I have the helix feeder. Similar idea to the PortaGrazer, but soft sides, and it collapses when they eat the hay. My mare isn’t super rough with it, but she does throw it around the stall a bit, and it’s been pretty sturdy so far. I’ve had it for around 3 years now.
I have seen the field version at the local Seminole store. Very sturdy
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Do you notice any extra tooth wear? Have you used it in cold/snow?
I have a DHH in my barn. He can get a front foot in a port-o-grazer, I kid you not. He can get a front foot any place it does not belong. Fortunately, he doesn’t panic. What worked for us (he is IR) is the Tough 1 hay hoop Big Dee’s and Schneider’ sells. It’s mounted about 4 feet off the ground. If the hay net is too long, I roll it up like a standing wrap and zip tie it. I don’t know why it works so well, but it does.
I got my mare a portagrazer earlier this year when she had to go on stall rest. I had considered it earlier (I don’t love hay nets) but the stall rest convinced me to bit the bullet.
After some embarrassing/ridiculous trial and error (I put the lid in upside down, experimenting with anchoring it to the wall in different ways), she got the hang of it and now seems to love it. Her hay lasts longer and she seems calm and relaxed while eating out of it - very different from watching her try to rip her haynet off the wall. So in my experience, a good purchase.
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I have not noticed any extra tooth wear. I only use it in her stall, so don’t know how it would do outdoors/in snow.
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Portagrazers are notoriously tough and durable. A friend of mine has had them for her stalled and pastured horses (minimal pasture so supplemented with hay) for years, and loves them for extending hay access.
I’ve had the best success with the large corner feeder style, with an eye hook in the corner and a short tie from the handle to the eye hook to keep it upright. I think it’s a fantastic way to extend hay overnight with the head in a natural position. You avoid the neck twisting associated with hay nets, no evidence of wear and tear on teeth. (for what it’s worth, my horses are shod so hay pillows and their ilk are out of the question.)
The only downside is that the company is apparently a pain to deal with if there’s a dispute, but I had no issues 
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I have the largest Porta Grazer. It’s been in use I guess about 5 years now. Very sturdy. I tether mine to the stall wall usually. If it’s not tethered, my horse kicks it around like a soccer ball lol. It’s held up fabulously.
No wear on my horse’s teeth. It does slow my horse down eating hay but I can see if a person needs 4 lbs of hay to last 12 hrs it wouldn’t be enough of a slow down. The Porta Grazer was a legit game changer when I boarded! Staff had no issues filling it and I got many comments on how nice it is. I keep my horses at home now and regularly consider getting a second one. My second horse is a hard keeping older boy though so he doesn’t really need any slowing down.
My vet spent some time examining my Porta Grazer when she was here last time and thought it was pretty slick!
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I got a Savvy Feeder for my mare for shows and ended up using it for her stall rest this winter/spring. When empty, she will pick it up and drop it, but otherwise is a happy camper. She WILL drag it around though, for some reason she really wants it in the middle of the stall but will clear the middle of the mat of shavings. There’s a little bit of a learning curve in not packing it tight in the corners but otherwise, it works well. No teeth wear, just whisker wear.
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We have had the SavvyFeeders in service for most of a year now. They do get extensively relocated during use, but the critters seem quite happy with them, and we have found a happy spot where there is generally a little hay remaining in the feeder when I go to refill them, morning and evening. So more or less a Free-feed situation. The goal was to always have some hay available if anyone wanted a midnight nibble. It’s working. Waste from these is minimal, and they are durable. About my only negative comment would be that their estimated hay capacity is overly optimistic. We feed mostly Timothy, and I “fluff” the flakes as I go while loading. I would say 10lb is about it when filled this way. More than that, and the hay is compacted to where the critters have a hard time pulling a satisfying mouthful out, and they complain about it. (Flip the full feeder upside down and glare at me: “WTF, Human ?!?”)
I always weigh their servings (I have an old commercial platform scale in the barn), and typically serve out ~8lb/feeder, 2X/day. They get an aditional ~2lb overnight in a “HayPlay” toy, plus about a pound of pelleted feed (50/50 Sweet-feed + Ration Balancer at the moment) with their meds and supplements mixed in for breakfast.
Plus assorted treats; carrots, apples, horse cookies, peppermints, sliced bread . . . not not in significant quantities, but very popular. “Spoiled Equines R Us”.
