Ways to keep a young Horse active?

[Love4Pits]

Amir is a 6 month old colt and so you know i won't be training or riding him for a few years.

I work with him every other day though on the longe line and excels at that. I play with him in his Paddock/ pasture we have a game like "I chase you you chase me" kind of thing. But there is only so much i can think of doing with him. I groom him pick out his feet and just work on getting him used to everything. I walk him on lead every weekend either down the road or on the trails or both.

Thing is I feel he is bored and im still trying to find that perfect stable mate for him. But until then if any of you have any good ideas on how to keep a young horses brain stimulated so he's not bored. I was thinking of maybe getting him one of those balls if he's not afraid or something. Like I said any ideas would be great!

 

[BagelDog]

Yeah, id say try one of those mollases or apple scented balls. See how he likes it. Other than that I don't know. I wish I had a horse. lol

 

[Saje]

You don't even have to get one of those balls. Use an empty 4L milk jug or something similar (cleaned). Maybe make it more intersting by cutting a few, small holes in it and filling it with treats. Like the doggy toys. I just thought of that. Wish I had a horse here now! You could have a jug loose with him and tie another to the fence for him to box around.

I've even seen them chase plastic bags. Maybe balloons would work? You could make the lunging more intersted by putting posts down for him to trot over. That will help with the training too. Or teach him how to stand properly for halter classes -not that you have to show it's just something to do. Teach him to back on the lead.

Make a 'teetertotter' for him to walk over and when he does that make him back over it. Get him to back through an 'L' or any other gymkana things.

 

[Love4Pits]

Ok thanks for the ideas

 

[BagelDog]

I think he could crush a jug though, and anything you had him walk over, you run the risk of him falling off, even breaking his leg.

 

[Richie12345]

How can you guys afford horses? Sorry to be off topic, lol

 

[oc_spirit]

Those rubber balls are AWESOME for young horses!!!! Are young guys LOVE to play with them especially Goldie and Chester. Sometimes they accidentally fling it into the neighbouring field so they go galloping down the field, across the corral and into the next field to retrieve their toy. They even play tug-o-war with it! So cute! Deffinately a stable mate would be ideal, horses are very social animals and crave companionship constantly. Even are "loner horses" (usually the newbies who haven't integrated themseleves into the main herd yet) still enjoy the company of the other loner horses (they tend to form a mini herd). I do a lot of free lunging with the ones that aren;t ridable yet. More specifically I work on join-up especially with the newbies. It's great for strengthening the bond and building trust. If I wanna have some fun I'll close off one of the fields and empty it of all the horses then grab a few that are compatible with each other and get my lunge whip and I free lunge them in the field. They LOVE this!!!! They give huge glee bucks and start nickering back and forth enjoying kicking up their heels. So pretty to watch too! Once they get going I don't even have to use the whip anymore I just run around with them and they keep going. Then when they're all tukered out everyone comes in for ear scratches. You could also work on teaching silly tricks such s bow, drinking out of a bottle (filled with water of course but once he gets good you can use a wine bottle filled with water to make a good laugh), sit on his butt (a little more difficult), or you can teach useful commands such as getting him to lower his head when putting the bit in his mouth, lifting his hoof with just a tickle around his fetlock, making him "bomb proof" by getting him used to scary stuff such as an umbrella opening near by, paper flying, etc. Use your imagination! It's amazing what can entertain these guys! I'm working on teaching Pixie (one of the ponies) to follow me by command and change direction by voice command because currently she's dead scared of anything to do with ropes (we believe she was abused by her previous owners OR had a bad experience during transportation) so I can at least control her without having control of her (if that makes sense?). You could also get some driving reins so you can teach him how to respond to rein signals so he knows them before you even start riding. There tons more you can do to stimulate him but thispost is already getting kinda long so I'll stop now LOL

 

[Love4Pits]

Those rubber balls are AWESOME for young horses!!!! Are young guys LOVE to play with them especially Goldie and Chester. Sometimes they accidentally fling it into the neighbouring field so they go galloping down the field, across the corral and into the next field to retrieve their toy. They even play tug-o-war with it! So cute! Deffinately a stable mate would be ideal, horses are very social animals and crave companionship constantly. Even are "loner horses" (usually the newbies who haven't integrated themseleves into the main herd yet) still enjoy the company of the other loner horses (they tend to form a mini herd). I do a lot of free lunging with the ones that aren;t ridable yet. More specifically I work on join-up especially with the newbies. It's great for strengthening the bond and building trust. If I wanna have some fun I'll close off one of the fields and empty it of all the horses then grab a few that are compatible with each other and get my lunge whip and I free lunge them in the field. They LOVE this!!!! They give huge glee bucks and start nickering back and forth enjoying kicking up their heels. So pretty to watch too! Once they get going I don't even have to use the whip anymore I just run around with them and they keep going. Then when they're all tukered out everyone comes in for ear scratches. You could also work on teaching silly tricks such s bow, drinking out of a bottle (filled with water of course but once he gets good you can use a wine bottle filled with water to make a good laugh), sit on his butt (a little more difficult), or you can teach useful commands such as getting him to lower his head when putting the bit in his mouth, lifting his hoof with just a tickle around his fetlock, making him "bomb proof" by getting him used to scary stuff such as an umbrella opening near by, paper flying, etc. Use your imagination! It's amazing what can entertain these guys! I'm working on teaching Pixie (one of the ponies) to follow me by command and change direction by voice command because currently she's dead scared of anything to do with ropes (we believe she was abused by her previous owners OR had a bad experience during transportation) so I can at least control her without having control of her (if that makes sense?). You could also get some driving reins so you can teach him how to respond to rein signals so he knows them before you even start riding. There tons more you can do to stimulate him but thispost is already getting kinda long so I'll stop now LOL

Lol thanks I will keep all that in mind. He's an energetic guy.

 

[yuckaduck]

What breed is this little guy? Be careful lounging to early as the tight circles can cause problems with the knees. I learned this out with my appy. I train horses and young horses if they get turn out can be put with another horses preferably gelding since he is a colt, and they wil run together and play. Just like a dog horses are herd animals and they love to socialize with other horses. Of course there are exceptions I have seen some who must be alone. Lots of halter work and walks on halter to many different places. Expose him to dogs, cars, roads, other people, bicycles, strollers, that was always a fun one with Joker. He'd let a great big smi truck go by him but freaked at a little baby stroller. Go figure.