Ball Feeder

I've never tried one of these, just gave old juice or milk jugs to my "busy" horses as disposable play toys and it works.However 2 months ago, I took my seasoned gelding and my two-year-old reining colt on a ten-day long trip to hit two shows. My horses are regularly turned out most of the day, weather permitting, so hauling 5 hours one way for a 10-day stall marathon and all kinds of new "traffic" was a big deal for the colt, who hadn't been away from home since he was weaned. Needless to say, he got a little goofy and stressed even with regular exercise.A friend of mine had one of these for her young mule and it was super for keeping him busy. We went on a feed store outing and came across one so I decided to try it. The colt started playing with it as soon as I put it in his stall and emptied all of the treats out of it rolling it in his stall for several hours at a time. Between my colt and the mule rolling their treat balls, our aisle was the noisiest, but happy equines.The ball obviously came home with us and he still plays with it in his stall at home when in overnight, even though he has free choice hay. It works his brain, keeps him from pawing his door or being an irritating two-year-old when inside, and I think if I put it in his pasture, he'd play with it outside as well.I've seen the reviews where people have shown smashed ones that their horses destroyed overnight, bit in half, flattened, whatever, and all I can say is that those balls must have been defective or there must have been a draft dragon playing with them because this colt is not nice to his and it only shows some teeth marks around the opening. I also purchased one for a 17h hunter gelding that had led a stressful stall life as a baby and was a cribber as a result. In my open-air barn, with back and front doors for him to look out of, given his treat ball, he plays with that and doesn't crib. Again, he's a big boy, no idea where his feet are right now and isn't nice to his ball, but he still hasn't killed it. I sent that horse to my trainer where the cribbing returned, so I ordered another toy for him, so the trainer didn't have to deal with refilling the ball, etc, but he has continued to crib without it.This was a great investment in two situations for me, I just wish they were a little less expensive and maybe more color choices. With several horses in the barn, it would be nice to have several different colors to match with the horses so there was no cross contamination if the balls were switched with a horse I didn't own.

The media could not be loaded.  She spent a week or two attacking it but as you can see in the video she has developed a gentle refined technique of rolling it backwards which is great exercise. I wanted something that would help her mimic grazing, I guess this sort of does, just in reverse! I put flax treats and peanuts in the shell in. Both came out too fast, so I also put a loose handful of hay in. It helps to make it a little more difficult for the treats to dispense. It takes a minute to fill and she'll roll it actively for about 30 minutes to get most of the treats out. As it starts to empty it gets harder to get treats out and she usually loses interest with a few still in. When mud season arrived I started putting it in a large empty stock tank and that has worked well also. She mostly leave it in and is able to get it completely empty more easily in the tank. I check and refill it every day. When we get rain or when there was snow the flax treats would get wet and slimy so I'd make a point to get it completely empty before refilling. Agree with other reviews that there's a lip inside the hole that makes it very difficult to get the last few treats out and you'll want to monitor to make sure they aren't festering in there.

I fill the ball with animal crackers, and this little donkey becomes Pele. He can kick it with his front and back feet and toss it around with his nose. He'll kick any of his friends that try to play with it. They follow him around and watch for any animal crackers he misses. I would highly recommend this product, especially for the human entertainment factor.

This product appears to be well made (durable enough for horse play ;-) and is a nice price. For these reasons I gave it three stars. However, I do not like the "lip" that protrudes into the ball all around the exit hole. As the ball rolls, the last treats in the ball are caught by the lip and prevented from falling out, frustrating the horse. When my Quarter Horse mare gets frustrated, she gives up. When my Mustang gelding gets frustrated, he tends to destroy things. Not a pretty sight. :-\So, if you get this ball, you will need to use dry treats (instead of pieces of fresh carrot or apple) because you will need to fill it at least half full (which is a lot of treats!), and take it away before it gets anywhere near empty to avoid horsey frustration. However, if you prefer to offer just a few fresh treats, then consider getting a Nose It! ball (also sold on Amazon). It does not have the interior lip problem. But, be forewarned, it is three times the price and the hole is just large enough for horses to damage slightly with their teeth if you leave it in with them when its empty (and your horse is like my Mustang). I don't think the Shires Ball will have that problem due to its rounded edge around the hole (ie, the "lip"). So, everything's a compromise.Also, be forewarned that the Shires Ball comes in a variety of colors and the one in the photo may not be the one you get. I had to return mine for that reason, as I wanted purple, but received pink. Horses see colors in the blue (purple) and yellow spectrum better than red (pink). If color matters to you, make sure the seller will send you the color you want before you order.

having seen this item for horses i thought i would order one for my daughters horse he loves it, it is difficult to get the treats out if they are too big but he knew what to do with it straight away, it made him think and occupied him, it's a great tool for hourses

At first I thought it might be a waste of money as it probably won’t get used, but I was very wrong ! My mini horse loves it, she sees me walking over to her with it and gets excited. It has stopped her pacing around as much which is a bonus.Thanks.

After losing our 35 year old horse in early Jan 2019 we wanted his mate to have a range of activities to help him get over grief.This treat ball has helped a lot and keeps him engaged and interested.

Took a week for her to learn how to use it but she loves it now.

This purchase was a back-up to a previous treat ball we purchased.Service and product excellent.Good price and sturdy product.