a silly question, but I have a 9 month old Morgan that is enamored of ropes right now. He loves going for his lead rope, which I feel bad about telling him no.

Shopping yesterday, I saw the huge rope toys they have for dogs. Would there be any downside to getting one for him? I wasn’t sure if chewing the rope could cause issues or there’s something I’m not seeing. It’s not big enough to get wrapped around his neck or his feet and is pretty stiff. I can’t find anything in horse toys that is similar except the Jolly Tugs, and that’s not quite what I’m looking for.

[lenapesadie]

My only concern would be if he ingested some of the string that the toys are made of. He would have to be chewing pretty hard on the toy to damage it enough for loose strings to be an issue. I think one of the larger rope toys would be better than the smaller ones.

Some of that lead rope mouthiness may be his way to cope with a bit of anxiety or his attempt to engage with you.

Babies are such a joy and also a journey! Enjoy!

[theresak]

I’d be a bit careful - my older horse likes to chew on lead ropes with his molars and can grind them apart into strings/threads pretty quickly.

My 3.5 year old gets really mouthy when he’s loosing teething and erupting adult teeth.

[wildlifer]

I have one of those for my TB, it’s great! He is 6 going on, uh, 2. It’s big & heavy duty (coworker gave it to me bc he was tired of his dogs whacking things in the house with it). I’m not super worried about him ingesting occasional tiny fragment, it’s not going to hurt a horse. I don’t leave it out unattended though, I use it when he is in x ties, I clip it to his halter so he can gnaw & fling it around instead of pawing.