# Hay net on the ground?



## Cathartes caballus (Feb 19, 2015)

I have a situation that I'm hoping to get some insight on. 

My horse is kept in a 40'x40' corral with a 3-sided run-in and pipe panels. I started using a hay net as a slow feeder towards the end of the summer. I've been using a full bale Freedom Feeder with 1" holes. I've been putting it in a large tire feeder with one end of the net bolted to the bottom of the feeder with a locking D ring. 

The set up has worked really well for us and I've been glad that my horse has 24 hor access to food, especially on those cold nights that can get below -20°F. The problem is that because of the way he eats he is rubbing his legs against the rubber and hair is getting rubbed off his knees. This has been going on for awhile but we just recently figured out that the feeder was doing it. 

We first tried to just cut the feeder down to make it easier for him to eat but he's still rubbing. My trainer mentioned something about wrapping his knees but it seems to me that the thing to do is to get rid of the tire feeder. 

So I've been considering these options:

1. Tie the net to the fence as suggested by the manufacturer. I don't love this idea because I'm trying to avoid him having to twist his head to the side to eat. But I'll do it if it ends up being the best option. 

2. Get a plastic or metal feeder big enough for the full bale. I'm pretty sure it's the rubber material that's the problem but I'm kind of shying away from the idea of the expense of another feeder.

3. Secure it to a weight or a stake. Really the only thing the feeder is doing is giving me something to attach the net to. It's only anchored at one point and he flips it out and paws at it and steps all over it anyway. So theoretically I could attach it to anything to give the same effect.

4. Just offer the net on the ground. This is the idea I'm liking the best. I've heard of other people doing this so maybe it's a perfectly ok thing to do...? I'm not worried about him destroying it per say; he steps on it and paws at it and does things with it as is and it has held up fine. I'm more worried about it getting lost than anything else. It's not a big deal when it's full but when it starts to get less than half full I'm sure it will travel a lot. Maybe there are other issues I haven't thought of? 

Maybe I'm over thinking this. Okay I probably am. I'm very tempted to go out there tomorrow and just throw the net on the ground get the tire out of there. It's the easiest solution. But I thought I'd ask first to see if others have done this and how it has worked out. 

Thanks so much!
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## secuono (Jul 6, 2011)

I use 2in hay nets, I toss them onto the ground. But my large pony and both of my minis do NOT have shoes. 

3in and the mini foot would fit into the hole. 

Issues is with shoes, with them pooping and peeing onto the hay in the net. Other than that, I haven't seen any issues so far. 

You can hang the net low to the ground on a post, just so they can't pick up the net and run off with it. My minis have done that, take the hay net with them to some other area for no apparent reason. I've seen them do it, lift with their teeth, carry it off and then drop to feed in a new area....Horses are weird.


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## Cathartes caballus (Feb 19, 2015)

secuono said:


> I use 2in hay nets, I toss them onto the ground. But my large pony and both of my minis do NOT have shoes.
> 
> 3in and the mini foot would fit into the hole.
> 
> ...


Thank you for your response. My horse is barefoot and full-sized, so I don't think there should be any hoof-on-net issues. 

He might pee on it. That seems like something he might do. 

The post is a good idea, but I would have to put one in and the ground here will be frozen at least until April.

I guess the thing to do might be just to try it with no additional modifications aND then try a different option if it doesn't work...
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## Cathartes caballus (Feb 19, 2015)

It just occurred to me that I could lose it in the snow after a heavy snowfall. I still don't know where his Jolly ball got to... hopefully it's buried in the one drift he hasn't torn apart yet. 

Maybe I'll just tie it to the bottom of the panels at the post so it's anchored but on the ground.
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## Smilie (Oct 4, 2010)

I hang my slow feeder hay nets
I am also fairly tall, so can hand them on the posts I have modified in the dry lott to do so.
However, when I am gone, the person who looks after our place and the horses, would not be able to hang those slow feeder nets, intended for an entire square bale, which I fill with either loose hay, or parts of a square bale, for over night
Thus, since neither Charlie or Smilie is shod, I have her just put them on the ground.
At the same time, my dry lot has had all top soil removed, replaced with crushed gravel, and I clean it daily.
I also have two large inverted tractor tire feeders, and give both horses a few flakes of hay in them, thus with easy access, so they are never 'desperate', far as those slow feeder nets


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## Smilie (Oct 4, 2010)

Cathartes caballus said:


> It just occurred to me that I could lose it in the snow after a heavy snowfall. I still don't know where his Jolly ball got to... hopefully it's buried in the one drift he hasn't torn apart yet.
> 
> Maybe I'll just tie it to the bottom of the panels at the post so it's anchored but on the ground.
> _Posted via Mobile Device_


 Be careful doing that, so the horse does not get caught up in any rope , tying that hay net down.
I don't use slow feeder nets in winter, but then I have lots of forage in my pastures, so even my IR horse only gets a small serving of hay, and has to work for the rest
It is my 'slow feeder' paw in the snow solution, LOL!


