Little Likits

[Jakes Mum]

I have got Jake on 6 weeks box rest, he has 4 weeks left to go, and I have put a Tongue Twister Likit in his stable to try to relieve the boredom.

He absolutley loves the Mint one, have tried orange & carrot and the apple which he doesn't touch :rolleyes: but he devours the mint one overnight. The recommended allowance is 150-300g per day (1 likit is 250g).
He had one on Friday night, and one last night, and the following mornings he has been alot more relaxed and happy than the nights he doesn't have one.
My concern is that they are glucose based and I am concerned of the effects on his health as I have just spent the last 18months reducing his weight by over 100kg and he is now at his ideal weight, I am worried about him gaining weight whilst he is on box rest as it is difficult finding the balance between giving him enough hay to keep him occupied but not too much that he is going to put back on his weight which will not be good for his bad leg.
So, with it only being temporary, do you think it is better having a
content stabled horse and give him likits every other day (below the recommended allowance) or withdraw the likits and have him a bit stressed?

What are your opinions generally on likits?

Does your horse have a favourite flavour?

[Bebe]

If you only give him one every other day, I wouldn't expect him to put on any weight from them. Personally I'd throw likits at him if it meant he was happy!

Bebe likes the mint Likit and the carrot & orange one but none of the other flavours. The problem with her is that she eats the lot in a couple of minutes and then wants more, so if I buy her one now I smash it into little bits and give her a couple of pieces as a treat. She does have a Horselyx stable lick that she adores. It's molasses based and has mint, garlic, etc in (respiratory one) but mostly smells of liquorice. She gets it everywhere but 1 block lasts her 4-6 weeks in winter when she's in at night so I let her have one as it makes her happy. Parklands sell them for about £10. Jake might like them and they have vitamins & minerals in so are slightly better nutrition than Likits.

[katieB]

I have heard good things about the Horselyx too. Ellie has a normal shape lick (not made by the people who make likits - they seem to dissolve too quickly) a cherry flavour one and she loves it.
The bad thing about the tongue twister is that it holds the likit in place so its easy for the horse to scoff it in one go. Another toy for likits is the boredom breaker which hangs from the ceiling, this makes it a little harder for the horse to get it as it keeps swinging about - might make them last a bit longer :)

[Jakes Mum]

Thanks Bebe and katieB for the replies :)

I think I will have to go to Parklands and get a Horselyx, will try anything to keep him happy and occupied.

I know what you mean about the tongue twister katieB, it is supposed to rotate making it difficult for them to lick, but Jake soon learnt that he could wedge his nose on it to keep it still to make things easy :rolleyes: :D

I had looked at the boredom breaker to hang from the ceiling, but wondered how easy it would be for them to grab hold of and pull down. Anybody had a problem with it ?

[cvb]

I have a hanging likit holder (not the full boredom breaker) and Fi manages to get her jaw right around the likit and bite it ! :eek: ... so they don't last long. This is with it hung well away from a wall and so on. :rolleyes:

Anyway - what has worked well with her, and our Fell, is a snack ball. I got a dog one that comes in two colours with two holes - I think its the medium size and I have seen them in UK (bought mine while in Sweden).

Its a bit of a faff to fill up, as you have to fill via the holes. But we just feed a grass type cube and they have great fun with them. They learn what to do very quickly - show them once and they are normally away having a go. Both have slightly different techniques but it seems to keep them amused.

The reason I got these ones is cos they are very strong.

[joy70]

Jakes Mum

I used to give Toddy swedes, carrots etc., hanging from doubled baling twine from the ceiling! if you put em away from the walls, they can't push them against anything to hold em while they munch.

Just an idea, might a) be cheaper alternative to likits or as well as and b) probly wont impede his dieting :D

IMHO, if hes a happy content nedworth with a likit every other day, then let him have em, you can work on getting the weight off when hes allowed back out to graze.

Keep us posted on how hes' doing - please ;)

[cvb]

also how about floating e.g. apples in hi water bucket ?

[Jakes Mum]

Thanks Joy70 and cvb for your ideas, will try them out.
His 'toy box' is going to be so big, I think I need a bigger stable :D

[nat17]

My friend with the old ID jake, had him on box rest last summer and he hated likits!

But one thing she did do for him, if you have a big freezer!,
get a big massive bowl, mixing bowl or even washing up bowl if you have a chest freezer, fill half to 3/4 way ful of water and chop carrotts and apples up and put them in, freeze it over night and give it to him , he should! lick it down to get to the frozen veg and keeping him cooler and occupied at the same time!

She spent extra time doing it by freezing sections at a time so all the veg didnt drop to the bottom!

