I want my horse to play with his exercise ball!

[laura jeanne]

I got a 55 cm exercise ball so I could play with my horse. I thought he needed some fun. So he is a little used to it and will follow me on the lead rope as I kick it ahead with my foot and when the ball stops, I lead him up to it and he will put his nose on it. He will also let me gently push it to his front legs without doing more than a quick step back and once he accidentally kicked it with nothing happening except a very surprised look!

He is now back in a place where I will have a chance to let him loose with it in one of the round pens or maybe even the fenced arena if no one else is in it.

So am I doing this right? lol, he has no clue what to do with it.

[Pink's lady]

Many horses aren't the slightest bit interested in a horse ball - my lot just looked at theirs:rolleyes:

If he doesn't want to play with it (which is highly likely) but you still want him to have some fun it would be worth trying a feed ball.

[laura jeanne]

Well, you may be right. I do think he is bored though. He used to be a trail horse and now just goes from the paddock to the arena to give dressage lessons.

[BeachRiding]

I bought my horses one, they never so much as touched it! :(

So I gave it to my dog who tore it apart in seconds. :rolleyes:

[jinglejoys]

Not everyone likes football why should horses be any differant:D

[*Sez*]

My horse is terrified of toys :rolleyes::D I bought him a Jolly Ball, and he had a fit, then hid from it in the corner of the stable.

So I bought him a Likit boredom buster... and he hid from it. I've even tried him with whole swedes on strings or just loose in the stable and what does he do...? He hides from them! However, he does like his feedball, but it took several sessions with it for him to figure out that it wasn't scary and actually had treats in it! :rolleyes:

[Sammii]

Soak it in apple juice or the like, that might get him interested! :D

[chickyd444]

(big) elastic band some carrotts to it ;) watch him gooooooooo! i cut a hole in my rubber jolly ball and stuff nuts and carrotts in it for our foal

[michelle c]

try clicker training!!!! i taught mine to play with a ball, he may not understand what to do with it. :p

[RobaDob]

I bought my horses one, they never so much as touched it! :(

So I gave it to my dog who tore it apart in seconds. :rolleyes:

Ditto ! ;)

I might try what chickyd444 said ; tie carrots to it :D

[chickyd444]

i try all kinds of things with my boy to have a muck around and keep him from boredom, other fun things to try :

apple bobbing in his water bucket
hiding carrotts in hay nets,
putting carrotts under buckets in the field
hanging sweedes and carrotts from trees


just trying to be of use :D;)

[Crystal Fire]

In the paddock - does he have grazing, space to run about and friends? If he does then he's probably not bored, and if he doesn't want to play with a ball I would let him get on with doing his little horse things instead. :)

[levi1739]

Start by always 'moving' (kicking/throwing) the ball away from the horse. Don't send it far away, just far enough to get the horses 'curiosity' up. Once he's curious about it, bounce it around him for a bit. Then when he's ready, send it toward him.

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49/levi1739/454x.jpg

You can tell when they get bored with the game.

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49/levi1739/oct250.jpg


Have fun, be safe

Jack

[laura jeanne]

Thanks everyone. I've been away for a week but tomorrow . . .