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I’ve had my Portagrazers now for two years (I think). I lOVE them. My oldest gelding hated it at first and was very resentful, but now he loves it, as do the other two. The now 3 year old does like to stick a foot in it (why, I have no idea), but doesn’t panic and is now big enough to get it back out. I used to leave it unsecured for him so that he could knock it over and get his leg back out. BUT, someone decided that using it as a toy was more fun, so his is secured now. I shared this video on the other thread, but this is how I finally figured out how it was getting squashed.
95270001JFRA366P_2023-02-15-08-33-09 (1)
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I also had the Helix feeder and my horse was pretty rough with it. I eventually took it out of her stall as she was starting to crack it and I didn’t want her to destroy it. She’s not rough to the point where she decimates the SmartPak hay nets though, I have one going on 6 years which has held up better than the Kiwi Helix feeder. IMO if the horse has gone through the SmartPak net then I would be hesitant about buying a Helix feeder unless you can buy one used since they’re pricy new.
For the Portagrazer, could you put one of those huge salt licks in the bottom of it? One that weighs like 30ish lbs or more to try and discourage him from bouncing around the stall? This was the issue I had with the Kiwi Helix feeder actually, she spent all night throwing and flipping it which wasn’t great for her neck. The Portagrazer would probably work if you could weigh down the bottom of it!
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How did they not work for you? Have always wanted to try and hear overwhelmingly glowing reviews. Curious about your negatives.
It wasn’t for my horse, but barn staff found that horses had trouble getting to the hay. Maybe it was a one off, but seemed the grate thing didn’t push down on the top of the hay enough, hay didn’t poke up enough through holes and horse couldn’t get into holes to access hay. Had much better luck using slow feed nets, which is what several of us use now.
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The porta grazer does have to be loaded a certain way. There are diagrams on the website. I also ‘start’ the hay draw by pulling some through the holes. The only thing I am not sure about is if my horse is going to toss it around the stall.
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I wasn’t involved, but we have a pretty great BM who has decades of experience and whose own children are a pro and a vet tech. Typically when things don’t work, they try and figure out why and adjust. For example, our new bay steamer wasn’t properly steaming the hay, so they built a leveled gravel pad and voila, it worked!
I do know that when my horse was both put on a diet and mandated soaked or steamed hay, I wanted to go the portagrazer route and was discouraged. We still have it sitting in the attic last I checked.
I know people love them, but maybe either the learning curve can be steep or they don’t work for everyone. Just our experience…
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@erinmeri I wonder if the barn staff made the same mistake that I did initially and put the lid with the holes in upside down, because that’s the issue that I was having. I almost got rid of it before I took one last look at the pictures on their website and realized my mistake.
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Could be! But like I mentioned in my last post, they usually do a great job of trial and error to figure it out. I think we may be in the minority of people for whom the PortaGrazer doesn’t work. Totally separately, I do worry about tooth wear.
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I love my Porta Grazer. That being said, in addition to the issues w loading the hay and the lid being set properly, I believe dense / compressed hay and horses that are fussy / less driven eaters are less suitable for the Porta Grazers. Just what I’ve seen w my horses and my hay. Tagging @Simkie in case these might be considerations for her
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I have a porta grazer for my young, 17.1h gelding who ripped hay nets every night once he had front shoes. I wanted something he could literally stand in and not get stuck or destroy. We use small bale flakes and some large bale flakes and both work fine. To get hay out when it’s really full, he uses his nose to push the lid down a bit and turns the lid to fluff some hay up into the holes. Once it’s not as full, he can nibble hay out pretty easily.
He moves it all around his stall usually in an upright position but knocks it over sometimes. He’ll use his feet to let everyone know his feeder is on it’s side, but if you leave him alone he pops it back upright with his head in <10 minutes. He’ll often be eating out of the feeder even if he has some loose hay on the ground.
I started with the standard insert/lid and ended up getting one of the 10 hole lids to slow him down some more. He doesn’t have an issue with either.
When the feeder is totally full, it’s pretty heavy. Even mostly empty, if the horse wants the last bit of hay, they’ll tip it upright to finish it. They don’t really toss them around, mostly tip over and roll them a bit. Honestly it’s not nearly as loud as some of the horses ripping away at their hay net/hay hoops.
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