Plastic like octagon with round holes in each side the horse has to push it around and nibble…would not normally use it but trying to slow down rate of hay consumption as well as encourage moving and figure with the ground about to freeze for a while sand ingestion and mes would not be concerns, but dang theybwant 95$ for it so if any one DIY something similar please share!
googled. It doesn’t look very big. Less than a flake?
Right…it would be refilled and basically more as “bait” away from the slow feed net in the run in stall, not the only source of hay. Kind of a “distraction” from just standing and eating. Seems like filling it would be just as challenging fornthe human as emptying it would be for the horse.
If it’s harder to get the same hay out of the rolly ball than out of the slow feed net, I don’t see why a horse would walk away from the net to play with the ball. Unless you filled the ball with a more desirable hay like alfalfa.
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BT, can you try hanging more than one net to encourage more walking? Or maybe use one of those Nose It balls in an empty water tub? You could fill it with some hay pellets which would still be fun for horse but maybe easier for you.
Really good idea @MyKindaFlower problem is the fence is hot wired so can’t really hang a bunch of small bags all around…I might just get more rubber mats so she can be tossed hay in multiple places on the ground outside…she does get hay out side but right now there is only one matted spot.
We talked about those a little while ago:
https://www.chronofhorse.com/forum/forum/discussion-forums/horse-care/10016300-hay-play
I still don’t see how the horse will get any hay out of it once the first little bit has been pulled out. There’s nothing keeping the hay pressed against the holes 
I wish somebody made one of these boredom-relief feeder toys in a bigger size – there are good ideas out there, but none seem to be realized well enough to be worth the price.
The lowest rail in my horse’s paddock fence varies between 12" and 18" from the ground, with variation related to topography that can’t really be adjusted. A fellow boarder’s Amazing Graze routinely makes the rounds across the whole row of paddocks (which I’m not a big fan of since I don’t know what foodstuffs are in there that my horse may be getting her snoot into). This hay play ball also looks to be sized in a way that wouldn’t work with the fences at a majority of barns I’ve ever kept horses at. Make it 3"-4" bigger, and I might be interested.
I can’t tell if it’s rigid or somewhat flexible, but if it’s got a little flex (e.g. like the consistency of a rubber feed pan) I could imagine it being possible to get hay out even when not full. But if it’s totally rigid I can imagine that its performance depends entirely upon the texture and length of the hay you put in it.
I use tape so can’t hang on fence posts either. I bought some of the cheaper water tubs and drilled holes thatI zip tied metal rings into. I attach my Nagbags to those. One tub in the front of the turnout and one in the back.
My horses and donkeys love it. It is small - only takes about a flake. But I put some extra alfalfa cubes in there to keep them interested and they seem to enjoy it.
Are they able to empty it of all hay? Or is there always a core left that’s unreachable?
I ordered one for my mare who is on stall rest. Sports Direct is $80 shipped.
Will report back when I get it.
https://us.sportsdirect.com/hay-play-feeder-767938?colcode=76793818
Simkie, it always gets fully emptied. What I like about it is that they tend to clean it all up … I don’t even find hay feathers in the barnyard.
Mine arrived last week and over the first two days, I’d say I’m glad I bought it. One concern would be keeping it away from foals/minis/ponies that could put a hoof in the holes. My mare is on extended stall rest and she already tends towards the more zaftig side of the scale, so she needs to be kept occupied without ingesting extra calories. The first day she emptied it about 2/3. The second day, she seemed a little more interested, and was nibbling on it when I left the barn. I’m hoping she’ll play with the ball itself when it’s empty as well.
It seems that the US retailers are just having them drop-shipped from overseas anyway, so it makes sense to just buy it from Sports Direct. It took about 10 days to receive it.
Yeah mine have the Shires graze toy and they LOVE it, but they push it under the fence and that makes the next game they play “break the fence posts to get to the toy.” So as much as I love the toys and they love the toys, I rarely use them. If they were just a smidge bigger they’d be perfect.
My horse couldn’t be bothered, even with treats inside. He likes to play with other things, but isn’t the sharpest tool in the shed, so I think he never really figured it out. I even cut a few more holes in it but he wasn’t interested.
I’ve been putting his extra hay in a small hole net, and using a locking carabiner to close the top (removing the string). He does like to eat the hay and toss the net around trying to get the hidden tasty stuff, and I’ll find it halfway across the pasture. But that is only for horses with no shoes to get the net caught on. I thought about the hay pillow product, but my system is working well, so I’ll see how it goes!
The Hay Play is a lot bigger than the Shires Ball Feeder. My mare has a pipe panel pen, and it is too tall to roll under, which is a big reason why I chose it.
