# new donkey needs stimulation



## Doc (Jun 5, 2003)

We just welcomed a new mini-donkey as a companion to our miniature horse. The donkey, Cleo, is amazingly smart (smarter than our previous donkey) and needs a lot of stimulation.

A friend suggested setting up toys in the barnyard and that would be great. Figured donkey lovers on this forum would offer suggestions and ideas.

She's full of mischief and gets into everything and we hope the mental stimulation will help with the destruction.

?????


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## bergere (May 11, 2002)

They do like to play and are very smart. LOL

Here are a few kinds of horse toys.
http://www.valleyvet.com/ct_search_results.html?gas=Horse toys


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## dkrabec (Apr 5, 2012)

My mom has a donkey that I made some toys for he gets into everything too. I put rocks, and bells in milk jugs left a few on the ground and a couple hanging he likes to pick up the jug shake it and chase the horses. Gave him some old towels to carry around, a jolly ball, a tarp just left it on the ground for him to carry around, barrel he pushes it around. I filled some empty feed bags with pine needles and tied the top closed he likes to drag that around. We just put the stuff in a pile and showed it him it was like he understood the stuff was for him and he went to town dismantling the pile and spreading his toys around like a little kid. Now my mom just leaves the stuff wherever he puts it and he goes around playing with his toys. My mom just cannot leave anything out that she does not want him to get to. He even tried to walk in the house one day when she left the door open for a minute.


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## jennigrey (Jan 27, 2005)

A plastic barrel would be good - a 25 or 55 gallon. A traffic cone. Maybe a basketball. My mares aren't interested in playing with toys. They don't really manipulate their environments. Maybe they just don't have much imagination. The Icelandic gelding, however - everything is a toy with him. He will mess with anything new in his environment, to see if it has any entertainment value. His all-time favorite toy is a traffic cone.


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## Doc (Jun 5, 2003)

Thanks for the suggestions. I'll use some of these straight away.

Today, she ripped off paper stapled to the wall and ate it. She is also tearing away wood from the barn door and 4x4s.


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## jennigrey (Jan 27, 2005)

Dismantling things might trump playing with hard-to-destroy toys. You might want to reconsider your horsekeeping situation and keep the donk away from the barn.


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## Doc (Jun 5, 2003)

That's too bad because the set up we have means that the mini horse would have to stay away from the barn. In fact, she's taken over his spot. He hasn't shown any interest in her at all (she has tried to eat his food and he doesn't do anything about it -- I do! but I can't be there every minute -- we have other animals that need attention).

Is there any limit on the time it takes for one equine to accept another? In the meantime, she is eating the wood everywhere in the barn area. I noticed pulled splinters even in the 2x4s, everywhere, not just IN the barn but outside, too.

How do we stop that??


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