IIRC the OP noted he was getting 6#… I thought after looking at the product online it was way too little…
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I’ll agree with this. In Ohio where I boarded, what this OP is doing would even be considered excessive. 6-8 flakes a day per horse? My, my, what an eater! (sarcasm) Most of the barns in Central Ohio (especially the quarter horse barns) feed two flakes AM and PM, and that’s it. Limited turnout so fields wouldn’t get torn up, so that was basically all the forage they got with their grain every day, stuck in little stalls. It was the most annoying thing ever. Half of them, even if you paid for extra hay, always seemed to “forget” your horse’s extra hay.
For most of the horses, it “worked fine” (the horses weren’t losing it like the horse in question on this point, but their health was arguable). But when you have a horse like this one, who is clearly bored and does not tolerate such a long period of time without turnout or hay, exceptions must be made. Dude needs more hay and/or a hay net, plain and simple.
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I think we’re all just talking amongst ourselves at this point. 
OP has gone off to try hay net idea – hopefully stuffed with more hay.
So we’ll see.
Maybe.
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In my experience, working in barns, the real reason that some BO’s loathe hay nets (although they will generally throw every excuse under the sun at boarders when they request that they be used) is that they don’t know how to fill them easily…
Get a clean muck tub.
Line it with the hay net.
Put hay inside.
Walk it down to the stall.
Pull up the sides of the net.
Hang net.
Takes 30 seconds with no struggling involved.
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And I first struggled with then embraced the Nibble Net as well for the same reasons. I agree that ‘too much work for staff’ is often the real reason behind refusal to use one of these options.
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playing devil’s advocate here - just an insight as a BM and also, someone who had to fill haynets @ home with my own personal horse…
the REAL reason BOs and BMs and working staff HATE nibble nets/hay nets is because it’s not just one person that wants one – once Mary Sue sees that Clarice’s horse has a hay net she wants one for her precious Dobbin too.
It’s not just the filling the haynet - it’s taking it down and hanging it up, which easily adds minutes to your morning routine. God forbid someone lose the snap/clip (why do workers ALWAYS take the clip off the damn bag?! LEAVE IT ON!), which happens much more often than you think…
The last barn I worked at, all of the competition horses had haynets. For five horses, it took 15+ minutes to set up their hay nets - that includes taking them down, bringing them to the hay, filling them, bringing them back to the stall and hanging them. Comparing it to feeding the other 5 horses in the same aisle that did not have hay nets, it only took 2 minutes to fill each stall.
I streamlined this process by pulling each hay net down and putting it @ the front stall when we went into their stalls to halter for turn out.
Make no mistake, it adds much, much more than 30s. I can see where one would be okay but in boarding barns it is so rare that someone is the “exception” when everyone wants to be the exception.
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The nibble net we used on the layup stayed up and got filled in place.
Another reason I prefer them to traditional nets.
ETA we also used these and they are also uber easy to hang, and refill, esp with soaked hay.
I would also consider the cost and time savings of less wasted hay, hay being eaten too fast that they get way more, and time cleaning stall with wasted hay strewn about [as applicable] when weighing if nets are something you want to explore with boarders or nix.
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I find if you use the nibble net with 2 straps and feed hay by bringing the hay to the stall, it’s faster. One strap keeps the net hung while you unclip the other to open it up. Dump hay in, close top, done. If only my horse could figure out how to eat out of it. Lol
i am really liking the new Haygain feeder and how it’s designed to break apart (without really breaking) if the horse gets his feet tangled in it. Though for the horse in the OP, that could just become his new game.
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[quote="![](PEsq,post:148,topic:429975"]
I find if you use the nibble net with 2 straps and feed hay by bringing the hay to the stall, it’s faster. One strap keeps the net hung while you unclip the other to open it up. Dump hay in, close top, done. If only my horse could figure out how to eat out of it. Lol
i am really liking the new Haygain feeder and how it’s designed to break apart (without really breaking) if the horse gets his feet tangled in it. Though for the horse in the OP, that could just become his new game.
[/quote]
I was just looking at the website cause your description didn’t fit the way we used them where I was a WS… [unless I am misunderstanding your description which is always possible!]
The ones we had had 4 rings… the hang strap was hooked to the back rings [the rings on the side where there were no nibble holes], and then we had 2 double ended clips to secure the front ring to the rear ring.
