Q. Do you know of any kind of horse toy you can put in a stall that's hard for them to break? My gelding keeps popping or tearing every ball off the wall that I hang in his stall.

A. The only toy I've ever given one of my horses was an old broom handle suspended from a truss over the stall of a yearling. He had fun knocking it around with his nose for a while, but he got bored with it eventually. I wouldn't be inclined to give any sort of wooden toy to a horse with a history of wood chewing, though, such as your horse. You might try tossing a few pebbles into a gallon milk jug and hanging it in his stall. He might enjoy tossing that around a little, and the jugs are cheap and easy to replace if he destroys one. Just be certain he isn't actually trying to swallow any of the plastic. I'm afraid I don't know anything about the commercial horse toys on the market.

Of course, the easiest way to keep a stalled horse occupied is to make sure he has a constant supply of good quality grass hay. If your horse has a problem maintaining weight, the free-choice hay would offer two important benefits - keeping his mouth busy and adding extra calories to his diet.

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