Have you seen horse toys here or in a stable and wondered if they are safe for your horse? You’re asking the right questions! Can you have both fun AND safety with horse enrichment?
Are Toys Safe For Horses? Is Horse Enrichment Safe?
Horse enrichment is safe if you use the right type of toy or puzzle in the right way. Most of the time, horse toys, boredom busters, and puzzles are not just safe, they’re fun!
Keeping safety in mind when you buy a new toy or make a DIY project for your horse to enjoy is very important. The item you buy has to be horse-grade and made of safe materials. You have to use the right supplies to make DIY enrichment.
It’s also important for your horse to use the enrichment you give them in the right way and the right place.
Is Horse Enrichment Dangerous?
Equine enrichment is wonderful but it’s very important to make and use toys and puzzles safely. Horse enrichment that isn’t made with safety in mind can cause accidents.
Choosing the wrong toy or special item for the stall or pasture can have bad results. It’s rare, and most enrichment never causes a problem. But horses are accident-prone.
Making toys and providing enrichment for your horse is a lot like toy safety for other pets or even kids. You have to make sure they can’t play too rough and hurt themselves, damage a toy and make it sharp or dangerous, or swallow something they shouldn’t.
Are Toys Safe for Horses?
Most toys are safe for horses. But there are some things to watch out for. Toys made for humans usually aren’t strong enough for horses. And toys made for dogs or cats may not be big enough for your horse to use.
Also, each horse is an individual! Think about kids on a playground: some of them play quietly and never seem to get hurt, while others use the playground for wild and reckless play. When you use horse enrichment, you’ll learn how your horse usually uses toys and how sturdy they need to be.
How to Keep Horse Enrichment Safe
While encouraging natural equine behaviors, it’s important to know how to assess risk and plan for safety. You know that horses are accident magnets, so creating enrichment opportunities that balance behavioral needs with safety is crucial.
If that sounds complicated, don’t worry! It’s not that hard. And the benefits of enrichment far outweigh the risks!
There are a few basic steps you can take to make sure your enrichment is safe.
On every article on this site, you’ll find safety concerns listed at the bottom so you know what to watch out for. Make sure you read to the end when planning a DIY or reading a horse toy review to get all the safety info!
Use your common sense in the stable and don’t give unsupervised enrichment until you are very sure that it’s safe for your unique horse. Some toys are meant to be used in the pasture or stall unattended. The Equi-Essentials Hay Play forage feeding ball or Lickit horse stall toy are great for this. Other toys might be safe after you watch your horse carefully several times as they use it.
Lastly, if you want all the info about using horse toys, puzzles, and other enrichment safely…we have a book!
Safe Equine Enrichment is an ebook covering all parts of safe enrichment design from start to finish.
What materials are best for horse toys? How should you attach a rope? What is psychological safety? And how do professionals design and use enrichment that doesn’t cause safety problems?
Yes, this is a plug for you to buy a book – full disclosure on that! Safe Equine Enrichment was written with a goal of making horse toys safer for horses and their people. It has all the ins and outs of enrichment safety in one spot on your device.
If you’re serious about giving your horse an enriched life, it’s a well-spent five dollars – or totally free on Kindle Unlimited! It’s also a small but simple way to support Enriching Equines and our mission of making enrichment a part of life for horses everywhere.