Trickle net inside hay cube? Or other ideas...

[atlantis]

So Lottie is in a diet. She weighed in at 500kg for a pony around 14.2 (might be slightly bigger by now haven't measured her) it's a bit much. The woman from Dengie suggested dropping the amount of hay she gets sp I need to find a way of slowing her down a bit.

She recommended a small net (about 2kg) when she comes in and then about 5 kg in her hay cube soaked to go in at 10 pm at late night check. However she devours both the net and the hay in the cube so I need to slow her down. I like the hay cube for feeding off the floor and I have tied a net in it before. I was just wondering if it was worth getting a small holed net to tie in, or whether that might be a bit much inside the hay cube? Thoughts?

 

[Shay]

You could do - but i would worry about her being able to lift it out and then getting it tangled in her feet. Sometimes they get very frustrated with a trickle net. Also - might she risk hitting her head on the inside of the cube and she rips hay out?

Would feeding oat straw rather than hay help? Or cutting it half /half?

 

[JillA]

I take it we are talking about stabled? I don't know how portable the hay cube is but I would worry about her dragging it across the floor. I second mixing good clean straw, for fibre for her system once the nutritious hay has gone. Or source some less nutritious hay - I had mine tested and it is very low in sugars and in protein. That means I can add those to suit.

 

[acorn92x]

I wouldn't do this. My horse has a hay cube and there is absolutely no way I would put a haynet in it (I am not actually sure that one would fit either to be honest...) as I think she would get very frustrated and would possibly hurt herself if she dragged the haycube around the stable. Could you not soak the hay for twice as long to get rid of some more calories or as others have suggested, mix with oat straw or switch to a less nutritionally dense hay (Although you'd have to have it tested which can be extensive)? There are options! Personally I'd look at feeding straw instead and see how she goes.

 

[sunleychops]

Try a Hay Ball?

http://www.suecarsonsaddles.co.uk/horse-feeders.html

 

[Procrastination]

Have you fed soaked hay before? I found with my fat cob that over winter the only thing that made any difference to her weight was soaking her hay. She used to get 1-1.5 slices of a small bale, soaked for 12 hours. It was a win win situation because she didn't really like the hay that much so ate it much slower and therefore I didn't have to feed her as much. This was only overnight and she was out on grass the rest of the time.