NEWS
& ARTICLES :
HORSING
AROUND!
(originally
published in PetFolio magazine)
What can horses teach us about the benefits
of play? You may be surprised!
Do you ever think of horses as playful creatures?
How about genuine humorists? If not, well, think
again! One of the things horses love most is
to play, and many times it seems that they enjoy
creating impromptu schemes and mock scenarios – something
you wouldn't normally think of when you envision
horses. Considering they are prey animals, it
could even be called far-fetched. We have proof
of this phenomenon, however, and if you don't
believe me, our horses will prove it to you!
Horses are creatures designed to be active nearly
20 hours of every day. In the wild they spend
the bulk of their time foraging. Even so, they
will make some time for play when they can. Because
of their nature to stay constantly busy, horses
in captivity can become quite bored. The horses
who have daily jobs are usually a lot more content
than those who don't, because it satisfies some
or all of this need. Horses who live in box stalls
are usually the most at risk for developing problematic,
negative behaviors that come from stress and
boredom include cribbing, weaving, wood chewing,
digging, pacing, nervousness and aggressiveness,
to mention a few. We'd like to avoid letting
any of these get started, because they can be
difficult or impossible to eliminate. Pastured
horses have the most natural environment, so
they are at the least risk of developing these
types of so-called "stereotypical behaviors".
Unfortunately, many horses don't have pastures.
Enter the element of play, or shall we call
it, self-amusement! Getting out of the stall
or pen, and getting plenty of turn out, or play
time with other horses, is helpful. Many horses
(not all) will also play with toys. Not only
do they enjoy chewing on unusual things, they
are very curious and enjoy exploring. They even
engage in interactive play using toys with other
horses in unexpected ways. Sometimes they play
tug of war, fetch or chase, and sometimes there
are mock wars over preferred toys. One of our
horses seems to enjoy attacking the toy, jumping
on it, stomping it, and flinging it around. We
provide toys within each horse's living area
also so that the opportunity for healthy amusement
is always available.
Here are some examples of toys we've used or
seen: balls of every size and texture (not too
small or fragile, though); traffic cones of various
sizes; tires (no steel belts, please), both plain
and cut to resemble flowers or flatter discs;
old sections of hose, tied in a knot on the fence;
rubber feed tubs or pieces of rubber mats; long,
nylon braids, or ropes of various lengths with
and without knots; dog Kong toys, and other non-destructible
large dog toys. For safety sake, we always try
to make sure that the toy cannot be swallowed,
or torn to shreds and eaten. We also make sure
there are no parts that come off, or that are
sharp or terribly hard because of the games the
horses play together.
A dear friend of mine who is an excellent instructor
and international clinician, and has been involved
with horses nearly all of her life, was astonished
to see our horses playing with toys during turnout.
She had never witnessed horses interacting with
toys and each other in such a distinctly, purely
playful way. Evidently, not everyone has such
playful horses as we do. But we have found that
they all seem to be much happier and content
when they have their friends and their toys to
play with. What a fabulous source of entertainment
for us, too!
Now, I don't really know how we could prove
it, but I'll bet that if someone could ever invent
an I.Q. test for horses, we'd find that those
who play actually learn better in training. Maybe
it has something to do with being happier and
thus, more receptive to the teaching. I'm also
sure we could learn a thing or two about how
to better teach our horses, if we remember their
love of play. Make training fun!
©2006 by CentaurGenics®. All rights reserved.
