Plastic Jar DIY Stall Toy for Horses [Easy] [Budget]

How to Make a Plastic Can DIY Hanging Stall Toy for Your Horse

Looking for a simple DIY horse toy and puzzle for your stalled (or pastured!) horse? This easy, boredom busting treat toy checks all those boxes! The upcycled canister food puzzle for horses is an easy, budget friendly DIY stall toy and enrichment item. It’s a lot of fun for your horse without a lot of effort. Let’s walk through this five minute horse enrichment toy, step by step. 

What is the Plastic Jar Toy for Horses? 

This easy horse toy is a treat feeder and puzzle all in one. It’s a repurposed food container like a peanut butter jar. You take the plastic jar, add holes in the right places, and hang it in your horse’s stall or out in the pasture.

Holes near the bottom dispense food or treats when your horse pushes or nudges the toy. The goodies fall out onto the ground or a food pan. 

Why is the Plastic Jar DIY Horse Toy Good for Horses? 

This food puzzle is a great toy for your horse! It’s good for relieving boredom and keeping stalled horses occupied and entertained. It also gives your horse a brain workout and mental stimulation as they figure out how to get the goodies from the plastic toy.

This easy DIY stall toy encourages coordination and fine motor control as your horse bumps, nudges, and pushes the canister to get the treats. 

Why is the Plastic Jar DIY Horse Toy a Good Toy for You?

This is a completely DIY stall toy! And it’s an easy horse toy to make. This puzzle feeder uses a repurposed plastic container like a peanut butter jar to hold the horse’s food. You just need to add holes for an attachment rope and for the horse treats to come out. 

So not only is it free, the DIY jar toy is easy and quick to make. If you’re using a drill, putting this horse enrichment puzzle together will take less than five minutes. If you’re using a knife or melting tool, it’s still very fast and easy.

Some horse enrichment involves purchasing readymade horse toys for your equine friend to enjoy. That’s great for some items and to add even more convenience. But to stretch your enrichment budget, adding DIY horse toys and enrichment is always a good idea. 

What Horse Behaviors does the DIY Can Food Toy Encourage? 

This plastic jar horse toy isn’t just fun, it encourages important natural behaviors. Remember, promoting your horse’s natural equine behaviors is what enrichment is all about! This is where all the benefits of enrichment come from. When you set this DIY stall toy up, it encourages your horse to:

• Look for food
• Browse for food items (seeking and eating food above grass level)
• Problem solve and figure out a puzzle
• Spend time engaged in a task
• Enjoy cause and effect play
• Move and play with the can as it swings around

How to Make the Plastic Jar DIY Stall Toy for Your Horse

Step 1. Find your jar.

You’ll need a plastic container with a screw-top lid for this DIY horse toy. It needs to be plastic because metal and glass aren’t safe horse enrichment choices. It should have that screw-on lid for easy opening to add treats.

 

I’m using a giant fish food container, but if you’re all out of giant fish, try a peanut butter jar or plastic jam jar. They’re almost the same size. Other options include canisters of protein powder, mixed nuts, or ground coffee (no metal cans). 

The plastic jar horse toy is a great DIY because you don’t have to purchase anything – if you don’t have anything that will work in your own kitchen, check the recycling bins at your school or workplace. Ignore the funny looks. If you see more than one, grab them all! There are ways to use several cans at once for an extra-exciting horse toy, so start building a stash! 

Remember to wash your canister well before use. 

Step 2. Mark the Holes for the Horse Treats

The location and size of the holes in the plastic jar treat feeder have a big impact on how the toy works. It’s best to put holes close to, but not right at, the bottom of the jar. You don’t want all the food to fall out on its own. Holes near the bottom mean that the horse has to nudge or push the jar just enough to tilt it, and then food will come out. 

So your holes also need to be the right size for the treats you plan to use. Smaller holes like this are best if you’re using pelleted feed or really small treats like shelled nuts. If you want to use bigger horse treats like apple chunks, make bigger holes. 

You can add the holes quickly and easily using a drill and hole saw. If you don’t have one at the barn, no worries. Just carefully cut holes using a knife or scissors (VERY carefully – it’s harder to get a hole started on the curved surface). 

Step 3. Add a Hole for the Rope

The best rope for securing this toy overhead is a horse lead rope. It’s thick, sturdy, and very safe. You can use other ropes, but I take safety seriously (seriously enough to write a book about it!) and recommend adding a hole in the lid big enough for the end of a cotton or nylon lead rope. 

It’s best to make a hole just big enough for the rope to enter. If you don’t have a hole saw to make a large hole, use a knife to cut a large X in the lid, and push the rope end through.

Stick the lead rope end through and tie a knot as shown. 

4. Check the Can and Take Care of Details

Check inside your plastic can for any loose bits of plastic. If there are rough edges around the holes, sand them down or run a sharp knife (carefully!) around the edges to remove sharp or pointed parts. 

Now it’s time to add the treats!

5. Add the Food

You can use any kind of food for this hanging treat toy for horses. Depending on the size of your can and the holes you add, your canister toy may hold a lot of goodies. Just remember to keep the amount within appropriate for your horse.

Also, leave some space in the can for the food to move around as your horse works on their puzzle. It’s the shifting and moving of the food inside the toy that brings the treats in contact with the holes. 

6. Decide where to use your canister treat toy and hang it up! 

You can use this horse toy in the stall or in the pasture. If using it in the stall, hang it at or slightly above the level of your horse’s withers. Tying it securely to an overhead beam is best so that the toy will swing freely. If you don’t have access to an overhead rafter, secure it to the wall. 

Make sure that your attachment point is high enough to be out of reach of your horse. Or, if your stall walls aren’t tall enough for this, install a horse tying ring and use that. Tying rings are designed to be secure and safe for horses and are much safer than an exposed nail. 

If you’re using this toy in the pasture, attach it to a sturdy tree limb or a wooden fence pole. Don’t attach this horse enrichment toy on or near a hotwire or metal T-post fence.

Put a pan beneath to catch the treats that fall out. Then you’re ready to invite your horse over to enjoy the fun!

Is the Hanging Can Treat Toy Safe for Horse Enrichment?

This toy is very safe for horse enrichment. It’s important to supervise your horse with new items and toys, though. Watch how your horse uses the toy to make sure that they’re comfortable with it and are able to get the food out without frustration. 

If your horse is new to items like this, you may need to introduce it slowly and in an open area. This is part of helping your horse not be scared of enrichment. Click here for the article on how to help a horse who is fearful of their toys. 

This toy uses safe enrichment design. If you want to get creative and add some variety to your canister toy, that’s a great idea! But do  keep safety in mind – if you haven’t read the $5 ebook “Safe Equine Enrichment” yet, here’s another plug. 

Related Enrichment

When your horse becomes a pro at their hanging plastic can feeder, you can try other toys for more variety! There’s a whole page of puzzle and treat feeder ideas that will keep your horse entertained and engaged. 

Equine enrichment that’s similar to this toy includes:

The Canister Treat Roller

Things on Strings browsing toys

Swinging Hay Toy

And if you’ve made this enrichment, we want to hear how it went!  Drop a comment and share!