Are haynets bad? Opinions please!

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frb

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Been reading another post about feeding hay from haynets and other means. Some people were quite negative about using haynets but gave no specific reasons why. Have always used nets but used to try to feed hay from the floor in field as natural feeding position but currant YO wants nets used, and ties them high in stables.
Just wondered reasons against nets and general opinions as worried now!
Thanks!
 
I usually feed from the floor, mine is a youngster and Im paranoid about him getting his legs trapped. Its more natural for them too, a high net makes them twist there necks to eat. the only time i use a hay net is a small hole one for travelling or if they are tied up for a groom etc...
 
I don't like them as they put the horse in an unnatural position to eat, and I don't like to have anything in the stable that the horse could get caught up on.

Yard owners tend to like them as it makes the yard easier to organise, they can do nets in advance, it can be more economical as less hay gets trampled into the bed, and of course it does allow you to more accurately weight the hay being given.
 
I orefer feeding off the floor, more natural.

I have one that will only eat out of net, so I have no choice.

They do have to be up high though, as when empty and they slack they obviously become lower and their is a danger of a leg getting caught.
 
our yard put the rings to tie to so people have no choice but to put them high. The small kids have to get mounting blocks to put haynets up lol
 
Can't feeding from nets cause neck muscle damage? Sure I read that somewhere, something to do with the twisting action the horse uses to pull hay from the net.
Horses are built to feed from the ground, so personally I prefer to go along with that. But I dont even like hay bars, 'cause I worry about the dust..
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I posted a similar question on here a while back because my horse had managed to get himself hooked onto his net by his rug clip & was there all night waiting to be released. The replies were full of horror stories about horses damaging themselves with haynets, along with several others about how it is more natural for a horse to eat from the floor - which I do agree with. I don't know anyone personally who has had a horse damaged by a net but mine was a close enough call for me to stop using them with my boy. Plus he used to rip them to bits regularly anyway & I kept having to replace them so all in all I've decided the floor is better!
 
I would prefer to feed hay off the floor, as agree it is more natural for horse. Unfortunately my horse is a greedy pig and a good doer, and I have to put her hay into a haylage net and then put that into another haylage net!! At least then her hay won't be guzzled down within a couple of hours, leaving her with nothing to nibble on for the rest of the night!!
 
When my girl had injured her shoulder and back the physio suggested i either feed from the floor or tie the haynet low to encourage her to stretch through her back.
I elected to just tie the haynet lower, and yes she has caught her foot in it once but i was around and she just stod there looking rather daft examining her foot!!
Bad mummy!!
 
I would rather feed from the floor but we have to use aubiose bedding and my horse eats everything in site, so i am worried that his hay will get mixed with bedding and eating aubiose is bad for them. So i have to use nets, but haven't had any problems with them.
 
Haynets mean that the horse has to eat in an unnatural position, has to 'tug' on the hay which can cause muscular and skeletal problems and then there are also the problems of the horse getting caught - no matter how well or high you tie the net, there is always the chance that your horse might get caught in it.

Horses have a wonderful habit of finding ways to hurt themselves, giving them a haynet is just giving them another way to injure themselves - if you *need* to feed from them, and a floor manger/haybar doesn't work, then you'll obviously need to use one, but otherwise feed from the floor.

Also, filling haynets is one of the most god awful tasks known to man
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Also, filling haynets is one of the most god awful tasks known to man
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Ahhh, but its better than sweeping a yard every minute of the day because hay has been dragged across it. They also reduce the amount of wastage, although I do agree that in an ideal world people should try to replicate the natural grazing position as much as possible.
 
Thanks for replies. I also use a net so i know he is getting a certain amount and he walks it into his bed if loose which i don't think YO will like. I would prefer to feed from the floor. Having to fill a haynet then empty it will really nark my YO when i am not there! Wish i had own yard! interesting to hear people's opinions, so thank you. x
 
Always feed from the floor or haybar, never used nets. The owner of the RS where I learnt many years ago, told a story of one of her ponies strangling itself in a net. Also agree about neck muscles being built up under the neck if fed from a high net.
 