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## Cathartes caballus (Feb 19, 2015)

Smilie said:


> Be careful doing that, so the horse does not get caught up in any rope , tying that hay net down.
> I don't use slow feeder nets in winter, but then I have lots of forage in my pastures, so even my IR horse only gets a small serving of hay, and has to work for the rest
> It is my 'slow feeder' paw in the snow solution, LOL!


Yes... tricky. I have an idea to anchor it tightly without any long ends or loops.
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## CaliforniaDreaming (May 8, 2011)

I tie my mare's hay nets into the feeder tub by looping the rope through a hole in the side, and then through open drain hole and then they clip to the bottom of the bag. That way she can't flip them out, as she's shod. I dislike hanging the bags for her, because she does much better when she eats head down.

Never did try the Freedom Feeder on the ground with my barefoot gelding. But then when I did try the Freedom Feeder, he was still on full care, so needed it to be set up on the fence in a way that the feeder guys could just toss the hay in.

Since moving him to self-care, I tried the Busy Horse bag, and the Nibble Net. Like the Freedom Feeder, Mr Destructo finally just clobbered them all to bits. Finally just bought him a porta-grazer now, can't keep replacing those bags with the costs that they are.

I did consider a hay pillow. That might be something to consider?


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## whisperbaby22 (Jan 25, 2013)

Can you buy a big rubber water tank? I think those are available just about anywhere. Just drill some holes on the bottom and attach the net there.


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## Cathartes caballus (Feb 19, 2015)

Thanks for the comments. I can buy another feeder but I want to avoid rubber because I think that's what tearing up his legs. I will try plastic or metal if it comes to it. 

This morning I went out and tethered it to one of my fence posts near the bottom. I used paracord to tightly lash a locking D ring to the post. Now I can just use the D ring on the bag and attach it to the D ring on the post. Same mechanism as before, just attaching it to the post instead of the feeder. No rope to get tangled in. 

The paracord is pretty strong and tripled around the D ring. If it starts to come loose I'll try replacing it with cable. 

Hopefully it will work. At least I got the rubber feeder out of there to save his legs.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## whisperbaby22 (Jan 25, 2013)

I was talking about a 110 gallon stock tank. I don't know if this would be big enough for you, but I'm thinking that the reason your horse is rubbing is because the tire is to big for him, and he has to reach to get at the hay. Unless the horse is a small pony, this tank should work. Or unless your horse just rubs against it even though the hay is easy to reach.


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## Cathartes caballus (Feb 19, 2015)

whisperbaby22 said:


> I was talking about a 110 gallon stock tank. I don't know if this would be big enough for you, but I'm thinking that the reason your horse is rubbing is because the tire is to big for him, and he has to reach to get at the hay. Unless the horse is a small pony, this tank should work. Or unless your horse just rubs against it even though the hay is easy to reach.


Thank you. 

Yeah the first thing we did was cut the tire down to make sure the rim was nice and low. I did that a couple of weeks ago and the rub marks only got worse. Then last night when I was down there hauling water I saw him doing it. He likes to paw at the net, which I knew. But when he puts one foot in the other leg rubs up against the side.
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## CaliforniaDreaming (May 8, 2011)

whisperbaby22 said:


> I was talking about a 110 gallon stock tank. I don't know if this would be big enough for you, but I'm thinking that the reason your horse is rubbing is because the tire is to big for him, and he has to reach to get at the hay. Unless the horse is a small pony, this tank should work. Or unless your horse just rubs against it even though the hay is easy to reach.



Kinda like this, eh? I tie the nets down into the bag so they can't be pulled out. She doesn't really need them for "slow feeding" but she's been tossing hay and not eating it all because of the mud, and California hay bales are $$$$ mg:










I just switched her out today for the smaller rubber feed tub my gelding was using since his porta-grazer arrived, and I wanted the big tub for the other side of his paddock to put his rolling treat toy into.

And just to show what he's got:


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## Skyseternalangel (Jul 23, 2011)

I hang mine up, and have a short rope for the bag to "hang on". Before I was just tieing the rope up but it wasn't secure. Someone helped me out by showing me if you clip a karabeaner (sp) to the bag and then clip it to some bailing twine you have tied up higher, it'll stay put all day.

I like your idea as well, but just another idea. If you DO have a rope, you can keep the karabeaner on the rope and slot it through the bailing twine tie and then reclip the karabeaner to the bottom of the hay net, so it creates a closed loop. It's also very secure.


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## kenda (Oct 10, 2008)

Here's mine. It's one of those blue water barrels cut in half with holes drilled in the bottom to let water out and to put the twine through that holds the net on the bottom.


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## whisperbaby22 (Jan 25, 2013)

A lot of good ideas here, but this horse is likely to rub on anything because of the way he is standing. Hope that you figure this out. One possible solution would be to attach the net to a stall mat. This may cause other problems, but may be something to consider. CaliforniaDreaming, I would be interested to know how you like your porta feeder a few months down the road.


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## Cathartes caballus (Feb 19, 2015)

Thank you all for your comments. I love seeing the pictures of your slow feeders. 

I will invest in a different feeder container if it comes to that. However, I strongly suspect that my horse will be better off if I can make feeding him without a container work, and I'd rather not invest in another feeder unless I know it's the best option.

