Feeding horses

I know we touched on this topic a few years ago, but recently someone was asking how to safely use a haynet.

I have mixed feelings about haynets. For instance, I know some people will say that there is less waste, but I’ve never had much luck in that regard. In fact, I have had horses that can enthusiastically pull all the hay out of the net and scatter it all throughout their stalls!

But there are occasions where we will use them for short periods of time at my farm.

Below are just a few tips to make it safer.

7 thoughts on “Feeding horses”

  1. Wendy Wolfe Cardarelli

    I just have a comment on a quick easy way to fill a hay net. I put my hay bag inside a clean muck bucket and drape the edges of the net over the edges of the much bucket. Then I just drop the desired amount of hay into the hay net which is in the bucket and pull the string of the hay net up and lift out of the muck bucket. Done!
    Another quick comment on attaching the hay net to the wall. I use a double ended clip on the string of the hay net. Put the string through the eye bolt (like you did), but then I pull down on the hay net and attach the other end of the clip to the ring on the bottom of the hay net or, if no ring, then to the middle of the bottom of the hay net.

    1. I love that idea with the muck bucket, Wendy! I will try that next time…as for the double ended clip, you’re so very right. It was only after we’d finished filming the video and I was editing it that I realized we hadn’t mentioned that.(I didn’t have one handy but I had meant to suggest that.) It’s a great safety feature for sure and I should have at least added something at the end…oops…thanks for catching that…I appreciate it.

  2. Judith Graves

    We have a hay stall in the barn, with 3 “s” hooks mounted on a wall, spaced about 10″ apart. We hang one loop of the hay net on a hook, stretch the hay net to each of the next hooks; then, pull the hay net open with one hand and drop hay into the net with the other hand. One of the “s” hooks is actually a luggage scale hook, so that as we release the net from the other hooks, we get a weight for the hay bag.
    Very useful with a laminitis prone pony whose hay has to be measured, then soaked.

    1. Thanks Judith. What a great idea. I’m always amazed at how people can think of solutions that make horses lives better.
      Thanks for sharing.
      Pat

  3. Walka M Wardell

    Thank you for sharing again Pat. All of this information is so very helpful as well as the responses. Wisdom is power ๐Ÿ™‚

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