Haybar, hay net or floor

[diet2ride]

NAS wasn't eating his hay from the hay bar or the floor. Last night he ate the lot from a hay net (from the same bale). Funny ol horse.

 

[Rose Folly]

We had one who didn't like hay on the floor which is how we normally feed. I watched him and he behaved like someone who tries to pick up a polite forkful of spaghetti and gets the whole plateful following the forkful.

We just let him have haynets with a wide mesh and he was happy thereafter.

 

[niagaraduval]

Mine is in black dustbin so it's like he is eating off the floor but it keeps extra water (his is soaked) and stray bits of hay in his bin rather than getting his bed wet. It's also most natural for a horse to eat from the floor. This is just what works for me though.

 

[BonneMaman]

Floor for both of mine last winter - no problems with walking into bed but I think that has a lot to do with stress levels of the horse (moving around a lot or just standing there munching) and how long they are in (6 to 6 for mine).

 

[Holly Hocks]

I had to floor feed my mare last year due to sinus problems - to get the sinuses to drain properly. She is such a lady, she really didn't like it, although I persevered. I was going to get a haybar, but I don't like the idea of all the lack of air circulating in them when the horse has their head in there for a period of time. So now, I hang haynets, but fairly low down - not low enough to get foot caught in, but low enough that her head is not having to reach upwards for it. Come winter though I think I'll be floor feeding again - cuts out the time of filling nets!

 

[TelH]

I soak mine in a haynet then empty it on to the floor, fortunately none of my ponies are particularly messy

 

[Miss L Toe]

I always use small mesh haynets as it is too risky to use wide mesh imio
i would prefer to feed on the floor but the stable floor has weird drainage and it is always wet at the feeding point, [water not pee!] he is not the tidiest, so I would spend extra time on mucking out and the YO fills hay-nets to make sure all horse get fed enough, at same time, and no wastage.