At my yard there is always more crap created from stuffing nets, and then soaking them, and then having to tie wet, icky nets up than putting slices into a wheelbarrow, wheeling said barrow to the box and tipping the hay out
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I will never be convinced that they are good, there are few jobs I hate more than filling nets
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This is a very interesting debate. We tend to do both with ours. Haynets are good as horse takes more time with eating, therefore more natural, constant 'little and often' consumption, minimises wastage in the stables, and is easier to weigh (as mentioned above). Bad because not natural, not allowing drainage from the lungs and the head, building muscles up under neck and potential dangerous objects in the stables. I haven't really used a Haybar myself? What are the drawbacks with these?
 
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Also, filling haynets is one of the most god awful tasks known to man
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Ahhh, but its better than sweeping a yard every minute of the day because hay has been dragged across it. They also reduce the amount of wastage, although I do agree that in an ideal world people should try to replicate the natural grazing position as much as possible.

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I put the hay in the wheelbarrow, then wheel straight into the stables. Takes less time and effort, and no hay on the yard unless it's very windy.
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I feed off the floor, because I believe haynets cause damage to horses' backs, necks and teeth. Also, it's better for horses with dust allergies as the dust settles on the floor.

I am a bit of a hypocrite though, as we are feeding haylage at the moment. Horse gets the runs and gets hyper on it so am feeding less than I would normally, so putting it in a net to try and make it last longer. This is certainly not for the long term.
 
I don't use them for reasons already given. Also my equine dentist can always tell when a horse eats from a haynet because of what it does to the teeth. I use a haybar. Although my horse still trys to empty the hay onto the floor.
 
Haynets can cause muscle problems in the neck and poll because the horse has to put its head at a strange angle and then pull the hay out. My horse can't have haynets because eating from them aggravates his muscle problems and causes everything to go into spasm. I'm lazy and much prefer just putting hay over the door anyway
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there are some horrible horror stories around using them
i have luckily never had any problems but i dont use them any more, i have a very large stable when i do stable my mare so i put it on the floor, i think its more natural
 
My horse wont eat haylage off the floor he is such a fussy eater, He has it in a net as less likely to drag his food all over the place.
On our yard it is so much easier to have haynets as we dont feed in the mornings. Also the yard owner would have a fit at the mess from all loose haylage lol.
 
I suppose that if you use a net with very small holes it would be safer as the horse couldn't get his foot in. But there have certainly been some nasty accients with haynets. I would never use one in a stable with a foal for instance, or a horse that played around.

That is why the haybar idea is a good one - the horse eats in a natural position, but the hay doesn't get trampled on.

There was a very clever feeding station at Your Horse Live a few years ago, which was a mobile hay manger on wheels that had a spring underneath the hay and a mesh over the top, so the hay got pushed to the top of the manger and the horse could eat it through the mesh. A brilliant idea, but it cost about £350, so I don't think the poor man sold very many.
 
i use very small hole haynets as my hay is soaked to reduce dust and calories.plus less waste.

i did have hay racks but i hated it-i got covered in bits of hay and it would go right down my horses nose!

i soak my nets and i tie them up on the outside wall under my horses 'windows' so they have their heads out in the fresh air, the haynet is tied down low so its abit more natural.
but they cant get caught up in it as its not even in their stable.
works well for me.
 
Horses are not giraffes, they do not feed from high up. Feeding from haynets puts the horses heads at an unnaturally high angle to eat at, and the tugging to pull hay out causes neck muscles to get sore. Horses sinuses also naturally drain in a gazing position, so feeding from a net encourages coughs etc. I weight my hay and soak it in a net, and then tip it out on the floor for my horse. The only time he ever gets a net is when travelling/at comps.
 
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