# Haynet vs Hay on floor



## xRobyn (1 November 2010)

Obviously this varies depending on the person. How many people have decent do-ers and don't put their hay in a net? I don't like the idea of a haynet personally but don't want Phil to eat all his hay in one go.


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## Perrie (1 November 2010)

I use haynets for both my horses due to the fact they waste a lot of it if i just put it down on the floor.

XxX


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## Shutterbug (1 November 2010)

My boy drags it through his bed if its left on the floor - so he gets haynets


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## xloopylozzax (1 November 2010)

get a haybar, best of both worlds 

we use haynets, simply because its easy to fill them beforehand, then just tie them up instead of portioning each day.


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## CBFan (1 November 2010)

If you want to slow him down why don't you mix a section of straw in with his hay... strangel my boy will stand quite happily and tuck into his fresh bedding but when it's mixed in with his hay, will eat round it! lol!


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## MiJodsR2BlinkinTite (1 November 2010)

Yes, I'm having this debate as well. Mine will eat haylage like its going out of fashion, so have been mixing in a bit of haylage with some hay, but have noticed that overnight he's not really eaten much of the hay.

So this morning put some hay on the floor and it was gobbled up in no time; so maybe the issue is the haynet I'm using rather than the actual hay itself. I'm feeding hay in a haylage net and wondered if this was too fine mesh for him.

Eating from the floor is a much more natural way for the horse to eat, so for this reason alone would probably be better, but at least in a net horsey doesn't gobble it all down at once.


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## mystiandsunny (1 November 2010)

Unless I'm feeding straw mixed in the net with the haylage as a filler, I like to double net so it takes them longer to eat it.  Otherwise a slice is gone in an hour and there's all night to stand with no food.


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## ShowJumperBeckii (1 November 2010)

haylege on the floor for my horse? i swear she uses it too soak the wee up?  and she likes it in a haylege-net so she can itch her bum on it before eating   x


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## miss_molly (2 November 2010)

I do a mixture of both. Haynet to slow them down and make it last longer, then some in a trough as this is more natural and better for the horse (muscles, musus draining, less stressful). I couldnt put on floor as it gets trodden on and ruined.


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## *hic* (2 November 2010)

Depends on the horse, if I put it on the floor the big mare jumps all over hers, wees on it, drags it through her bed and then stands there looking hurt that she hasn't got anything to eat although most of what she was given is in her stable but manked up.

Little TB on the other hand will quite happily finish up all hers on the floor, so will Flynn.


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## Clava (2 November 2010)

According to our equine dentist, horses are designed to eat with heads down and believes that hay nets are responsible more many dental problems. I have no idea if that is true but it is logical. I don't use hay nets except for traveling, I've always thought them dangerous.


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## NicoleS_007 (2 November 2010)

Mine used to get both lol ground for breaky and lunch and haynet for tea!! But then stopped using the haynet because the physio said it would be better to eat from the floor ... and my boy liked to soak his haylage himself so he liked it better on the floor


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## xRobyn (2 November 2010)

Clava, the two main reasons I don't want to use a haynet. He's not used to having one either. I gave him one while he stood up to be groomed the other week, he pulled at it for a few minutes then got bored 

I think it will be trial and error, maybe put a bit in a haynet just incase but have most on the floor unless he ruins his bed. I'm not sure if he will be on straw, I *think* the lady uses the wood pellet things  (I think!).


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## maggy-may (2 November 2010)

I use a haynet in his stable to stop him from dragging it in to his bed and wasting it, then i put s slice on the floor outside as he can have his stable door open and come and go as he pleases


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## Smurphy (2 November 2010)

I use a plastic water tank, keep the hay tiding and was a lot cheaper than a haybar


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## jenz87 (2 November 2010)

Clava said:



			According to our equine dentist, horses are designed to eat with heads down and believes that hay nets are responsible more many dental problems. I have no idea if that is true but it is logical. I don't use hay nets except for traveling, I've always thought them dangerous.
		
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This is quite true Clava, my YO is always saying it, and a horse on our yard who is parrot mouthed (according to her owner) and needs alot of dentistry work every 6mths, since coming to our yard and eating out of a bucket on the floor, only needed a slight rasp, first time in the years she has owned her.


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## kerilli (2 November 2010)

I use a haybar, but if the horse is a pig who eats too fast, I tie the haynet up very low behind the haybar - natural eating position, slows horse's piggery down, no wastage, and no danger of horse getting feet caught in haynet.


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## lauzbeefy (2 November 2010)

I feed hay straight off the floor or out of a tubtrug on the floor, my instructor/dentist advised this and have done it ever since. Same reasons as above...


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## Ali2 (2 November 2010)

My boy is a not so good doer and will take his time with his hay.  He has his hay in a pile on the floor.

Share pony is a greedy porker so he has his hay soaked and in a net but tied to the bottom of a haybar so he gets the benefits of stretching down to eat but it slows him up a bit.


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## christi (2 November 2010)

i stopped using haynets about 15 years ago , dangerous things , and also much better for the horse to eat fromground level, although im lucky as my horse does not drag her hay all over the stable.
i use Paddock pillows for feeding hay in the field , stops the hay from blowing about .


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## xRobyn (2 November 2010)

Smurphy said:



			I use a plastic water tank, keep the hay tiding and was a lot cheaper than a haybar
		
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That sounds like a good idea!

