Ok so as a spinoff to my haynet disappointment thread (green nets lasted less than a month 
) I am now wondering if I can make my own small hole haynets out of fishing nets?
Yes
What kind of fishing net? I don’t know much about fishing nets 
Wow ReSomething thanks!!! I will call them tomorrow!!
I wouldn’t use nylon, whether it be a fishing net or horse hay net. I have had to cut a horse out of nylon hay nets not once but twice. They are so dangerous!
I have had good luck with the cheapy commercial ones, but I have a few friends with net destroyers who made them out of hockey nets- they laced up the sides with hay string and fill from top, then use double sided snaps to close. They have lasted at least a year so far.
I have used hockey net and tennis netting (free). I am sure fishing netting would probably work just fine.
It is important to make sure the string used to make the net is close to the same thickness as the string regular hay nets are made of. Thin string can cut a horse’s mouth and gums and tongue very badly.
As a fisheries biologist who owns horses, I would say NO WAY EVER would I use fishing nets on my hay. I use all kinds of nets every day – they do what they were made to do: catch on FREAKING EVERYTHING and not break unless you get really really mad. Ever tried to get a catfish species out of any kind of sampling net? Often I have to just break off the end of their fin spines to get them free. A suicidal giant clumsy animal, possibly with horseshoes on or blanket clips? Doom.
Sports nets are a good alternative, or just double up nets so strings overlap and make smaller holes.
Ok what kind of sports net?
I would very much agree with wildlifer. I would never use fishing net as a hay net.
Hockey net, lacrosse maybe? Some sort of sports net would be better. Do you have a sports store you could go by to put your hands on some and then find a supplier to get it from on the cheap?
We have the big box stores, Dicks, Field and Stream, Walmart. I can check there.
We used to sell that nylon stuff by the yard, and I’m not talking monofilament like a herring gillnet. It was twine, and people bought it to keep golf balls from bashing out their windows. More similar to a hockey net or other sports net, but small enough holes to stop a golf ball.
OP wanted less destructible than the purpose made small hole nets she’d been using, if the nets really need to BE weak for horse safety then that is a valid point.
