Hi all,
Sometimes our dear little horses may become bored and need a little extra something.
I have been doing agility exercises with Star and she really likes it.
I put up some cones, tarps, ground poles, vertical poles (with streamers hanging), old barrels, a big ball and even a hoolahoop. Just about anything I could find. All in one of her paddocks. She is use of them now and some things she even drags around.
Paul is going to build a platform that tips back and forth that Star can stand on. That should be interesting. I saw stuff like this on a video from flag is up farms.
As you know Star does not trust easily and I just have to be patient with her so she can analize everything, just like her mom and she eventually does it. A little coasting and she's ok with it.
She and I are doing this on the ground and maybe one day she too wiil be a war horse like Pie and jump over things and run through things.
Is anyone else doing play games with their horses?
I was planning on setting up an obstacle course for my horse this summer to give him something different to learn but I really haven't had much time to work on it yet. It sounds like you're having fun with Star it will definitely help her not be spooky in her surroundings. I'm glad to see you back on the Uni I was beginning to wonder where you were.
Hi Ronda, good to see u again, I just wanted to let you know that I liked the "Attempting the Curcingle" video you made on youtube, the organ music fits perfectly lol!
Great to have you back on, Ronda. I have missed your valuable comments and was a little worried about you and Star. Star is a lucky horse - I love the sound of her 'play gym'. I will try to set something up for my Uggs and Tricka. The other day I did the plastic bags with Uggs and the tarpaulin as Tricka watched on. Uggs is still a bit spooked by the plastic bags and it took him awhile to walk onto the tarpaulin with me after jumping the 'stream' many times. When I finished with Uggs I gave Tricka a go and she was totally un phased by it all. I ended up putting the fairly heavy tarpaulin right over her - I put it over myself first - she was fine. It is so much fun playing with them but time is always a factor.
Hi Ronda
Have you seen the specially made rubber horse balls you can get? They have handles on them which the horse can use to pick up the ball in their mouth and play with it. You can also get hollow balls with a small hole in, you put pony nuts or similar small treats inside and they have to roll the ball around so the treats fall out. They can be bought commercially but I'm sure it's possible to fashion something similar yourself out of a sturdy and safe container of some kind. And the horse ball with the handle could be made out of a ball and with some thick rope tied around it - as long as they can't get their feet caught in it. You've got me thinking now, I might try some of your ideas myself and see what I can find in my shed. This could be a good way of getting horses to desensitise themselves to all kinds of things whilst having fun too. Thanks for posting this!
Hi all,
It certainly seems to have worked for Star. So mcuh so that on Tuesday morning I wanted to show my husband how much Star trusts me.
I told him that I can walk her through our huge pine trees and she will follow, no stalling. I could tell by the look on his face that he didn't quite believe me.
So out we went, I put a headstall on Star walkied around these 60-70 foot high pine trees that are very close together and in we entered.
He was right surprised, in she went and back she came.
You might say you nut, why would you do this? I always felt if Star and I were to get into a tight spot, how much would she trust me to get her out safely. For me that was one of the tests.
Thank you for the idea of the handled ball, that's cool. I can just see her walking around with that.
I believe she is going to like a snaffle bit, she likes to play with things in her mouth.
If anyone has anymore ideas I would surely appreciate them.
Glad you're improving with Star! :)