Hay Bar

M

Morrigan_Lady

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www.teamterrellshowjumping.co.uk

Does anyone here use one? How does you horse get on with it?
Im thinking of getting Archie one, but not sure he'll like sticking his head in to a great big black bucket trype thing!
He currently has his hay on the floor, but some times likes to kick it all around his shavings bed!
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Don't have one but know a few people at the yard who do and swear by it. No more trying to salvage bit of hay etc from through the bed and makes mucking out etc a lot easier.
 
Our yard has them for all the horses - generally they're good, but there's one horse who sounds a bit like yours and even with a hay bar, he has some of his in a net because he chucks the hay out of the haybar, makes himself a nest and is awful to muck out!
 
i've got them, the horses don't mind using them at all, takes them 1 minute to get used to them, including the youngsters. some horses keep everything in them, all tidy and nice, others just shove/pull the whole lot out anyway...
 
A woman at my yard has hay bars in all of her boxes as she has babies and doesnt want to use haynets. Only issue I have seen is that the hay gets pulled out and trampled through the beds. Also gets eaten much quicker and doesn't last the horse as long.
 
I love mine, stops them dragging it through their beds and is safer and better for them than nets.

my arab is the biggest wimp ever and she eats from it no worries.
 
We've got home-made hay bars. Never had a problem with them, apart from one time at band camp when Dolly decided to put one of her front legs in it!
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Daft sod just stood there as if to say "now what do i do?!"
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They get through the hay quicker than they would with hay nets, but i still prefer them.
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[ QUOTE ]
A woman at my yard has hay bars in all of her boxes as she has babies and doesnt want to use haynets. Only issue I have seen is that the hay gets pulled out and trampled through the beds. Also gets eaten much quicker and doesn't last the horse as long.

[/ QUOTE ]

The easy solution to this is to fasten a tie ring on the wall just inside the top of the haybar and to keep using haynets, but have them hang inside the haybar. This stops wastage by the horse or them eating too quickly, but ensures the haynet is safely out of the way of hooves whilst at the same time having the horse eat in a natural position. You get the best of both worlds and is what I do with both my horses. One is a horror for dragging his haylage in his bedding unless its in a net.
 
I also use the haynet in the haybar method, although I put the ring on the wall at the bottom of the haybar as it seems to keep the haynet in better, but it is fiddly to attach. Without the haynet my mare just pulls all the hay out and tramples most of it.
 
[ QUOTE ]
A woman at my yard has hay bars in all of her boxes as she has babies and doesnt want to use haynets. Only issue I have seen is that the hay gets pulled out and trampled through the beds. Also gets eaten much quicker and doesn't last the horse as long.

[/ QUOTE ]

We have them at our yard and I have this problem too! My mare eats what she wants in about 30 seconds flat and pulls the rest out and tramples it through her bed. That said I don't like haynets and haybars are much easier as you can just chuck it all in, so 6 and 2 3's really. I like the idea of hanging the haynet inside the haybar, but suspect my mare would just yank they haynet out of the haybar, and then put her foot through it...
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I have got a hay bar for my arab, at first he amused himself by pulling all the hay out for the first couple of weeks but then got bored with that and eats is nicely now. He has two slices loose in the hay bar and one slice in a small hole haynet hung at normal height but above the haybar just to make it last a bit longer.

I also keep a rubber feed skip at the bottom of mine as the hay is soaked it holds any water and makes emptying all the seeds etc much easier.
 
Ooh, like the idea of bucket in the bottom - never thought of that! Even if you fix the haybar a few inches above the floor it is really hard to get all the seed bits out, and if you put wet hay in the water drains everywhere. Thanks for that tip.

Three of mine are very good with haybar, but one pulls it all out, spreads it round his bed, and then chooses bits to either eat, pee or poo on. So he is back to a net.
 
Our yard has them in every box, the youngstock all use them fine, the older horses are the trouble!! One insists on pulling his out and dunking it in his water before eating it... even if its been soaked!
Generally they're really good and do help to prevent wastage.
 
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