Pool noodles can help you create some fantastic horse enrichment. They’re easy to find, great for reusing and upcycling, and simple to work with. This puzzle box uses pool noodles to add texture and challenge to your horse’s forage box. It’s a stall toy and horse enrichment that’s easy to make and fun for your horse.
Puzzle Box + Pool Noodles for Horses
This horse enrichment is simple but effective. It’s a cardboard forage box with a row of pool noodles through the top.
You add treats to the bottom of the box, and your horse solves the puzzle by sticking their nose between the soft, flexible pool noodles.
Horses find this box interesting and a little challenging. It’s a good entry-level puzzle feeder for horses because it takes a little thought and effort, but most horses figure it out quickly.
What Behaviors Does the Horse Pool Noodle Box Encourage?
Enrichment for horses is all about encouraging natural behaviors. Neither cardboard boxes or pool noodles are very natural, but that’s okay! When you make this easy DIY enrichment for your horse, they’ll get to enjoy:
- Foraging and food seeking
- Problem solving
- Fine motor skills
- Sensory behaviors like touch and smell
Why the Pool Noodle Box is Good Horse Enrichment
The pool noodle puzzle box is a great step up from the basic cardboard forage box. If your horse has fun with forage boxes but you want to introduce more challenge, this is the perfect enrichment.
The pool noodles create an interesting sensory experience for your horse as they push through them to find the treats.
The pool noodles don’t just roll out of the way – they stay in place and flex around your horse’s nose. It’s a unique sensation, and it’s perfect for horses who need more variety in their enrichment routine.
The pool noodles divide the box into sections. Your horse can’t just reach in and scarf up the food – they’ll have to figure out which “section” to stick their nose into in order to reach the goodies. This makes the pool noodle puzzle box good for encouraging problem solving.
The best part is that this horse enrichment item can be totally free! Quick to put together, super budget friendly, but behaviorally unique? You can’t ask for a better combination. Here’s how to make one:
What You’ll Need
- A cardboard box, no deeper than one foot high and about 18 in or more in length and width (see notes below)
- At least two pool noodles, more depending on the size of your box
- Treats, hay, pelleted feed or other edible options
How to Build the Pool Noodle Puzzle Box
Making this horse toy and stall enrichment couldn’t be easier. You only need a few supplies and a few minutes to create an enrichment item your horse can enjoy over and over.
Step 1. The Right Box
First, locate a suitable cardboard box.
Finding the perfect box is actually the toughest part of this project. It is very important that the box you choose be no more than about a foot high.
This is because you should insert the noodles near the top, but have the food reachable without the noodles touching the horse’s eye. A shallow box is best.
Your box should be less than one foot/0.3m high for best results. It shouldn’t be tall enough for your horse’s whole head to fit between the noodles and the bottom of the box.
The vegetable shipping box pictured is ideal: not too big, sturdy, with precut holes! The top flaps made the box too tall so I planned to cut those away.
The length and width of the box are up to you. The wider the box, the more flexible the noodles will be. The narrower the box, the less room the noodles will have to flex. For sensitive horses or those just figuring out how to use this kind of enrichment item, use a nice wide box so that little effort is needed to push the nose through the noodles.
Step 2. Pool Noodles for Your Horse Toy
Next, source enough pool noodles to install a line of noodles across the opening of the box. You will want about one pool noodle per 6 inches of box. You’ll cut any excess length off of your noodles, so if they are long enough you might be able to build two lengths from one noodle.
Pool noodles vary in width. For this box, the skinnier, cheaper noodle is best.
For more info on sourcing noodles for horse enrichment and why repurposing used noodles is something you should consider, check out the Five Ideas for Pool Noodle Enrichment.
Step 3. Mark and Cut the Noodle Holes
Mark the locations on your box where you are going to cut. If your cardboard box has holes or handles pre-cut, you can use those. Widen them with your knife as needed.
Using a serrated knife, cut openings just slightly smaller than the diameter of your noodles:
A serrated steak knife is the best tool for this job. It works far better than a box cutter at making curving cuts in cardboard.
You can either cut slits in an asterisk shape, or circles. The diameter of the holes or slits should be just smaller than your noodles so that the cardboard can grip the noodles, allowing them to flex without slipping out of the holes. The larger the holes or slits, the more flex the noodle will have.
Slip a length of noodle through the holes you’ve made and let it stick out a couple inches on either side. The length of noodles sticking outside the box will anchor it in place, and it also creates a bit of additional structure for the horse to nudge or pick up the box.
Step 4. Add Flex Cuts
When all the noodles are in place, check the amount of give by pushing your hand in between. Get a feel for how your horse’s nose will stick through the noodles. If it feels too snug or if the noodles don’t have enough flex, cut relief slits along the noodle as shown. As the horse pushes, these will open slightly and create more give and flex in the noodle.
Flex cuts in the noodle should be about 1/3 the noodle’s diameter in depth, and spaced every few centimeters/inches.
Step 5. Add Treats and Feed to Your Horse’s Pool Noodle Box
Now add your choice of treats or feed into the box. You can use any horse-safe treat or your horse’s daily feed.
For this first-time use, I wanted to keep the treats in the center of the box so I cut two additional lengths of noodle and stuffed them inside the box on the outer edges. This keeps the apple slices from slipping into the corners out of reach:
Where to Use the Pool Noodle Box for Horses
Your horse can use their pool noodle puzzle box stall or pasture. It’s a great stall enrichment and slow feeder for relieving boredom.
Always make sure that your horse is comfortable with their new toy before using it in an enclosed stall. You can do this by offering the puzzle box during pasture turnout or in an open arena the first few times so that the horse can make friends with it.
If your horse is unusually nervous of the pool noodle box or other enrichment items, check through this article on neophobia and how to overcome it.
The Pool Noodle Puzzle Box and Safety
For safety, supervise your horse carefully the first several times you use the pool noodle puzzle box. You’ll need to make sure they don’t attempt to eat the pool noodles instead of the treats.
The pool noodle puzzle box is a great stall enrichment item, but this toy is best used under supervision. In rare cases, bored or playful horses may bite or chew on the noodles. If that sounds like your horse, they should use this toy under supervision. Remove it from the stall or pasture when finished.
Related Enrichment
The pool noodle puzzle box is an easy upgrade from the basic cardboard forage box. It’s a great equine puzzle feeder and foraging enrichment. For similar ideas, try:
An Overview of Puzzle Feeders and Treat Feeder Toys for Horses