Just an idea for the hot days that he cant have a likit!;)

[Tootsie4U]

Originally posted by cvb
I have a hanging likit holder (not the full boredom breaker) and Fi manages to get her jaw right around the likit and bite it ! :eek: ... so they don't last long. This is with it hung well away from a wall and so on. :rolleyes:

Uh huh. Ditto. :rolleyes:

He will eat the whole entire likit in minutes. Not so good as a boredom breaker then is it? :rolleyes:

G'Luck finding something JM. The best thing I've ever had for keeping Bon busy in his stall was Jay O's suggestion of getting an old plastic juice container (made of stiffer plastic) cut an inch sized hole in the cap and put some grain or treats in it and let him kick it around to get the food out. That at least took him an hour or two vice the few minutes the likit served. :D

[Jakes Mum]

Thanks for the ideas Tootsie and Nat17.

I have got him a snack-a-ball and some high fibre cubes today which will work similar to the plastic bottle idea, but at a lot more expense - oopppss :rolleyes: He goes in the stable next door whilst I muck out, it has rubber matting on the floor so I will give him his ball to play with whilst he is in there.

cvb - tried the 'apple bobbing' last night with just one apple in his water bucket which is clipped to the wall as he has a habit of tipping it over, he swished his head back and forth and round in the water, splashing it out over the sides, making an awful wet mess on his stable floor and then he just drunk and drunk and drunk and drunk until I thought he was going to pop, and then he pawed at it and stuck his foot in his water bucket. So, that one didn't work for him, will have to kit him out in water wings, flippers and a snorkel if we are to try that one again :D

[Sooty]

he swished his head back and forth and round in the water, splashing it out over the sides, making an awful wet mess on his stable floor and then he just drunk and drunk and drunk and drunk until I thought he was going to pop, and then he pawed at it and stuck his foot in his water bucket


Awww bless!

Luca's got a snack-a-ball. Best thing I ever bought him - he adores it.

I did get him a tongue twister a few months ago - it very quickly went into the bin. He only liked the mint flavour, devoured it in moments, and I had a heck of a job getting the empty containers out. *** that for a game of soldiers :rolleyes:

I like Nat17's idea, except I keep thinking about the bit in the film Dumb and Dumber where one of the blokes licks a cold pole (or something) and his tongue gets stuck because it's so cold .... I've got this vision of the poor horse swinging his head around with a bowl stuck to his tongue, or even worse a bowl with half a tongue in it AHHH:eek:

[shandy84]

Be careful with the horsylyx as you can overdose in them and Shandy is one for that she had a field lickit in one night!!!!

[Jakes Mum]

:D Sooty, you have given me the giggles :D

I once had a dog who liked ice-cubes, he had a habit of burying them in the garden and then digging frantically round the garden trying to find his secret hoard :D Couldn't explain to him that they had melted :D

Thanks for the warning about the Horslyx Shandy84, guess Jake would soon overdose on one, he thinks he is in training for the World Champion Mint Little Likit Licker at the moment but looks very cute with his sticky bright blue lipstick on when he has finished :p

[Pixie]

My mare was on box rest for five months over the winter and I got her the glitttery pink boredom breaker, she loved the big likit bit at the top and devoured them in about ten mins, i renamed them chewits!!!:D:D :D
The mini likits in the bit underneath also only managed to last a night or a day!! piggy!!!! Her favourite flavours are apple and mint she wiill eat carrot and orange ones but not as quickly also she liked cherry ones!!:D The apple and mint ones are delicious for us too i often take a little bite when putting them in for my horse try them!!!:p

[Horseyheaven]

yum banana flavour......I nibbled a bit off and it tasted like gobstopers!!!! the cherry one tastes like aniseed!!

Montana has them but i think the colourings in them make hyper!!

[Jul]

Originally posted by cvb
I have a hanging likit holder (not the full boredom breaker) and Fi manages to get her jaw right around the likit and bite it ! :eek: ... so they don't last long. This is with it hung well away from a wall and so on. :rolleyes:


Same here! How reassuring it is to find out that my mare is not the only one who does this. I have tried and tried to get her to lick them but no, she would prefer to eat the lot in a matter of minutes. Well, who wouldn't - they taste yum!

On the original subject, JM, I agree with many of the others in that for a matter of a few weeks I would give him the little likits if it makes him happier.

[Lenvale]

Message deleted

[Big H]

I have a likit in both my horses stables. One of them hardly touches it and yet the other one just devours his, doesn't matter which flavour it is either. Sometimes it lasts him a couple of days and yet others overnight.

I think that at least they are playing with/using them that it is relieving their bordom for a little while.:D