Google is your friend. Valley Vet, Big-D, Schneiders, Chicks…all still sell feed bags. Never heard of respiratory problems with use of a feedbag with good quality feed. Good feed bags will have air holes and the horse only wears it to eat.
Respiratory problems are a function of dust and mold so you have to feed quality feed. I have seen feed that was hot when you stuck your hand in the bag…not good.
We were taught it was because they had no choice and had to breathe back in the feed all the time. I have never used one.
Ummm- there’s nothing wrong with a mesh feedbag and you don’t stuff their muzzles into it LOL.
https://859e5cea471ead81ab4e-c6fc72d5f654269c27104f13c7221bbc.ssl.cf1.rackcdn.com/417Om+EVqVL.jpg
Put a muzzle on the fat horse (trust me, they still figure out ways to eat hay, even while muzzled). Research shows that it needs to be 24/7, not half a day, when you’re trying to control body weight - otherwise, the horse just waits until the muzzle comes off and eats the same amount it would if completely un-muzzled, just in half the time!
Also, instead of “piles”, separate the hay out flake by flake. This has multiple advantages: lots of options for the shy horse, fat horse has to walk around and “graze” instead of pigging out in one spot, and you won’t have piles/mud holes created by uneaten hay accumulating over time.
Another thing you should consider is that, if the dimensions you listed are correct, you have a VERY small space for two horses to share. It could be that your TB can’t get far enough away from the QH to escape the QH’s personal space, especially when food is involved. Separating them may ultimately be the best course of action.
It sounds small but in person it is actually a good sized space and they definitely have room to get away from eachother they are not in eachothers space at all when they dont want to be. Id rather have them here than the stall sized paddocks boarding facilites offer in this area.
My guess could be off i absolutely suck at seeing distances (a reason i gave up jumping years ago lmao)
I feed off round bales and squares so when i use sqaures i do it flake by flake and when rounds multiple small piles they are doing quite well now with this system i think my older girl just needed more time to adjust but i will be getting panels for winter so i can switch back to slow feed nets.
Actually looking outside and counting the rails its probably closer to 250-300 feet long i was at work when i was originally guessing
Here are some articles that may help:
https://thehorse.com/113596/tips-for-feeding-horses-in-a-group/
Horses have killed themselves by running head on into each other at speed. Horses have been killed by running head on into trees and fences. Horses have been killed by being stressed in a stall. Horses have been killed by just about any and every method that you can think of and many that you can’t, there is always risk of death and injury when keeping horses. The owner assumes the risk, and accepts it when a decision about keeping horses is made.
I keep my horses in groups, in paddocks and in fields. My paddocks are sand. So my concern is feeding hay off the sand, and sand colic (which has never happened). So I accept the risk of horses dying by running into each other head on, by running into the fence, by running into trees, by becoming tangled and caught in a huge and heavy cut out logging machinery tire. By doing so, I accept certain risks, and avoid other risks. It’s all a trade off, based on what works for you, and what risks you are comfortable in assuming IMO.
Personally, and with what I have seen since getting the tires, the huge tires look pretty safe to me, safer than some other options. Safer than many of the round bale feeders I have seen. Safer than feeding off the sand. Other than getting INTO the tire somehow (as your pictures show), there are no possible places for legs to get caught with a solid, large, heavy tire. Plus, they keep horses from chasing each other off the hay pile due to their size. But with horses, it is perfectly possible for a horse to kill itself on just about anything and everything nearby, if they are intent on self destruction, and/or it’s owner is plagued by bad luck.
I have one gelding who used the tire to examine his own foot, put it up there to take a good look at a heel injury, and lick it out to keep it clean (he removes bandages). I have my darling cribber who uses her tire as a cribbing support as she eats her hay. Saves her having to walk across the paddock to use the fence or gate, so that makes me happy as well as her. Plus, less wear on her teeth on the rubber rather than the wood fence. Bonus!
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