marieE
Well-Known Member
nets are the invention of the devil i hate filling them and all the negga's mentioned mean my net lives in the trailer and only gets used on days out, its not welcome on the yard!
Are haynets bad? Opinions please!
- Thread starter frb
- Start date
Pedantic
Well-Known Member
Bad for kneck, back, dust goes straight down throat into lungs, bits go into eyes, teeth dont grind properly causing sharp edges on back teeth (ask your dentist) plus bloody liabilty for getting feet and head collars caught in/on, if horses were meant to eat from high up they would have been born giraffes, feed from floor, it's more natural
Cop-Pop
Well-Known Member
I feed from the floor for three reasons:
1 - it is the natural feeding position for horses
2 - my TBx is very prone to choke and the vet suggested feeding from the floor as one of the preventative (sp?) measures
3 - It's quicker than filling bl**dy haynets! Mine are on matting with not much bedding so they don't mix it in and waste it
1 - it is the natural feeding position for horses
2 - my TBx is very prone to choke and the vet suggested feeding from the floor as one of the preventative (sp?) measures
3 - It's quicker than filling bl**dy haynets! Mine are on matting with not much bedding so they don't mix it in and waste it
DreamerII
Well-Known Member
Dreamer will quite happily eat his hay from the floor in a natural position so he has it on the floor in a corner of his stable. He doesn't seem to drag it too much or get it mixed in with the bedding.
He will get a haynet if we are travelling or if he is tied up to be groomed/I'm doing anything else with him that is gonna take longer than a couple of minutes.
A girl at our yard uses haynets and NEVER ties them properly (no matter how many times we tell her about them). Her youngster horse got his leg caught once and just stood there looking dopey! If that had been D he would certainly have paniced and probably done himself some serious damage!
He will get a haynet if we are travelling or if he is tied up to be groomed/I'm doing anything else with him that is gonna take longer than a couple of minutes.
A girl at our yard uses haynets and NEVER ties them properly (no matter how many times we tell her about them). Her youngster horse got his leg caught once and just stood there looking dopey! If that had been D he would certainly have paniced and probably done himself some serious damage!
embonaught
Well-Known Member
I asked the physio about using haynets just the other day. I was slightly concerned about the unnatural position a horse had to put itself into in order to eat. She told me that she was actually in favour of using haynets for the following reason:
When a horse grazes, it uses far less movement in it's neck than when it's pulling hay from a net. Grazing is simply head down, straight on. Pulling hay from a net encourages the horse to bend and flex its entire head and neck, up and down, side to side, therefore helping to keep area more supple.
I know there are other downsides to using haynets, but don't let worrying about building up muscles in wrong place/hurting his back, etc put you off. It's certainly put my mind at ease - and I do really rate her as a physio!
When a horse grazes, it uses far less movement in it's neck than when it's pulling hay from a net. Grazing is simply head down, straight on. Pulling hay from a net encourages the horse to bend and flex its entire head and neck, up and down, side to side, therefore helping to keep area more supple.
I know there are other downsides to using haynets, but don't let worrying about building up muscles in wrong place/hurting his back, etc put you off. It's certainly put my mind at ease - and I do really rate her as a physio!
Thistle
Well-Known Member
I use the big tub trugs to measure and feed from those.
The exceptions being when travelling and if a horse is on box rest when I have to make his hay last longer.
The exceptions being when travelling and if a horse is on box rest when I have to make his hay last longer.
Parkranger
Well-Known Member
feeding from the floor is much better for their neck muscle development.....
machannah
Well-Known Member
I wish i could feed from the floor, but my mare is fussy when hay gets mixed in to the bed, and therefore the wastage is massive so I do feed from a haynet, which is small holed. She rarely eats the wastage from the haynet off the floor (so i feed whats left to the welsh cob horse dustbin next door!!)
Also my mare actually soaks her own hay, so i have a lesser worry about her not eating with her head down. For pretty much every mouthful of hay, she dunks this in to her water and then eats that, she does the same with hard feed also. Very odd!!
Also my mare actually soaks her own hay, so i have a lesser worry about her not eating with her head down. For pretty much every mouthful of hay, she dunks this in to her water and then eats that, she does the same with hard feed also. Very odd!!
