What is "enrichment"?

Aren't HORSEBALLS® just toys?

Will my horse play with HORSEBALLS® products?

How do I get my horse started with a HORSEBALL®?

Are HORSEBALLS® dangerous?

Will my horse destroy HORSEBALLS® products?

What's the best way to use a Stallball in the stall?

What's the deal with the scents? Is scent that important?

Why is bounce so important?

Will the PasturePal Feeder cure my horse of cribbing?

Can I use more than one HORSEBALL® product with my horse?

What is “enrichment”?
Enrichment is the addition of products and strategies that add to or better the life of domestic and captive wild animal. HORSEBALLS® products are effective tools for adding exercise and boredom reduction to the lives of horses and other animals. HORSEBALLS® Products are used on farms, ranches, as well as zoos and wild animal sanctuaries. See some of the zoos and sanctuaries that use HORSEBALLS® Products. [back to top]

Aren’t HORSEBALLS® just toys?
At first glance, most people see Horseballs® as a fun toy - to play with in the pasture. HORSEBALLS® are a method of therapeutic recreation and provide a much needed physical outlet for horses. Because of their instincts, herd mentality, and fight/flight and grazing needs, horses were always running and moving. Now we have these wonderful animals stalled or in paddocks and fields. These horses now need to be stimulated in order for them to get rid of the energy that causes them to pick up stable vices (cribbing, digging, chewing, etc.).

Stalled horses especially need exercise. For that type of horse and that exercise need, we created the Eggbutt HORSEBALL®, a patented design. It is an oblong shaped ball that bounces erratically, offering a challenge to the horse. This challenge gives the horse the opportunity to develop coordination and social skills. It has an Eggbutt Snaffle Bit shaped handle. The Eggbutt is designed so that as you inflate the ball, the handle comes down closer to the body of the ball, and diminishes the chance of the horse trapping its hoof. There is just enough room for a horse to pick it up with their mouth.

The Eggbutt HORSEBALL® is also used in the pasture for exercise. If its used as a tool - given to the horse at the same time each day and taken away - it will become an anticipated method of exercise. If you just put it out and leave it, the HORSEBALLS® then becomes just another inanimate object. Not as exciting! The other product is the Two Bar Stallball®. It is a round ball that can be tethered inside - or outside the window of a horse's stall. Yellow is the most prevalent color in colorblindness, that's why we use this color and veterinarians often recommend yellow. All HORSEBALLS® are durable, made of very heavy grade polyvinyl. We guarantee them for thirty days.

We provide a video of horses from all over the country, showing how muscled and supple they are as a result of playing with the ball each day. It's not only getting rid of energy, HORSEBALLS® maintain suppleness in the neck and agility in the body and legs. and help to develop incredible muscles. If HORSEBALLS® are used correctly, the money saved, it you were to pay someone to exercise your horse each day, would be astronomical.

HORSEBALLS® won the People's Choice Award in England. We are serious about the development of safe recreation and exercise for horses, though we have fun! [back to top]

Will my horse play with HORSEBALLS® products?
Horses, by nature, are playful animals. Although some horses grow out of their playful ways, most horses have plenty of spirit and all horses have excess energy. Horses naturally look for ways to exert themselves and use up their energy. That’s why horses get into mischief and start stable vices. They get bored, yet they still have this excsee energy. HORSEBALLS® products are designed to safely and effectively use the horses’ excess energy through therapeutic recreation, thus reducing boredom and stable vices. [back to top]

How do I get my horse started with a HORSEBALL®?
As playful and energetic as horses are, it doesn’t take a lot to get them started with a HORSEBALL®. In fact, most horses take to HORSEBALLS® right away.

