we have a hay ball for the lad when he is in his stall to 1) extend his time in eating his hay 2)something for him to rule over He also have one of those apple hay things hanging. Primary hay is in a hay net.
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She does absolutely love her alfalfa, more than even concentrate, I could see her getting into a hay ball. Goodness there are a lot out there, off to google those.
I did try reaching out to the only rescue I could find locally, and they said they have no suitable ponies. I put out a call on a local FB group as well, so far, no hits. I got a lead on another boarding possibility from the vet tech yesterday, so hopefully I can check that one out tomorrow. On the bright side, we’re off of injections for the next two weeks and on to just orals, I’m sure the Wee Spot’s neck will appreciate that.
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Also try a Himalayan salt block. I know my mare never seems real interested in a white or red block but she loves her salt on a rope and will frequently stand there and nurse it on and off for an hour.
A bay ball or am equine pacifier might interest her if she’s getting nippy.
Can you mentally stimulate her even though she’s stuck in a stall?
Use a clicker. Teach her to flex/stretch. Pick up feet (provided it doesn’t interfere with her injury)
Target training is very good for introducing new things or things that a horse doesn’t love. You use a target and a clicker. There’s a lot of videos on line that go into a lot of detail.
I used the hay ball when my donkey was confined. It was fabulous!
I looked at one of those at the tack store today. Is it as hard to fill with as hay as it looks like it is?
I did not find that to be an issue.
I have goats myself, and they live with the horses during the day and are locked up at night because they are vulnerable to dogs, coyotes, bears. Everyone is good buddies. Goats and horses have an unusually affinity for each other, species-wise.
However a weanling in a stall is a whole nother story. The goat would need some kind of creep area to be able to get away, for sure.
Goats are easier to keep than minis. They need much less vet care – annual shots and deworming is about it, and they need their feet trimmed every couple months, which is easily done by the owner once shown how. My goats live on grass hay and pasture. They get a special-to-goats mineralized salt which horses shouldn’t eat (and goats should not eat high calorie grower for foals either). That’s it.
A warning about wethers – they can get stones in their bladder or ureter (this system is often not properly developed as goats are wethered (gelded) at about 2 months of age). This can be fatal and I lost a wether because of untreatable stones. A doe is safer in that respect. Dairy breeds are normally disbudded at a few days of age, meat breeds (like Boers) are not. You cannot, realistically, dehorn an adult goat, it’s major surgery.
You can find an unregistered or mixed breed goat for about $200. I’d stick with dairy breed crosses and avoid Nigerian Dwarfs which are very popular but way too small. Standard dairy does will weigh 150 to 175 lbs. Boer goats are built like little beef cattle and will weigh more like 250 lbs. You will want to look for a young goat or one who is familiar with horses – an older goat may not adapt. Like horses they must have company. You might want to get two …
Goats are playful and persistent and very curious. They love to climb. They can get into trouble because of this. But they are fun animals to keep.
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we got these as we have several horses (well actually all are) who are on a very controlled diet, their hay is weighed … we found these hay ball gives them some enjoyment (much to the annoyance the others who have to put up with them banging the thing around their stalls)
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It takes a little doing; you unscrew the cap, pull as large a handful of hay from the bale as you can manage, and stuff it in, 'til it’s full, but not packed, and put the lid back on just finger-tight. Our HayPlay balls hold about 2lb.
They are very popular with The Kids.
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for Socrates he had a squeaking rubber chicken dog toy hanging in his stall, every time he wanted room service he would just about wring that chicken’s neck squeaking it
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I can see it now: “Squeek, squeek, squeal”. “Hay human; what’s it take to get a little attention around here? Hay, hay you!?!” :-D.
Mine make a commotion with their dinner pans.
Maybe a stall mirror might help?
Poor girl and poor you. Hope she is feeling better soon!
we had one mare who had a bell she would ring when wanting room service, she was a very good horse who did not abuse the bell’s power
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Unlikely as that might sound . . .
Ever heard of Panda the seeing-eye horse? A great story, and even better because it’s current, and true. To make a long story short, Mini-horse-mare Panda was clicker trained to serve as a guide animal for a blind school teacher. As such, she was a mostly indoors critter. She was trained to ring a bell at the back door when she needed to go out.
AFAIK, Panda is still on the job. Give it a Google sometime for a heartwarming story about a very special little girl.
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slow to re-reading all of these Starandsun - yes, my vet has discussed the Amnion graft with me. He said he has a bank and we may use it on the next visit in 2 weeks. She got stitches on the back side of the wound this week, but that leaves a gap over an inch on the front side. I think she and I would both appreciate the faster healing time with the graft.
A new neighbor showed up across the aisle from her stall yesterday, so we are both over the moon. Barn owner wasn’t sure how long the new people plan to leave the horse stalled, but I’m kind of hoping for a while. I’m still on the look out for a skin-to-skin companion. Ponies in my area are holding at $2000+ (unless an intact colt) and I’ve seen no horse-experienced goats yet.
And on stall enrichment, so far we have a jolly apple hanging, a jolly ball loose on the ground and a cone. I’ve ordered an Uncle Jimmy’s Lick refill to see if that’s a better hit than the mint flavored Stall Snack. I’ve seen the High Country hay play in person and have read a lot about the Burlingham Sports Hay Ball as well. I am a little worried the holes might be too big for her hooves though. She’s been a bit feisty about picking up the legs and I don’t really want to cause her to swing those legs around. But we may at least try to measure the fronts today and see if they are bigger than the holes.
I may have found a suitable goat. Alpine, disbudded, retired dairy goat, so well handled. I’ve asked them if she’s been around horses before, but they have advertised her as a companion for horses, so hopefully she has. If I make her a creep pen in the stall, can I set the top bar a bit lower than her to make sure the pony doesn’t try to sneak in? How flexible are goats at getting under something, ie how much lower than her withers can I put it?
Goats are masters of escapes if bored, or at least mine are.
Alpines are bigger than mine than my NDs but for them if it’s bigger than about 9” they are going under and has to be 4’ to keep them from going over.
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