MizElz
Well-Known Member
Friend of mine's pony got caught up in one (it was tied up as high as is recommended - pony had been rolling and got a hind leg caught.) He went down to the stables to find pony dying slowly and painfully of a twisted gut, with two broken hind legs to show for his troubles. As such, I would never use a haynet in a stable again.
_Libby_
Well-Known Member
QR- I spoke to my Equine dentist about this recently. She recommended that they are always tied below head height as the tugging on the hay from high up can damage the teeth and neck muscles. It also encourages dust etc to go into the horses lungs. Feeding from the floor is more natural but can be messy. I would recommend making your own haybar.
Merlotmonster
Well-Known Member
I only use the ones with small holes. This stems from an accident involving a friends horse many years ago. Her horse got its foot caught in a hay net. We came up in the morning and found it hanging there. They hay net had dug so far into its fetlock we had to dig it out with scissors. The horse was lame for a year and then it was found that all the blood vessels had simply died and the foot was useless. The poor horse ended up being destroyed.
walkandtrot
Well-Known Member
I dont use haynets anymore, unless travelling, after a open evening talk from an equine dentist, I'm no way an expert but its better for the horse to be feeding/foraging downwards, all to do with the alignment of the jaw and if theyre chewing upwards for long periods of time its defying nature?!! and can do long term damage. I'm considering buying Haybars, anyone got any experience of them?
RunToEarth
Well-Known Member
I've never had any problems with them. My mare won't eat from the floor of her stable and my gelding just mulshes it into his bed.
BeckyD
Well-Known Member
Ronnie rather likes them, all colours taste just as good. The rings slow him down a little but they'll get gobbled in the end.
I joke not.
Now he has a hay ball. Much less edible
I joke not.
Now he has a hay ball. Much less edible
MagicMelon
Well-Known Member
I dislike nets having found one of my horses years ago with his hoof through one out in the field
However, I think they have their place. 4 of mine live out 24/7, the other comes in at night. They all have hay in the field on the floor UNLESS its windy and then I put it in nets and tie up on high rings. The one who comes in at night generally gets a big haynet but also some on the floor so she can choose.
Obviously at events, haynets have a use.
However, I think they have their place. 4 of mine live out 24/7, the other comes in at night. They all have hay in the field on the floor UNLESS its windy and then I put it in nets and tie up on high rings. The one who comes in at night generally gets a big haynet but also some on the floor so she can choose.
Obviously at events, haynets have a use.
Coffee_Bean
Well-Known Member
Mine eats off the floor if she's in her stable, but has a haynet when I tie her up because to me it is more dangerous her eating off the floor with her leadrope trailing. I am now going to get the reply "well don't give her one then" but I gave reasons for why i do in another post a month or so ago. But when she is in the stable she always gets it off the floor, though I think I will get her a big tubtrug as she tramples it all into her bed.
JM07
Well-Known Member
i replied and gave a reason...which is they have been/are proven to cause neck/whither/back problems..
it tends to put a horse into an unnatural position to eat...
it tends to put a horse into an unnatural position to eat...
Tia
Well-Known Member
[ QUOTE ]
Well I have always used them and so has my YO never had any problems
[/ QUOTE ]
Yep, that's what one of my liveries said ...... right up to the moment his horse caught his teeth in a haynet and broke it's lower jaw in half. Literally in half!
The horse had to have the split half of the jaw removed and now only has 2 bottom insisor teeth on one side and obviously no jaw, let alone teeth, on the other side.
I have never used haynets for at least 20 years. Never liked them much before that time but at least they were made of sisal then and not nylon like they are today.
Well I have always used them and so has my YO never had any problems
[/ QUOTE ]
Yep, that's what one of my liveries said ...... right up to the moment his horse caught his teeth in a haynet and broke it's lower jaw in half. Literally in half!
The horse had to have the split half of the jaw removed and now only has 2 bottom insisor teeth on one side and obviously no jaw, let alone teeth, on the other side.
I have never used haynets for at least 20 years. Never liked them much before that time but at least they were made of sisal then and not nylon like they are today.