HAVING FUN:
Making some everyday tasks and jobs fun, can help your horse learn to become adaptable.
Adding new things to his environment, asking him to solve problems means he's not simply going through his usual routine. By asking him new things, your horse can become much more prepared to cope with new and strange, so when things do happen unexpectedly, he will be more mentally capable of dealing with it. It really works too.
This morning for example, I delivered hay to the yard, just the 2 bales I needed. Chucked them under the fence and left them there whilst I finished sweeping.
Tom & Henry don't shy from a challenge (especially where food is concerned), and plastic bags and bales of hay don't present a worry for them since I believe in desensitising them to these things, I always flick bags near them and leave them lying around when I've added bedding to their stables, etc. T&H don't mind bags.
Henry bit a tiny hole in one bale and Tom tried to with the other but since Henry was already in, Tom decided it was wasted effort, he would just pinch Henry's bale!
...and so it was, the boys had opened their own bags of hay, and they were very happy eating out of the bag whilst I carried on with my yard duties....I did open the hole a little more so they didn't have to struggle to get the food out, but this simple job became a game and they were rewarded with haylage.
Funny boys.