If your horse is one of the few that don’t “get it” right away, you can usually tease him into playing with the HORSEBALL®. It’s pretty easy to do. Just stand in front of your horse and hold the HORSEBALL®, either the Eggbutt™ or the Stallball®, and just wag the handle in front of his mouth. Eventually the horse will get the idea and take off with the HORSEBALL® in his mouth. Shortly your horse will be running, chasing and tossing his HORSEBALL® or bopping it around the stall. [back to top]

Are HORSEBALLS® dangerous?
If you’re not looking and your horse bops you with his HORSEBALL®, it could be dangerous. Seriously, all HORSEBALLS® products are designed with safety as the foremost feature. Function follows a very close second. Of course, anything a horse can put in its mouth is potentially dangerous. That’s why the Eggbutt™ and the Stallball® are inflated. First, being a big, hard, inflated ball makes it difficult for a horse to bite into it. The handles are heavy-duty enough to handle the force and the horses’ teeth. Second, if, for some reason, the HORSEBALL® gets damaged, it will go flat and you will immediately know that it has to be removed and replaced. Third, when it goes flat, the horse will usually lose interest in the HORSEBALL® and not play with it while it is damaged. In general, HORSEBALLS® products are NOT dangerous. [back to top]

Will my horse destroy HORSEBALLS® products?
The average horse weighs around 1000 lbs. They are active and playful. Horses can destroy virtually anything they want to. However, horses are also, generally, sweet animals that like to please. Most horses look forward to playing with their HORSEBALLS® and enjoy the activity involved. The most common wear point is the handle of the Eggbutt™ and the Stallball®. This is easily remedied with Sealtex® latex wrap wrapped around the handle. You can then cover the Sealtex with duct tape. SO, a horse CAN destroy any of the HORSEBALLS® products, but because of their design and use, horses rarely do destroy them. [back to top]

What’s the best way to use a Stallball in the stall?
The Stallball® is designed to be used specifically in the stall, but it can be used in the pasture as well. In the stall, the Stallball® can be hung or used freely. If you hang the Stallball®, make sure that you use cotton rope and that you make a firm knot. The Stallball® should be hung just above the height of the horse’s head. Hanging the Stallball® just outside the stall window works really well too.
The Stallball can be use freely in the stall as well, especially if the stall is larger than 10’ X 10’. The Stallball® is small enough not to take up space on the stall floor. But if you use the Stallball® properly, giving it to your horse for just an hour or two each day, it may not even touch the floor for very long. [back to top]

What’s the deal with the scents? Is scent that important?
Scents are very important. Horses are attracted to the smells that they are familiar with like our sweet scents, maple, molasses, and sugar cookie. These smell like the treats that horses are used to. Peppermint is one of those scents that just get a horse’s attention. There is an old cowboy trick for getting a horse to come to you. The old cowboys would take a peppermint candy in a wrapper and give it to their horse, making sure that the horse can hear the wrapper being taken of. The horse loves the peppermint candy and eventually becomes conditioned to come running for their peppermint when they hear the wrapper.

A horse will be equally attracted to the peppermint scent on the Eggbutt™ and the Stallball®. [back to top]

Why is bounce so important?
Bouncing excites horses. The Eggbutt™ and the Stallball, as well as the BigBall®, are designed to bounce. The Eggbutt™ bounces erratically which really challenges the horse. The horse will toss, kick, and chase the Eggbutt but won’t know exactly where the Eggbutt™ will land or bounce next. This provides hours of challenging, fun exercise and energy expenditure. It also helps to develop suppleness and coordination as the horse moves to get at the Eggbutt™. [back to top]

Will the PasturePal Feeder cure my horse of cribbing?
There are no guarantees, but many cribbing horses have had their attention diverted enough, using the PasturePal® Feeder, to stop cribbing. The PasturePal® Feeder works to keep the horse foraging for hours. This keeps the horse from wanting to do anything else but getting food. See our testimonial letters. [back to top]

Can I use more than one HORSEBALL® product with my horse?
HORSEBALLS® products work well together as part of an energy expending, boredom reducing, stable-vice prevention program. Many people use an Eggbutt™ in the pasture and a Stallball® in the stall. The PasturePal® Feeder works great in the stall in combination with the Eggbutt in the stall.

The Eggbutt™ works well to expend excess energy in the pasture and the stallball keeps a horse occupied in the stall. The PasturePal® Feeder keeps a horse well occupied in the stall as well. [back to top]

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