Haynets and muscles - a CR musing

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humblepie

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One of my horses has his haynet tied up in the corner of his stable whilst the other is more in the middle. Watching the horse with haynet in the corner the other day whilst brushing it crossed my mind how much more he was using the muscles on one side of his neck to get the hay out of the net as he always has to eat from the one side.

I prefer feeding hay off the ground but he is quite fussy so wouldn't eat anything that has gone into or near his bed so it is not really practical. He had a hay bar but does seem to eat better out of a net.

So those who use hay nets - centre or corner or who cares where.
 
Centre, but fairly near door and carefully positioned so that his back end is over mats not bedding as he spends most of his night at the haynet, and does a huge amount of poo!!
 
Well mine has 2 Trickle nets tied from the bars at the front of his stable in the middle, so they are quite low down too. I prefer too feed from the floor, but they waste so much and he eats far too much and gets fat. Tbh I've never had a muscle problem from using haynets at all.
 
I use a haybar, hate haynets with a passion, filling them mainly, although I dislike how the encourage the horse to eat. I always use to feed off the floor but Mally makes a nest out of it so she can eat while she lies down, so bought a haybar and I love it, as does the horse!
 
I dislike Haynets and j has his hay in a trug, but roo just drags his out of the trug, tramples on it and poo's in it then has a strop because he has nothing left to eat!!
 
Haybar all the way, changed my mare! she used to have nets and now she has a haybar she finds it so much easier to work in an outline as she has build up the right muscles in the stable rather than her underside muscles!
 
I only use haynets in Spring/Summer when the lardy one has to have double netted 12hr soaked hay, in winter when she has unsoaked its fed from floor (in a trug).

When she has nets I always do 2 (as makes them easier to lift) and she has one on either side of her stable, in the centre of each wall. She really likes having 2 - she randomly swaps every few mins :)

If she didn't need the rationing I wouldn't use them, but she won't eat soaked from the floor and I have to slow her down to make it last.

If I didn't have a fatty I'd ditch the nets entirely - but my stables don't have a suitable corner for a haybar anyway as an odd shape with a gate rather than door.
 
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Measles - Mally has battered hers to death and it's still going strong, however this morning it was hanging off the wall. I suspect she got stuck in it, but the plastic where the bolts attach isn't as strong as the rest of it, so it came free when she pulled. Either way, she is fine and the haybar was quickly mended with some larger bolts as the plastic hadn't broken, just stretched.
 
FWIW, you can now get hay hutches small enough for a stable :)

I use larger ones in the field (mine are 24/7) and I'm a big fan of them.
 
Mine now have a trickle nets on the floor like a "hay pillow". Love the fact that they are grazing at a natural position and the trickle net is doing exactly what it says on the tin!
 
Mine has two nets in different places. She is soooooo messy she couldn't be fed from the floor. Tempted to try a haybar though.
 
I've been thinking about this as my lad has a rather ugly muscle under his neck. He's a fatty so I don't want to feed him off the floor. Am considering a haybar with a small holed haynet tied to a ring that's down low in the haybar but not too sure. :)
 
We have haynets tied in the middle of the stable front, probably at my shoulder level - however as I'm 5'6" and the average height of our lot is 17hh it's unlikely they're having to strain and build the wrong muscle to reach them. :rolleyes: I dread to think how much we'd waste if we fed all 11 of them off the floor. :o
 
I feed haylage on the floor, I do use haynets occasionally for Sov if he is in a lot because he box walks and tramples it into his bed and then wastes it, but when he is out all day he is fine.
It's not just the muscles but the teeth/jaw action that is affected by feeding from height, although in this day we do what is easiest and most convenient for us individually. I am with Kirstyhen and despise filling haynets, so it could be argued that I am just plain lazy feeding from the floor.
 
Baggybreeches - it is definitely the filling of haynets that is the main factor for me! I have to fill enough of them at work, can't be bothered to do my own horse too!
Same reason I have rubber matter, a semi-deep litter shavings bed and dual purpose rugs :D
 
kirstyhen said:
Same reason I have rubber matter, a semi-deep litter shavings bed and dual purpose rugs :D
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I feel we may be separated at birth, my mother was hyperventilating the other week because I left my horses in their NZs overnight so my OH could do them for me in the morning (he doesn't do rugs).
AND I have found the best bedding for semi deep litter on top of rubber mats (I use chopped straw it's brilliant!).
I haven't managed to kill a horse through neglect yet, quite remarkable don't you think?
 
I've always fed Shadow from the floor, he is incredibly violent with a haynet! Last year I built a slow hay feeder which has slowed him down a little, but he does have a knack of throwing it around his stable, creating more mess.

After reading so many good reviews on here I caved in a bought a trickle net. At first I was very unimpressed, he was just as violent as with a normal net, however a few days down the line and he does seem to be getting the hang of nibbling with his lips. I have it hung from the roof in the middle of a wall at the mo, but I think I will add a second ring and secure the bottom of the net as he will yank it up if he gets a chunk of hay stuck in it.

It slows him down a little but he still has nothing left in the morning, greedy creature!
 
kirstyhen said:
Haha! I may have to look into chopped straw, have tried so many things but keep coming back to shavings.
Oh I have an automatic waterer too, I hate filling water buckets nearly as much as I hate filling haynets!
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The chopped straw is great, it doesn't sound cheap (I pay £6 for a bale) but I can use 2 bales max per week for the two of them (if they are out in the day) which works out the same price as a bale of straw a day split between them. It keeps their bed, drier, cleaner and deeper because Touchy would eat the straw so all that was left was the stinky pooey bed!
Trust me if I think it's good value it really must be (I have Yorkshire blood ;) )
 
I am an Equine Body Worker and I find that a lot of horses I see have muscles issues from their haynets. It can cause uneven build up of muscle in the neck and also make muscles tense in the lumbar region of their backs. :( One of my horses, eats like every haynet is her last and I can not feed her from the floor as she inhales it!! :eek: I make sure that I alternate where I tie the net so that at least she puls in both directions and not constantly in one.
Even if I had a hay bar the hay would be gone by the time I turned round!!! :eek:
www.equestrianmassage.co.uk
 
Post from Jeni Ball is really interesting to me. I have a horse been box resting (in a barn 30x30ish) been in there since 1/8/11, I used huge, small holed, haylage nets stuffed tight with well soaked hay which he has adlib, hung at his face level (17.2)

By December his top line had altered, despite him not reaching up to the net.

He was a heavily muscled big middleweight who was fit at the time of his injury so some changes are to be expected.

I decided to put the hay on the floor and accept the waste and it was the right thing to do, the underside of his neck is soft again and the loin area is soft again too.
 
angelish said:
i have a haybar but i have put a tie ring low down on the wall in it and tie a hay net into it to get the best of both worlds :)

hope that makes sense
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LOVE this idea and might steal it!!! I use haybars for both of mine but the big girl in particualr is a pain for pulling it ourt and then trampling and poohing all over it!!
 
Feed hay from the floor. Sometimes there is waste - if we've had the finer, soft hay delivered which they don't seem t like as much as the coarse stuff we also get. All from the same farmer, different fields I guess - its all good quality, he's just picky!

I coudl never feed in nets unsupervised I am too worried about him getting a hoof/shoe caught in one, plus, sometimes haynets really seem to make him angry - if he's tied up, he seems to need a lot of shaking/pulling etc to get the hay out - I think he's just greedy :p
 
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