do you use haynets? how safe do you think they are??

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clairefeekerry1

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i stopped using haynets a while back as i was sick to death of filling them , just easier to lobb the haylage on the floor!! plus my horse is a bit of a toad in the stable and i sometimes used to find them on the floor and i have this horrible nagging feeling they aren't that safe. however.... mucking out is now taking an extra 2 wheel barrow loads as the haylage is dragged all through the bed, peed and pooed on, loads of wastage so i'm thinking of going back to haynets but just have this nagging feeling they're not safe. btw i cant use a hay bar or anything like that so its haynets or floor!! what do you do??
 
i don't use haynets at home, for starters its much more natural for horses to be fed from the floor, if the haynet is high enough to be safe it will encourage incorrect muscle growth under the neck. Also when I do use haynets (at events etc) then they are always small holed and hung as fairly high as although not risk free they at least have small enough holes that a leg can't get stuck. I wouldn't personally use one overnight mainly I know a fairly smart show pony many years ago which due to its suspected rearing for some reason in the stable got its leg caught and was basically stuck front legs off the ground for several hours overnight resulting in serious tendon damage and scarring. It eventually came right but its showing career was over!
 
I've always used haynets and I was worried about the knot coming open and the net ending up in a tangle around my neddys legs... So I just cut the clips off the end of my old lead ropes and attach them onto the haynet... never had one on the floor since doing it that way and its much easier to take down/put up on those cold days when your hands are f-f-f-freezing lol
 
I hate filling haynets too and much prefer to feed off the ground.However with the price of hay at the moment I am back to using them.My horse drags his hay into his bed otherwise and it is to expensive to waste. I do give him a little on the floor and the rest in the net.Seems to work, he eats off the floor first and then attacks the net so we don't get much waste.I try to get the net tied up so it is at normal height so he is not stretching up and tied in a way that it won't dangle to low.
 
lea840 said:
I've always used haynets and I was worried about the knot coming open and the net ending up in a tangle around my neddys legs... So I just cut the clips off the end of my old lead ropes and attach them onto the haynet... never had one on the floor since doing it that way and its much easier to take down/put up on those cold days when your hands are f-f-f-freezing lol
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What a brilliant idea!
 
I prefer to feed from the floor as I hate filling haynets, however, Flynn drags his into his bed and then stands there miserably because his haylage is now mixed with his bed and he won't eat it like that. So he has a haynet, it's tied to binder twine so that in the unlikely event of his getting a leg in it it will come loose.
 
I had exactly the same problem as you and found the perfect solution - a HAYBAR!!

I bought an eez-hay and wish i had had one earlier. Loose hay goes in the haybar and cannot escape - same effect as feeding from the floor but is kept contained rather than spreading around.
 
I hate everything about haynets and feed both of mine from the floor - very lucky that they are both very greedy but both very chilled and neither drag any hay around and both hoover up every last morsel!

There are other options to haybars... why can't you use one?
 
I use the small holed nets & hang them up very high!! I won't use the large holed nets incase a leg gets stuck.. I know it's best to feed from the floor but my horse just wastes his hay like that..
 
hmm, i dont think i can use a hay bar as my horse is a real toad in the stable, he chews anything possible and breaks things so has to have rubber everything, rubber buckets, rubber water buckets. he also likes to kick things with his front legs so worried he breaks one or chews it or kicks it. was thinking of using the fishermans net haylage net things but my worry is he gets caught in them and they dont break.
 
Dont use haynet like them to feed off the floor all of ours seem to pick up not dragging it in to thier beds pretty quiclky.

Not sure what i would do if they made a mess try a haybar maybe.
 
I,ve been using the elim a net... Hay net for NAS it has smaller holes, he has a hay bar but scoffs his haylage too quickly. and it all gets dragged into his bed. I hang the net over the hay bar.

Filling a hay net for me is easier with haylage than hay.
 
diet2ride said:
I,ve been using the elim a net... Hay net for NAS it has smaller holes, he has a hay bar but scoffs his haylage too quickly. and it all gets dragged into his bed. I hang the net over the hay bar.

Filling a hay net for me is easier with haylage than hay.
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this is my thought, with a hay bar he'll just drag it out of there and still make a mess. i've just looked at that elim a net... look quite good. also like the idea of a hay bag as koko said but not sure how much it would hold
 
Getting feet stuck is not the only problem!! My lecturer said that she has known a lot of horses to get it stuck in their teeth= horse panics pulls back= broken jaw = put down.

therefore, in some respects its better to use a haynet with bigger holes as less likely for this to happen.

