Scattering hay is a SUPER easy way to start equine enrichment with your horses! It’s basically free (except the cost of hay, but you would be buying that regardless of how you feed it). You don’t have to buy any fancy toys or slow feeders. You don’t have to risk a DIY project that may or may not turn out as planned (#pinterestfail). All you have to do is scatter the hay into piles throughout the horse’s enclosure.
What is Equine Enrichment?
Zoos and animal preserves have been engaging in environmental enrichment for their animals for years, but it still hasn’t caught on in horse keeping yet, which is crazy considering how often we see unhappy horses in boarding stables throughout the U.S. Vices like weaving and cribbing are all too common, and horses are often left in stalls or small paddocks with little to NO enrichment whatsoever for their entire sad existences.
Equine enrichment is basically the idea that your horse’s environment should be mentally stimulating. We should do our best to make sure our horses have environments that are interesting to them. If you’ve ever had a horse recovering from injury or on stall rest, you know how important it is to keep them from getting bored. Why shouldn’t we approach all horse keeping like this?
Why is Equine Enrichment Important?
Equine enrichment is important, because horses are curious intelligent animals, and they deserve to have thoughtful care put into their environments and enclosures. Your horse spends practically its whole life in a stall, paddock or pasture. Why shouldn’t we make those areas enjoyable?
In the wild (and in domestic life), horses have an urge to forage. They would like to spend their day moving from place to place to find the best morsels of forage. In the wild, they might cover 20 miles in a day or more. Even if we don’t have large wide-open-ranges or big pastures, we can still mimic this lifestyle for our horses in a number of ways. From slow feeders to scattering hay, our horses will thank us in their improved wellbeing, contentment and happiness.
Satisfies the Seeking System (Foraging)
Scattering hay is one of my new favorite ways to include equine enrichment in my horse’s everyday care and husbandry. I’m in Idaho, so I can only do this on days when it’s not SUPER windy. Scattering their hay only takes a few minutes, and they usually follow behind me, checking each pile as I put it down.
When your horse can walk from hay pile to hay pile, their seeking system is being activated. All animals (even humans) have a seeking system. A healthy seeking system is indicative of a happy and healthy animal, so why shouldn’t we encourage it? Horses are natural foragers, so the ability to go from one pile to another and move around during their meals is wonderful for them, mentally and physically.
Stimulates Your Horse’s Mind
Scattering hay piles as a form of equine enrichment stimulates your horse’s mind. Rather than just throwing your horse’s hay into the same spot every day, this is a great way to get their minds working. You might even “hide” some piles, so they will really have to search for it. Spend a little time after you throw the hay just watching your horses, and you’ll see how much they love this feeding system.
You might even notice that your horse has a favorite spot to eat from. I know both of my horses like to start in different places when I scatter their hay. This is also a great way to feed herds, especially if you have older horses or horses that may get bullied at feeding time.
Make it Interesting
You can make scattering hay more interesting by hiding a few treats like carrot pieces in some of the piles. This will really get your horses engaged in the activity. There are virtually endless opportunities to create equine enrichment for your horses in simple everyday husbandry activities.
Scattering Hay as a Boredom Buster
Scattering hay is also a great way to reduce boredom. No matter how big your horse’s enclosure is, whether it’s a large pasture or a tiny paddock, you can make things interesting. Horses in smaller enclosures are most in need of environmental enrichment. They may not have a lot of space to move around, but you can do your best to optimize the amount of room they do have.
If you have a large pasture, you may want to scatter hay far and wide. It really just depends on how far you want to hike and whether or not you have a lot of hay to carry. Maybe you have a four-wheeler or some other little vehicle to carry hay, and you can really spread those piles out. Again, the potential options for creating enrichment for your horses are endless, and they don’t have to be expensive. They can be free, cheap and DIY.
Equine Enrichment Makes Horses Happy
At the end of the day, equine enrichment makes horses happy. Don’t we all love our horses and want them to be happy and content and fulfilled in their lives? Are we really doing our best? They do so much for us. They carry us anywhere we ask, and they’d do just about anything for us. Let’s return the kindness through activities like equine enrichment. Sure, the time we spend with them may be incredibly fun and enriching, but what about the rest of their days and nights?
Equine enrichment can be easy, and you can start tomorrow! Just scatter your horse’s hay in multiple piles in their paddock, and watch to see how much fun they have going from one to the next.
If you want more equine enrichment ideas, make sure to check out a few of my other blog posts and videos.
Here’s the DIY Slow Feeder Tutorial I made. It’s SUPER cheap and a quick project anybody can do, whether you’re handy or not. No tools required! (Just a few items, and hay string of course.)
Here’s my review of the Shires Ball Feeder. This is a really cool feeder ball that you can put grain or treats into, and your horse has to roll it around to get the food to come out. Think of it as a big Kong toy for horses.
Here’s my CHEAP and QUICK Horse Boredom Buster. It also works as a slow feeder for grain, and WILL keep your horse occupied and out of your hair while you get work or chores done around the pasture.
Do you have any cool DIY Equine Enrichment hacks? If so, PLEASE tell me about them in the comments.
Until next time, Happy Trails!
you use good words!
Thank you!!