how to slow down greedy horses???!

1) double net
2) share the ration out between 2 or even 3 haynets around the stable to make them move around to get the hay.
3 I also use treat balls and extra fiber in their evening feed.
 
I'm convinced greedy eating is (a) an eating disorder, and (b) part inbred and part environmental.

I've had a couple of Highland ponies here that ate like vacuum cleaners. I suspect the problem in those was genetic. Show judges put up obese horses, breeders prefer horses that win shows, so they are bred from and buyers think they are getting something special because there are a lot of champions in the pedigree. Thankfully, the message seems to be getting through and things are changing.

Also, ponies get fat on good grazing. So their owners restrict the grazing. Pony thinks it had better lay down fat against the next lean period. So the cycle of getting fat, then starved, begins.

I think the answer is to provide reasonable grazing/feed 24/7 so the pony is never stressed. Careful management of grazing so there are no peaks and troughs.

How to slow down a greedy eater in winter? Recognise that horses are trickle feeders and need something going through their digestive systems all the time. Balance feeding hay with straw. Make it more difficult to gorge by using the double hay net as suggested. Supply ad lib straw and limit the hay. Don't feed "out of the bag" as most of the time they don't need it. Give more exercise by making them walk between feed and water. I am sure there must be plenty of other ways. But feeding management is surely the most important.
 
My mare is the ultimate foody - as she walks across the yard, her nose is on the ground hoovering up any crumb she can find. You'd think I never fed her.

I double and sometimes triple net. I also make her bucket meals quite runny as it slows her down especially as she has had choke in the past. Trickle nets sound a good idea but are beyond my budget bearing in mind that I need to fill haynets for a few days at a time and would therefore need several.
 
Since i have started feeding cobby from a haybar and he doesnt have to fight a haynet anymore he is no longer greedy, still having hay in his haybar come pm stables from lunch time which in the past was not heard of, i am still giving him the same amount he just doesnt have to fight for it anymore.
 
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