Tips for things to do with an injured horse

I hope your sharer pony is back on the mend soon. My first thought here is that trick training might be worth a go. It is a brilliant way to work the horse mentally and still give her some form of stimulation, even though she cannot move about much. You can approach trick training in several ways. Personally, I find clicker training effective when it comes to teaching behaviours, because it makes it easy to reward exactly the right one.

Have you done any clicker training before, or perhaps the pony already knows it? It takes both timing and precision, so if you would like a hand with how to introduce the clicker, just ask.

Assuming the horse understands the clicker, which usually comes quickly if she does not already know it, here are a few tricks you could teach her. These do not ask much of her body either:

• Shaking her head
• Smiling
• Resting her head in your hand
• Nose targeting

Trick training is also great for building communication, and a good way to learn the horse's signals and how our body language affects them. Give me a shout if you would like an explanation of how to teach any of the tricks above.

Then, as an extra, you can enrich the paddock by giving the horse the chance to forage. Searching for food and eating it is a natural behaviour that horses actually spend 14 to 16 hours a day doing. Scattering a few pieces of carrot, or putting in some branches (from trees that are safe for horses), gives the horse a bit more to do.

Good luck! 🥰