As an aside, he used to have a wall-mounted feeder. The metal kind with a rack and a feeding trough. It came with my corral and I thought it was a nice feeder so I left it up. I took it down for a variety of reasons, including wanting to get him working in a head-down position and trying a slow feeder. But one of the things he was doing was he was beating his face up on it. He would drop hay on the ground, bend over to pick it up, then cut himself on the corners of the feeder when he raised his head again. Maybe feeders just aren't his thing?

Whisper: I like your suggestion about using a stall mat as weight. I don't have a stall mat so that is something I would have to purchase. I have considered getting a weight plate (like the kind you use on a barbell) and tying it to that. I don't think this solves the problem of it getting lost after a heavy snowfall, though. 

Here are some photos of what I did this morning. I went back out after lunch and check on it. The shape of the net had changed and it was much flatter, so I'm sure he's been stepping all over it. Otherwise it seemed okay.

The red string is paracord that is used as a drawstring to close the hay net. It's not attached to anything else or looped. In the second photo you can kind of see the hair loss on his knees and just below.


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## whisperbaby22 (Jan 25, 2013)

What you have there may work. Because you only have it attached at one point, there should be no problems. These nets are best attached at only one point, because attaching at two points can tangle a horse up. I suspect that it is flatter because the horse is eating all along it, he may not be stepping on it, but you would have to sit and watch for a while to really see what is going on. And yes, some horses just do not do well with certain feeders. It is well worth while to get something that works for both you and the horse.


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## Cathartes caballus (Feb 19, 2015)

whisperbaby22 said:


> What you have there may work. Because you only have it attached at one point, there should be no problems. These nets are best attached at only one point, because attaching at two points can tangle a horse up. I suspect that it is flatter because the horse is eating all along it, he may not be stepping on it, but you would have to sit and watch for a while to really see what is going on. And yes, some horses just do not do well with certain feeders. It is well worth while to get something that works for both you and the horse.


Thanks. I hadn't thought of the possibility of entanglement, but I did discover early on that attachment at two points allows the horse to really pull against the net in a different way and can cause tears. Which, if you read the directions, the manufacturer actually warns against...


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## Light (Mar 4, 2012)

I use an avocado bin and tie the net into the avocado bin. It is large and heavy enough that the horse cannot toss it around and it is low enough that she is eating in a natural position, yet not ingesting sand etc. I don't know if they have avocado bins in your area.


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## evilamc (Sep 22, 2011)

lightning said:


> I use an avocado bin and tie the net into the avocado bin. It is large and heavy enough that the horse cannot toss it around and it is low enough that she is eating in a natural position, yet not ingesting sand etc. I don't know if they have avocado bins in your area.


Wow that avocado bin is awesome looking! Where did you get yours? Grocery store give them out?


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## Light (Mar 4, 2012)

I am in California, so lots of farming going on etc. Actually the ranch supplied them for all the horses that board there. It used to have a metal grate on it that would slow down their eating but in one week my horse wore a huge groove in the front of her teethe so I had to do something else. I see them for sale on craigslist for anywhere from $50 to $100. The thing to be careful with is if you have a young destructive strong horse they can eventually break them by kicking etc. I have only seen one broken though in a ranch of 50 + horses. If they break they can leave a sharp edge.


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## CaliforniaDreaming (May 8, 2011)

Yep, that looks like California all right! Are you in SoCal, lightning?

I know some people who feed using avo bins, helps the horses live on an avocado farm (come to think of it, so do mine, but not the same one.)


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## Luv equins (Oct 10, 2014)

I have tossed mine on the ground. Mine works fine.


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## Light (Mar 4, 2012)

Yes, in Southern CA. Here in my area it isn't a good idea to feed on the ground due to sand colic being a real problem. Almost all the ground is sand.


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## CaliforniaDreaming (May 8, 2011)

Ah, down towards the Inland Empire then? Or Riverside-ish?

Not really too sandy up here, it's more clay/dirt but most people don't feed off the ground. I'm roughly 2-2.5 hrs north of L.A. (more depending on traffic, but once you get past Calabasas it's usually pretty clear sailing)


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## Saddlebag (Jan 17, 2011)

I used to toss mine over the fence and the retriever would fetch them. After the dog passed on I tied then to a fence post near the ground. No losing them that way. I do the same with the water containers as one horse seems to think running around the field with one is great sport. 1" holes are pretty small for a horse. Perhaps check his gums. Mine are 1,3/4" holes.


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## Light (Mar 4, 2012)

More south. Down in San Diego County. Everything here is sand. I would worry about my horse killing herself with the net if it was on the ground. I also have the one inch holes on the net and they work great for slowing down a chow hound.


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## Myboyz (Feb 1, 2016)

I have 2 horses that I free feed hay all day and the problem I was having is that they would poop/pee on it during the day and I had a lot of waste. I did find a hay feeder that lets them "graze" the hay and it takes them much longer with less waste. The problem is that it only feeds about 1/2 a bale in each feeder not a whole bale and they are rather pricey. It's called a Porta Grazer. I have had them for 2 years and they have held up really well.


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