He doesn't really liked soaked so many by soaking some of it and putting it on the floor he won't wolf it down?


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## Tempi (2 November 2010)

Always from a haybar or the floor - it is unnatural for horses to eat from a tied up haynet, all the snatching at it etc at a funny angle can cause problems.  Horses are meant to eat from the floor (like in the wild) and it also helps to stretch their backs out etc.


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## Umbongo (2 November 2010)

I would always feed off the floor however I understand that for some horses hay nets are needed so they don't eat too quickly and are left with nothing!

It is true that feeding from a height (haynet) can cause many dental problems. I have also witnessed a few accidents from horses getting hooves stuck in badly tied haynets etc. It is also a very unnatural way of feeding obviously.

I had a gelding on loan who I fed off the floor as he was so tidy! He pooed in one corner, weed in another corner nearest the drain...and stood all night eating his hay off the floor without ever pulling it back into his bed...one tidy pony!!!

Agree with using a plastic water tank thing. We used them at the race yard and with some horses that like to push them around...chained them very closely to the walls. Does the job and cheaper than a hay bar!


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## jenny18 (2 November 2010)

One of my horses had a bad accident with a haynet whilst i was on holiday and ended up falling over the stable wall with his foot stuck in his haynet and was stuck on his back, luckily he was fine. I now have solid wooden doors fixed across a corner of the stable like 'haybars' but less expensive i find this works really well.


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## BuBbleMooJim (2 November 2010)

I prefer the floor, for my horse, but she shovels it down when in at night in winter, and drags it round the stable, makes it dirty then won't eat it! I put haylage in a net, and a couple of flaps of hay on the floor, as she likes to dunk it in her water, but won't eat it if I soak, or wet it for her, weird horse! Don't really like haynets, but needs must I suppose


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## Vodkagirly (3 November 2010)

I use a plastic water tank, keep the hay tiding and was a lot cheaper than a haybar 

What type of water tank please? I hate filling hay nets and hay bars are a bit expensive.


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## NeedNewHorse (4 November 2010)

I just whack in it a big plastic tug trug thing, whatever they are called!! Hate haynets, not only are they not good for the posture of the horse as it eats, all that yanking haylage out of the yet, and really tugging and pulling all night cannot be good surely?

Though I do have a net in the trailer! cannot really get around that - lol

I am lucky that my mare eats her haylage and doesn't push it around the bed, though if she did i would just have to rethink the situation. I am going to make and make one of those ''hayledge'' metal weights myself though (or my dad) so she can spend a bit more time eating, as i give ad lib and I think she will get fat in no time if i carry on with the amount she is getting, as come the depths of winter, whilst she will go out all day everyday, riding in frozen schools and frozen lanes will mean limited exercise for a period!


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## amandap (4 November 2010)

I feed on the floor/low 99% of the time. My understanding is it helps with nasal secretion drainage, jaw alignment (horses designed to eat with head down) and therefore tooth wear and developing correct muscles, or rather, not developing incorrect muscles.

I do use nets though at times, if I need to slow eating down for weight loss etc. but I tie the string inside and chuck them on the ground. I also made some paddock pillows out of plastic garden trellis folded and the sides stitiched with baler twine. One side stitched loosely for opening, it is a bind with soaked hay though! lol I also have various containers at ground level. My lot aren't shod so nets can't get caught in shoes and they aren't stabled either but yarded with a big barn to to in.

Mta.. I prefer not to have just one or two feeding stations as they tend to just stand and gorge.


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## mcnaughty (5 November 2010)

Welsh A has his section out of a tub trug with bricks in the bottom of it.  Only dusty wastage - same as it he had a haynet.

ID x eats off the floor though I have a plastic water tank in the garden that we used to use as a beer cooler at parties - scrubbed up (as above) will be as good as a haybar but masses cheaper!!

I hate haynets - hate filling them, untieing/untangling them, hanging them, carrying them and they are dangerous and bad for horses' posture.


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## Wild at heart (14 November 2010)

I have a big tub trug (one of the biggest you can get) and i stuff her haylage in it -the equivalent that goes in a haylage net that way she has her head down eating but she doesn't mash it into her bed - she is however the tidiest mare but i did find even if i put it loose on the floor she mixed some of it into her bedding but in her trug it keeps it neat.


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## AndySpooner (14 November 2010)

We don't use haynets for a number of reasons.

It is an un natural position for horses to eat from for prolonged periods.

Nasal issues, dental issues and breathing issues are all affected by the position of the net.

They are also a bit of a hazzard where horses can get tangled in them, even with a length of twine which can break.

We have a triangular shaped manger constructed out of a piece of plywood across one corner of the stable, a 3 inch gap at the bottom for cleaning out uneaten debris.

I use a plastic dustbin to transport hay or haylage from the big bale to the mangers.

Very little waste and mess. One horse likes to pull some hay or haylage out of the manger and eat it off the floor.


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## AngieandBen (15 November 2010)

Why not make your own hay boxes;  I have made mine form pallets;  All you need is two pallets, cut down the middle length ways  for the long sides, and cut down the middle of the other width ways to make the short sides!  Tie each corner together with bail twine and hey presto a lovely box that you can move about too!

Or better still, get you OH to do it


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