You bet!
Just an aside - GreenGuard also makes Hay Play bags/pillows that have the larger holes. I have played around with those with the small hole net inside and outside of the bag, but the first gen bags really didn’t hold up well, and of course are quite pricey.
I’ve thought about that, but I really don’t want them eating off the ground in the dry lot. As I’ve mentioned in my barn building thread, that material never set up well and is loose like sand. They would ingest a boatload of it if I fed them loose.
I was considering making some sort of gantry to be able to hang a net where she couldn’t pin it against anything, though. I could put mats under it so the hay wouldn’t ever be directly on the ground.
If she’s walking away because it’s too tough to get the last bits out of the almost empty net, maybe splitting the day’s hay into smaller nets is worth a shot. Make it a little less “fishing for a small fish in a large pond” type thing. Maybe tying a big net through the middle, making two compartments, could accomplish the same?
I’m not totally understanding what you’re saying - more than 2 feedings? I can’t really do that on the weekdays, with my work schedule. She’s already fed more than what she “should” be getting by weight (2.5%+), but it’s tempered with mediocre quality hay.
I’m definitely not understanding the second part.
Edit: Also the net is not really almost empty - it’s got at least half of a large flake in it (edit for clarity - flake is off of a small square, but these suckers are BIG flakes). I tried sitting around and helping her for a few days to keep her motivation up (she thought that was grand fun), but without me there, she gives up and she’s not a giver-upper.
When a hay net is full or mostly full or whatever, it’s easier to get hay out of it because there’s less loose net. The hay presses against the holes.
But once a net is emptier it’s harder, because the hay can just move around inside the net itself rather than be easy to get out.
You could put out multiple smaller nets all at once. Because the nets are smaller, she might be able to get more total out of each before being done with the challenge.
Or, put half her hay in your larger net, cinch it tightly above that hay, and put the rest of her hay in, and tie the top. Creating two smaller compartments in your large net. Because it’s two smaller spaces, hay will be less likely to get “lost” in the net.
I can try both of those ideas. I have my big bale nets, but now that I’m down to the wire on hay - trying to maintain until I can get an entire barn full of second cutting - I’m trying to feed set portions. Once they’re on pasture for 12 hours, I’ll be putting full bales out again because they will pick through it, dreaming of the grass lol
You’re suggesting double netting multiple smaller nets, yes? Because a single layer she just plows right on through it lol.
Like @FjordBCRF, I’m embarrassed to admit how many nets I have at this point.
So… you’ve probably thought of this, but I don’t put the intact flake in the net. I pull it apart and stuff it in. That works well for the horses who have 1” nets I care for.
Yeah whatever you’re doing now that works except for the end. Just make the package smaller.
It makes sense this is kind of an issue with netted hay in a trough set up. Gravity helps keep the hay pressed against the net if it’s hanging, but the net is just going to sort of puddle against the hay in a container. Especially with multiple nets.
I do pull the flakes apart, as I mix a tiny bit of the second cutting in. Good thought though!
Thanks all for a new batch of ideas.
Have you tried hanging the hay bag so that it is not against anything?
Just using the one hay bag. With nothing to push against, it does slow them down some.
That’s what I was talking about, with building some sort of gantry. I don’t hang hay inside unless there’s inclement weather, so I’d have to build some sort of outdoor structure. It’s definitely possible though!
That does slow her down, though, because inside where I can hang off the rafters it does work. I’m not sure how she would do with the coarser 1st cutting hung like that, as when they’re inside with hay I will give her 1/2 flake of the really nice orchard, hung where she can’t pin it against anything to keep her from getting bored.
Might be worth making a quick thing to hang it from to see how it works and then engineer and build something more final.
You can just do something like a heavy duty shelf bracket that gets it just far enough away from the barn to see if it works.
I could just hang her first cutting inside for a day to see, too. Nothing an extra bag of shavings wouldn’t fix.
I swear to god the little turd is litter trained though - she comes inside JUST to pee. It’s infuriating. I’d take away all her shavings, but she does it regardless of if there’s shavings or not, and I’d rather there be something to absorb it.
I’m tempted on nice days to lock her out completely LOL
I have one of these types too.
I spray a liquid deodorizer every single day, hoping someday she will quit. But so far no luck. She’s lucky I like her. 
Mine likes to pee right by the door to the aisleway. If the door is not shut, she will even get pee all over the aisle.
I sweep all the bedding back so there is nothing there but mats (and the aisle, which is also mats), but she will still pee there, even with no mats.
I laugh when people say horses will not pee on hard surfaces.
There is a whole sand turn out, a stall bedded in shavings, but she wants to pee right there in that spot and no hard surface is going to make her change her mind.
Oh, I will count my lucky stars that mine pees in a less offensive part. If either of my horses tries to pee in the crossties, they get interrupted and put in a more appropriate location to urinate. Blech!
I have one that nearly never pees inside, and it’s surprisingly pretty terrible too. Because there’s no wet out/new in cycle, her bedding lasts forever and just gets So. Damn. Dusty.
I never thought I’d complain about a horse who only pees outside. The gelding who only POOPS outside is so much better, give me a barn full of that instead.
I will say that Grundy is good for the pooping. Generally, she stud piles. Even when she doesn’t do that, she’s very conscientious about not stepping in her poop and not pooping where she walks, which makes it far easier to clean.
Although, she does poop more than any horse I’ve ever seen, despite her size. The Old Man? 6 piles a day, max. Grundy? more like 12, and they’re elephant sized lol.
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