Here’s a fast, simple, and fun toy for your horse’s stall or for a quick treat out in the pasture! A simple repurposed baby toy plus some tasty treats makes a horse enrichment item that relieves boredom, promotes problem solving, and gives your horse a chance to practice some fine motor skills. And you can put this veggie treat ball together with any Here’s how to make this 5 minute, DIY budget enrichment for horses.
What is the DIY Veggie Treat Ball for Horses?
This DIY horse toy is an easy and budget friendly treat toy for horses. To make it, you’ll take an inexpensive colorful toddler toy and stuff it full of hay, then add some treats.
The veggies and fruits stick out everywhere, held in place by the unique webby shape of the ball and the inner stuffing of hay.
Your horse will grab the treats, using their coordination and fine motor skills. They’ll have fun figuring out how to snag the veggie sticks – which might take a while because this ball’s wild swinging creates a challenge!
When they’ve grabbed all fruit and veggies, your horse gets a double enrichment experience: the hay inside is a browsing toy and slow feeder.
Why the DIY Veggie Treat Ball is Great Horse Enrichment
Enrichment for horses is all about encouraging your equine’s natural behaviors. This swinging ball not only encourages browsing and fine motor control, it’s a great boredom buster.
It gives your horse an exciting new texture and some challenge as they try to work out the treats from inside the ball. Your horse will have to use their lips, teeth, and tongue to grab the goodies, and their brain to figure out the best technique.
That makes this DIY horse toy great for horses who need more stimulation and distraction, like those on stall rest or while traveling or quarantine. It’s also great for anxious horses.
The DIY veggie stick ball for horses is super budget-friendly, using just a simple toddler toy as the frame.
How to Make the DIY Veggie Treat Ball for Horses
To make this toy, you only need three things, and two of them are already available in your barn and pantry. You’ll need…
- One Bright Starts Oball baby toy
- Hay
- Fruit or veggies, cut into sticks or wedges
I love this toy because once you have the special ball for the base, you can put this enrichment activity together in a snap. The ball is also great for making other DIY toys or treat feeders for your horse. It’s the same one as in the DIY veggie noodle ball we recently made a tutorial and video for.
First: The Ball
For this DIY horse enrichment, we’re using the Oball toy from Bright Starts. I stumbled on this softball-sized creation by accident and immediately purchased some for making horse toys.
The Oball is inexpensive, in the five dollar range at Amazon, and looks a lot like the JW Pets Hol-ee Roller toy that makes absolutely fantastic horse enrichment. If you already have a Hol-ee Roller, you can use it to make your DIY veggie noodle ball, but the Oball is a little different and it’s worth picking up at least one.
The Oball is a little less flexible than the hol-ee roller, since it’s made from a different, firmer rubber material. It’s sturdy with less give.
The ball is the same size as the large Holee Roller but with a smaller network of holes, so you can use smaller treats and they don’t fall out as quickly. It also takes longer for your horse to empty out the hay.
What Hay and Treats?
You can use any type of hay for this ball. Shorter-stem hay is a little easier to stuff into the ball.
Any horse safe fruit or veggie works with this toy – it’s perfect no matter your horse’s needs or taste preferences!
Dry, crunchy veggies and fruits work best and hold their shape. This makes apple, carrot, sweet potato, Asian cucumber, or celery are great choices. And if you’re not concerned about sugar or carbs in this once-in-a-while enrichment, you can use pretzel sticks or other stick-shaped baked treats.
Stuff the Ball with Hay
First, get your Oball and clip off any tags. Then fill the ball with a generous handful of hay, working it a bit of a time through the holes in the ball. Once you’ve made this toy once or twice, stuffing the ball with hay only takes a few seconds.
The hay is important to keep the to provide some structure and support, that will hold the veggie and fruit sticks securely while your horse plays. If you skip it, the sticks will fall out immediately – that’s also fine but you’ll want to add a pan beneath the toy to catch them.
Fill the ball with hay until it’s fairly well-packed but not too tightly stuffed. You’ll need a little bit of loose space to wedge the fruit or veggie sticks into the ball.
Insert Veggie Sticks
Next, prep your treats. The best treats for this toy are firm fruits and vegetables cut into sticks. They’ll stick out all over the ball for your horse to grab with their lips or teeth.
You can use any horse safe for your veggie for this toy. Use as many as is appropriate for your horse.
If it’s tough to fit the veggie stick into the hay, use scissors or a knife to carefully wedge a small hole for each treat.
The process might sounds complicated, but when you’re actually filling it it’s only seconds per stick. This isn’t a complicated or time consuming enrichment activity.
Hold the ball gently as you continue to fill it with veggie sticks, holding it carefully to avoid knocking out or breaking the treats.
Clip it Up
When your DIY horse toy is finished, grab a carabiner clip for tying it up.
Easy to use carabiner clips make enrichment a snap. You can also a thin rope, but tying and untying the ball adds to the prep and cleanup time. Baling twine is handy but isn’t ideal for safety reasons. It’s too easy for a horse to accidentally break the twine and possibly swallow it.
You’ll want to use this toy hanging in the stall or pasture. Don’t use it on the ground, where the veggie sticks will break and your horse could manage to stuff the entire ball in their mouth!
Hanging your horse’s veggie treat ball from an overhead branch or rafter where it swings freely creates a challenging toy. The wild swinging demands a high level of coordination. For less challenge, hang your horse’s toy from a stall wall or fencepost. The solid surface behind will control the movement a little.
How Often Can I Use the DIY Veggie Treat Ball?
The great thing about this horse enrichment activity is its versatility. By changing the types of veggies or fruits you use, you can create endless variety; your horse won’t get bored with this toy!
You could easily use this toy several times a week, adding different flavors each time, or use it weekly as part of a boredom-busting routine for your equine friend.
Safety
Set your horse up for safety by using horse-safe fruits and veggies. Supervise your horse the first few times they use this toy, to make sure they understand how to interact with it.
Make the toy easy on the first few uses by hanging it against a wall and using plenty of fruit and veggie sticks. If your horse consistently tries to chew on the ball itself, remove it. The Oball is pretty sturdy, but isn’t meant to stand up to equine teeth.
And that’s all there is to know about this horse in Richmond! It’s easy, it’s fun, and it’s fast to put together. In return for a few minutes of your time your horse will get a fun, boredom relieving activity. That’s an enrichment win!
Related Enrichment
The DIY veggie treat ball is a treat-filled browsing toy for horses. For more like this, browse through the page on treat feeders and puzzles for horses.
For similar ideas, try:
The Hol-ee Roller Ball for Horses
Veggie Noodle Ball for Horses