Horse wasting hay in the stable and not eating loads either

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vivhewe

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My neddie insists on ruining any hay that falls out of his haynet by stamping on it and then weeing on it too
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It's really annoying and a waste of hay AND as he's wasting so much he's lost weight too. I've tried giving him less to encourage him to eat it all but he doesn't
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Anyone else have this problem and what do you do?
 
He has really good hay!
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He's on livery at the moment but the hay came from mine so I know what it's made from - it smells gorgeous and it's really nice and grassy and not nothing but weeds.

I'll try two haynets in each other tomorrow, or failing that put him in the flipping haynet - that'll teach im
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Ah well! Cheerz, viv x
 
Can you tie the net in a different place &/or at a different height? Maybe put soaked hay in one net & dry in another?

If he's still refusing to eat hay & losing weight you could try giving him a big bucket of HiFi or dried grass or a chop like Happy Hoof as a substitute.
 
What's your boy bedded on? - only ask as if he's on rubber he may have splashed himself and is trying to stop this happening again.

How old is he has he had his teeth done recently? May be finding it difficult to chew for some reason.

Has he been choosy in the past about his hay or is he usually easy to cater for?

Has anything changed in his routine or has he had a sore neck or any injury which might make eating from a net sore and therefore cause him to pull hay out dropping it on the floor while he eats?

I'm sorry if I sound patronising just trying to give you any idea that may give you some indication as to his new behaviour!
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I bought a very poor TB, gave her massive haynets that she always left. It was a vicious circle as she was stressing when she was in on her own, not eating hence I fed her more fattening high calorie feed which sent her into a looney, more box walking, weight loss. In the end I gave her a tiny haynet and turnout on very good grazing and she ate the lot and put on weight. Sounds daft but I think I was overfacing her. I realise youve tried the small haynets and grazing is not as good now. Could it be down to a change in routine ie coming in at night, maybe before everyone els is brought in?
I dont think Id change to a small holed haynet as if he's leaving it now, then I feel he'd be more inclined to leave it if its harder to get at, unless your haynets empty and its all over the floor, in which case I'd carry on with the small holed net.
Cant you try haylage instead? I even boiled hot water and mixed it with treacle before pouring it over the hay in desperation.
 
Mine do this too. Its so irritating. Ive think the only thing which would help woudl be one of those haybars. But I cant afford one right now, have spent WAY too much on other horsey things this month.
 
Is there any chance of you trying him on some not so good quality hay. I know that sounds stupid but maybe he would like to have the variety of a few thistles etc.

Ours is nice hay but has other things in it (no ragwort!) and they love it. My YO once brought a big bale of hay from his dads, it was the best hay i have ever seen, no dust, very soft, green etc from very good pasture. Everyone was fighting for it and not one horse on the yard would eat it - even the greedy ones, put them back on the lesser quality stuff and hey presto!!

I would be tempted to fill one small holed net and leave him with that, if he is hungry he will eat. We have a horse at the yard who pulls at the net and drops, evey now and again when the pile has bult up we dont put a net in, the hay is gone by morning. Obviously you cant do that if he is weeing on it. Have you thought about putting a trough under the net so it drops in to that and cant be dragged about.

Other than that a haybar but they are expensive. My dad is going to build me one made from wood in the same sort of design, cheaper!!

Have you thought about mixing in a little haylage so its a bit of variety and like the others say put the hay in different places around your stable and see where he eats the most, that place is obviously where he feels most comfortable.

Dont think theres anything else i can suggest right now hun

Good luck
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