To fill, just unclip from the rear ring, fill, and then reclip closed.
Yes it left a small gap at the top, but he never seemed to get his hay via that small gap.
[IMG]http://www.thinaircanvas.com/nibblenet/gallery/pictures/largepics/snap%20hooks.jpg)
Like the above, but with the hang strap also on those rear rings to hold it up.
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You misunderstood: I am a BM and that was my insight as one.
It’s really quick and easy to fill them once you get in the habit and I’ve never once seen a horse get caught up in them. I have seen a BO claim that a horse did just because he was too lazy to fill the net, though. This was after he gave the horse owner his standard “eating nylon” colic horror story and the horse owner ordered a cotton alternative. I’ve seen a BO untie one and throw it down in the stall after a boarder hung it, just to freak the boarder out and keep others from using them. That worked on the boarder.
Just to think it through a little further: nets save hay, because there’s far less strewn about and they save labor costs for the same reason.
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[quote=“An
Like the above, but with the hang strap also on those rear rings to hold it up.
[/quote]
Yes that works too, although I never hang snaps that direction, always smooth side in, which wouldn’t allow you to just unhook the front rings. So, having one of the straps attached to the back rings keeps the net hung while the second strap hooks over both rings to close. But in any event, I was trying to say it’s pretty easy to fill if you can keep the bag hung up while opened to insert hay, in which case we are in agreement. 
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Yes, I was agreeing with you, and curious about other ways to hang these.
And I agree about clip positioning, note the above pic is from Nibble Nets website and not my horse/barn.
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Found out all of this was caused by a mare in heat. The mare just got sold yesterday so we will see if his behavior changes.
Again… this horse was a stud until he was 5. And gelded because they could not handle him as a stud…
Only reason I know this is because the other night I heard a big “gush” of water… I was wondering who it was coming from so I was looking in the horses stalls to make sure nobody had loose poop. When I just walked past his stall he came lunging, teeth showing, rearing up at the stall bars. I then went to the mares stall which is right across from his stall and she was peeing and presenting herself. Moved the mare to a different stall, she got sold yesterday too. Just waiting for the smell to get out of the barn and hopefully he will calm down.
He’s never had a mare in heat close to him yet, my barn is all geldings right now.
I don’t know that you found out she was the cause… could have been a factor sure… but doesn’t mean his behaviors will stop or were solely caused by a mare in heat.
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Thats the first time he’s been by a mare, and she recently came into heat and thats when the behaviors started with him. He’s never came lunging at the stall bars before, and when he did it she was peeing at the same time and presenting herself.
Hmm… I thought you had said he was not interested in mare and she was not acting as if she was in heat…
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My mare is 24 years old… has no interest in him and she lives outside, doesn’t even come in the barn. She hasn’t been in heat. And recently he hasn’t even been by her because of the rain and bad weather. And the last pen he was in was not by her. He was outside away from mares friday, saturday, and sunday of last week, and thats when the habits started.
When I did turn him out next to my mare and gelding he was fine. But shes not in heat.
It all started when the inside mare came into heat recently…
Regardless of the most recent triggering factor, I am sure the consensus remains that:
- This horse quite likely has ulcers.
- Your feeding practices are not optimal, either for a horse his size, and especially so if #1 is true.
- He NEEDS MORE HAY, and I hope you will stop taking away his extra night-time hay.
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Pretty weird and baffling that a) you know this horse was gelded late and was a rank stallion, but you housed him near a mare anyway and b) you suspected that the mare might be the problem in the very beginning but still just wanted to hobble him, and c) that you just left the mare in that stall instead of shuffling some horses around to see if that would settle him down.
The way you approach your horses is more like how someone approaches some sort of inanimate object. Not every single horse will fit into the strict, narrow mold you have, you know. A lot of them won’t. Adapting to the individual horse makes you a BETTER horse person.
I really hope, for the horse’s sake, that his owner decides to move him somewhere else that’s a better fit for him and that until that happens, he’s able to have more hay. Poor guy. 
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He may very well be interested in the mare. However stress, whether because he’s frustrated by an interesting mare in heat and/or from discomfort from not having enough food in his stomach to sop up stomach acid… can lead to ulcers.
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