October 3, 2022

8 Ways To Keep Your Horse Entertained

As horse owners, we know that keeping your horse entertained, and out of mischief, isn’t always the easiest of jobs. Providing enrichment not only keeps them out of trouble but is also important for their general well-being.

Environments that lack enrichment can lead to horses getting bored or even showing stereotypic behaviours. Enrichment helps prevent these behaviours, minimises stress, and encourages more natural movements and behaviours from your horse.

Zoologist D.J. Shepherdson* divided enrichment into five different activities:

Cognitive enrichment (mental stimulation)

Social enrichment

Physical enrichment

Food enrichment

Sensory enrichment (stimulates all five senses)

In an ideal world, you would provide as many enrichment types for your horse as you can, but this isn’t always possible. Some of your horse's daily routines already provide different enrichment, for example when you exercise them or if they get turned out in a herd.

There are ways you can provide enrichment that don't break the bank or take up huge amounts of time. Here are 8 ways to keep your horse entertained...

Rather than putting your horse's forage in one large pile, spread it around the field

This encourages natural foraging behaviour from your horse. Making them actively search for their food, rather than stick to one place.

Put mirrors in your horse’s stable

If your horse is stabled often and doesn’t get much opportunity to interact with other horses, try installing mirrors in their stable.

This can give the illusion of company and also gives them something to investigate and think about. Especially fun if they haven’t come across them before!

Make your horse think about how they get their treats

Try hiding their treats in their stable. Tie a carrot/turnip/swede to a string hanging from the ceiling, put apples in their water bucket, or use a treat ball. This makes your horse use their brain, either searching for the treat or figuring out how to get the treat.

Doing this creates entertainment, especially if your horse is stabled more than they are turned out, or on box rest. Hiding treats around the stable also encourages natural foraging behaviours.

Give your horse something to play with in the field

This is particularly useful if your horse has a tendency to use their rug as a plaything, or likes to pull off their friend's fly mask! You can buy large play balls for your horse to interact within the field.

A play ball provides cognitive enrichment, as they figure out how to use the ball, and also physical enrichment as they get active playing with it!

Use a slow feeder

Horses are designed to spend the majority of the day grazing. So it is important that they have access to forage throughout the day. If your horse is turned out during the day this isn’t such a problem. For those stabled, it can be trickier, especially if your horse is a fast eater or on a limited ration.

This is where a slow feeder becomes handy. Whether this is one you’ve purchased or made yourself, this can be a great way to encourage your horse to eat little and often, as they would naturally. It also helps their hay/haylage ration last for longer.

Vary your horse's exercise routine

Varying your horse's exercise routine gives them both physical and cognitive enrichment. They won’t get bored with their work, and won’t be able to predict what you may ask of them from one day to the next.

To vary your horses exercise routine you could:

Include pole work or jumps within your schooling sessions

Hire an arena and school your horse somewhere else

Include lateral movements within your hacks

Lunge your horse over poles or jumps

Travel somewhere else to hack your horse

Go for an in-hand walk

Varied work not only goes a long way to keep your horse entertained, but it also helps toward preventing injury!

Create a scratching post in your horse’s stable or field

Creating a scratching post for your horse is a great way to help your horse groom themself. Scratching helps relieve itches and maintain a healthy coat. It’s also a safe way of allowing your horse to scratch instead of them doing so on a fence or stable door.

You don’t have to break the bank to create a scratching post either. Create one by attaching a broom head or grooming brushes to do a door. As long as they are attached securely, they are safe for your horse to scratch on!

Test out different grooming brushes

Just as we have our favourite clothes, horses will prefer certain types of grooming brushes to others. Some might like the texture of a softer brush, others might prefer a firmer dandy brush or plastic curry comb.

The best way to discover which brush your horse likes best is to experiment. By doing so you are also allowing them to experience different sensations, acting as a form of enrichment!

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Providing enrichment is an important part of reducing stress and boredom. It also helps maximise your horse's health and happiness. Some of these suggestions will work on some horses, whilst others won’t. The key is to treat your horse as an individual and experiment until you find safe suggestions that work for them!

*Shepherdson, D.J. Tracing the path of environmental enrichment in zoos. Second Nature – Environmental Enrichment for Captive Animals 1st Edition. 1998.