On my exmoor filly, she doesnt know how to use haynbet properly and want to avoid any broken jaws so i put it on the floor though so much is wasted! my other 2 get haynets though.
 
nope I feed off the floor. Pony came with over developed muscles on the bottom of his neck so he was fed from the floor to help reduce the bottom of his neck and increase the top (along with work). He is also a fussy git and will eat his bed if it is to hard to get the hay out :rolleyes: so I was often left with a full hay net and tiny bed left.
 
usually feed all three of mine from the floor as saves time filling nets and more natural.

BUT..trying to 'eek' out my hay so don't have to buy more in so they only get what they need at the mo, not ad-lib (do have access to paddock at all times mind), so my 'retired'hosses are having theirs in small holed nets to slow them down. very quick to eat hay from floor.

My riding mare is NEVER left with a net unless in her trailer, and then only tied up very carefully out of 'leg-reach', and with VERY regular checks.
She paws at the net and gets her feet caught.
Left the yard one day, then remembered something so went back. obviously couldn;t resist saying hello again to horses and noticed she didn't wander over, but stood still in her stable calling.
went to check and she had effectively tied her feet together with her net. she had obviously pawed the net and brought it down with one hoof; got the net up under her shoe and fixed tight, then tried to free herself with the other hoof and done the same. her 2 front feet were tied about 4 inches apart! i dread to think what i would have found in the morning .
luckily she just stood while 'Mummy' rescued her. i had to cut the net with knife and half remove her shoes to get it out.
She also managed to 'hoof' it down in her trailer one day. got back home to discover the haynet under her back feet, one ripped off shoe, one broken breastbar!!! luckily she had a rosette so all was forgiven but she is not safe left with a net.
horses for courses.
out of choice - off the floor every time!
Out of necessity/desperation - only if individual horse safe & sound to use nets.
 
I feed hay from a hay bag because it cuts down risk of legs getting caught and is way easier to fill than a net. If I had a greedy horse or wanted to make the hay last longer, I'd get one with small holed haynet across the hole instead of just an open hole. Mine's got a decent pocket under the hole to catch spillage, it's been really good.
 
I use nets as my horses would spread the hay all over their beds and poo on it if not!!

I think we take calculated risks all the time, and that is one I choose to take.....touch wood, in the 20 years I have had horses, I havent had one hurt by a haynet.....
 
Don't ever use haynets in the stable.

They eat off the floor and Millie now has a haybar which has stopped her dragging her hay into her bed.

I use haynets in the trailer and at shows but that is it.
 
I always use a small holed securely tied haynet as my horse is fat and greedy, and it's the best way of making the hay last. I frequently double net.

Filling haynets is a loathesome task but it's just one of those chores that has to be done.
 
I used to use haynets too but now feed from floor if he's in, which is only at weekends. I use a straw bed so he gets to eat straw too. Luckily I don't think he cares whether it's in his bed or not. He's much tidier now bizarrely. And his poos are near the door so well easy to muck out :D
 
We always use haynets, but all our horses our sensible. We had a mare who used to buck and kick out in the stable and she would have her hay on the floor so there was no risk of getting her feet caught
 
Hmm

I'm going to buck the trend here. I use massive haynets with huge holes (in fact cant get them any more). The only time I feed on the floor is with mares and foals. However, reading this I think I will put them through trailer ties now so that at least they will release - never had a problem in 31 years of owning horses.
 
I use one but I don't hang it up. I have a large plastic bucket that holds the hay, then to slow my piggy of a pony down a put the bucket with hay in inside in the haynet, and then tie it under the bottom. I then have an old lead rope that is tied to some string on the window bars, that I clip to the handle. This means hes still eating from the floor but cann't eat all his hay in half an hour. :D
 
We used it at a time to slow down the eating for a very fat horse, so he'd get enough time of chewing but less hay. (He takes huge chunks)..

We set them up quite low to let them eat with a natural headset but inside the hay-corner (one corner in each stall is cut off by a board, making a triangular ''box''). The others got it to save some spilling in the mornings. We stopped when the youngster got caught with his leg despite the safety precaution. He's unharmed and just stood there waiting but it showed it wasn't safe enough. Perhaps the obese horse will get his back, he's not really the pawing type, and he had some benefits from it. But I dunno.
 
I feed haylage on the floor - it's not natural to use haynets - horses graze from the ground. Also helps drainage of sinuses.

Never understood haynets, unless of course the stable's dirty :rolleyes:
 
You could try feeding less (just as much as you'd put in a net, so there is only a *little* left when you go to refill) forage from a bucket (in an old tire?) to prevent it getting spread around and wasted.

Personally I always avoid nets where horse's owner/yard allows for safety and have heard of at least one yard taking out hay-bars because they found horses with their heads inside tended to kick out at sudden noises as obviously vision/hearing is restricted a bit. I expect placing one towards the front of a stable would help though.
 
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