Help for my DT Project!

Hannah.b0urne

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Hello! My name is Hannah and for my A-Level Design and Technology project I am hoping to create a solution to feeding horses.
My goal is to create something that can feed horses in a variety of areas, for example, in stables in fields ect. I also want to make something easily fillable and compatible with using soaked hay- the main goal is for it to not create a mess when being refilled like a hay net often can be.
I need to do some product and market research and was wondering whether anyone has any suggestions for products, or even better, if you have created your own solution to feeding your horses/ ponies?
What sort of things would you like to see in a product for feeding horses? -any specifics will help!

Thank you for your time! ☺️
 
Oooh - good project! I built a dolls' house for mine. It was great fun but yours is much more imaginative.

So, things I would want from that kind of a product:
  • Made of cheap but robust materials - there are products that do this kind of thing but they're typically really expensive
  • Easy to get the hay from the soaker into the feeding container - so maybe a low, wide rectangular container?
  • Something movable....maybe it could have a single roller wheel on the bottom of one end, then two rubber feet on the bottom at the other end, plus a handle so you could pick the foot end up and roll the whole lot along
 
Not so much on the functional design side but I'd imagine you'd get marks for a sustainably produced item - made out of recycled bottles or something like that.

Ideal points for me would be that it doesn't rot in the field, has drainage holes, isn't easily kicked around or broken, and is fairly easy to move.

ETA: I have large wooden boxes, about 1mx1m but 70cm height, which I can fit a whole hay bale in. They are old and rotting so would like something that won't rot again.
 
A timed slow forage feeder would be my dream!
I often thought about that myself! Some kind of basket that would open and drop hay at a particular time, or even a multi-layered thing that would slowly drop bundles of hay at regular intervals.
 
If you could design an inexpensive slow forage feeder that’s easy to stuff you’ll be a millionaire!

Something that doesn’t rot in winter and can withstand being kicked around by hangry ponies who want food now would be good. 😄
 
I agree that something on a timer so that you could feed small amounts of hay at, say, 2 or 3 hour intervals to enable trickle feeding while also restricting intake would be amazing. Showing that you're filling a gap in the market to meet a welfare need would surely win you extra marks!
 
I'm currently looking for some kind of bracket I can put on the wall that holds my gorilla trug feed buckets, that could be folded down or unclipped after use. as I have a mare who chucks her feed around if she's fed from the floor! so will take me 15 mins where i have to stand and hold her bucket twice a day haha
 
I’ve often considered getting something I can attach my water bucket to at shoulder heightso it’s not on the floor but there doesn’t seem to be anything that exists (for sale the large gorilla tub trugs) so that could be a good route to go down!
 
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