Five Easy Ways to Use Pumpkin As Horse Enrichment

Horses Can Eat Pumpkin?

Pumpkin isn’t just for people! Your horse can eat pumpkin too! The famous fall veggie comes in all sizes from tiny to gigantic. It’s a member of the squash family and horses can eat it as a special treat. This makes pumpkin a perfect seasonal addition to your enrichment routine.

Check out the article “Can Horses Eat Pumpkin?” for a quick read on the right way to offer your horse this tasty veggie. If the questions Could I feed my horse pumpkin? Is pumpkin safe for horses? has crossed your mind this fall, start there.

Then head below for five easy ways to use pumpkins as horse enrichment this fall. There are almost endless ways to make use of everyone’s favorite fall fruit (no pumpkin spice here, though, sorry), but here are five different options that will give you a lot of bang for your buck.

Quick note: We just published an ebook! If you want more information on equine enrichment safety, including using fresh veggies like pumpkin, please check out the ebook Safe Equine Enrichment available on Amazon. A purchase of our book will give you the knowledge you need to use enrichment items safely – and helps support this page!

1. Pumpkin for Flavor and Texture Variety at Mealtime

This is the easiest way to use pumpkin. Food variety is a great way to provide mental stimulation, making meals more interesting and adding a little extra variety to your horse’s routine.

Chop the pumpkin up and add to your horse’s daily feed. You can do this whether your horse eats a large meal each day or just a small portion of supplement pellets, so it’s a great enrichment for all kinds of horses. 

Mince the pumpkin finely and mix into the feed to add a pumpkin flavor to the meal. Leave it in chunks and stir into the feed for texture variety. You can even hide pumpkin bites at the bottom of the feed for an end-of-meal surprise for your horse. This simple sensory enrichment is an option for both bucket feeds and feeding mats. 

2. Pumpkin in a Horse Forage Box

Forage boxes are really entertaining horse toys and pumpkin makes a perfect addition to your next box. You can use pumpkin in a forage box like other favorite fruits or vegetables, and promote food-seeking and problem solving. 

Pumpkin’s large size makes it extra-versatile in forage boxes and similar puzzles because you can cut the pieces into whatever shape works best for your enrichment design. Cut your horse’s serving of pumpkin into cubes, thin slices, or sticks depending on the style of your forage box. There’s room for endless variety and creativity.

3. Pumpkin For Horses as Rewards for Training Sessions

If your horse enjoys the taste of pumpkin, you can use it during positive reinforcement training sessions!  The treats used in positive reinforcement training are called reinforcers because giving them after a behavior reinforces (or encourages) that action.

For most horses, pumpkin is a reinforcer of medium value, meaning that your equine enjoys the taste enough to be motivated in training but isn’t so eager for it that they become frustrated (common with high value rewards like sugary treats). 

To use pumpkin in a training session, mix it with your other treats so that there’s some variety in the rewards. Use pumpkin cut into thumb-size bites for safe chewing and swallowing. 

4. Pumpkin Noodles on a Browse Toy

This pumpkin enrichment activity takes a little more effort since you’ll need a spiralizer or noodle maker, but it’s worth it for the fun!  Remove the seeds and strings and slice away the rind from a slice of pumpkin, then run it through a veggie noodle maker. One serving of pumpkin will make a LOT of bright orange, tasty noodles. 

Gently fit the noodles into a browse board like this swinging bucket browse toy or a DIY cardboard browse feeder. Then watch your horse enjoy practicing their dexterity and coordination while munching on healthy pumpkin noodles. 

Browsing is an often-overlooked equine feeding behavior. Encouraging browsing with enrichment lets your horse experience natural behaviors and provides mental stimulation. 

5. Pureed Pumpkin on a Licking Board for Horses

Here’s a way to use pumpkin that doesn’t involve slicing up an entire giant orange squash. Pumpkin puree is available at all times of the year but is everywhere in certain regions during fall. It makes an easy spread for a lickable, slurpable enrichment activity for your horse. 

Licking boards or smear boards are flat items made of silicone or plastic. You add a puree or smear like honey, peanut butter, or applesauce and your horse enjoys the enrichment like a lollipop. There’s lots of licking and lipping as the horse gets all of the tasty spread. 

It’s a very relaxing activity that can keep a horse occupied or reduce anxiety. Pumpkin makes a great licking board treat for horses who shouldn’t have higher-sugar spreads like molasses or honey. 

Pumpkin is one of the most versatile enrichment foods out there. With one pumpkin you can encourage so many behaviors and provide days of variety, boredom busting, and mental stimulation for your equine friend! 

Have you used any of these enrichment ideas with pumpkin? How did it go? We want to hear your enrichment stories so add a comment below!