If, like most of the country, the constant wet weather has made your fields more mud than anything else, you may have had to restrict turnout time to help preserve the ground and keep your horse safe too. If your horse is spending longer inside than you’d like, we have some ways to help keep your horse happy when turnout is limited. You can also consider these if your horse is on box rest or a rehab journey that means he’s in his stable for prolonged periods of time.
Feeding
Getting your feeding right is one of the cornerstones to a happy horse, and when they’re spending more time inside than is ideal, it’s even more important. There are several free nutritional helplines (and qualified independent nutritionists too) who can help you adjust the horse’s diet in line with a change in management. By getting expert advice here, and ensuring your horse is on the correct diet for his current situation, it means everything else is built on firm foundations.
Make it last
When you know how much hay/haylage/forage your horse should be eating, it might be a good idea to explore ways to ensure his forage keeps him occupied for longer. If your horse is a good doer, you might want to look at smaller holed nets and dividing up his portion throughout the day, so he’s never left for a long time without access to forage. Horses are trickle feeders by nature, eating little and often, and this is how their body systems are designed. Finding ways to emulate this, even in a stable environment, can really support physical and mental health.
Boredom busters
Stable activities can help to keep a horse’s brain busy, which can help to reduce boredom and maybe even the development of some vices. Looking at how you deliver your horse’s feed, whether this is hay and forage as explored above, or even his concentrated ration, can provide entertainment. Feed balls can be one way to make his cubes an activity as well as a source of nutrition. You might also look at toys, such as licks, designed to provide interest and enrichment or get creative with horse safe vegetables and make your own toys.
Grooming and massage
Grooming provides a great opportunity to check for lumps, rubs and bumps but it’s also a brilliant excuse to spend some time with your horse in a low pressure way. Bonding through grooming can be a valuable way to improve trust and connection, which can be helpful for any and every interaction you have with your horse. You might want to take this a step further and investigate massage tools and techniques to give your horse a real treat.
Stretches
Your horse might not be out in the field throwing shapes, but that doesn’t mean he can’t move his body in the stable! Speak to your physio and research fun activities you can do with your horse in the stable that encourage bending and stretching in the right way. There’s a lot of things that can be done with no more than a tasty treat and some patience!
In hand exercise
If your horse can’t be out in the field, and you don’t have the time/desire/situation that allows you to ride, you could consider in hand walking instead. Taking your horse for a walk can give you both an opportunity to stretch your legs, bond, and he might even find some grass to pick at too! Wear safety kit – it really is better to be safe than sorry, and if you think your horse might get overexcited in this setting, maybe consider adding boots and a bridle as well.
Here are just a few ways to help keep your horse happy when turnout is limited. Hopefully, all or a combination of the above will make any time inside a lot more interesting!
For more help with feeding, enrichment and turnout essentials, explore the range at RB Equestrian or visit us in store for friendly advice tailored to your horse.
