We’re hanging up hay nets tonight because our horses keep walking through the hay and spreading it all over their stalls. How high should they safely be from the ground? The hay nets I got said that they can be either hung or left on the ground - are there any negatives to leaving them on the ground. I want to encourage a natural feeding position on the ground, but the hay waste doesn’t make that possible unfortunately. One horse is shod and the other isn’t. We were looking at these two heights?
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Are your horses shod.
If shod, nets need to be hung high enough to prevent a horse hooking a heel.
If barefoot, they can go as low as you want or on the ground. As long as we’re talking about small hole nets. If the net has holes big enough for a hoof to fit through, it would need to be up out of hoof range.
You could also secure a net inside a water trough, which would be safe for shod horses, and a way to feed on the “ground.”
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I dislike hanging bags for daily use because they put a horses head and neck into weird positions. Like Simkie said, how big are the holes in your bags and are your horses shod? If the answers are ‘small’ and ‘no’ I’d put them on the ground (not attached though because a horse can get feet wrapped in the straps. The idea of a trough of some kind is clever.
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Right, any hanging will require for the horse to reach with head twisted, best if bags are on a flat surface.
We feed only alfalfa and the flakes on the ground, outside under the shed, or in the stalls in a clean corner and our horses are careful eaters and eat it all, no waste.
Our neighbor feeds some on the ground and some in hay bags in the stalls, right in his corner feeders, bag and all and his horses seem to do fine.
Since you have a problem with feeding on the ground, you could run your own study.
Many horses do fine with hanging bags, try it and change if you feel a horse is becoming uncomfortable.
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I have two of my four horses on hay bags. I use Hay Chix full size bale hay nets and hang them about chest high, horizontal to give horse a more “natural” head carriage while eating (think corn on the cob). Any lower and I worry that horse will paw at the hanging hay net and catch a leg. My horses are unshod. My hay nets are 1" to 1.5 inch and both my horses using hay nets are masters of the hay net.
At shows, I put the hay net on the ground and tie it in a corner. That’s because I am there when the horse is stalled and can make sure it isn’t dragged into poop or a urine spot.
At home hay nets are hung in the run-in shed; three nets at a time so each horse during the winter has 3 bales in his shed. My horses are out 24/7 in the winter, coming in only to have grain, a quick look over, and the chosen one is ridden (sometimes 2 of them are). In the summer, there are the remains of the winter hay nets left over from April 15 still hanging in the shed – not sure if I will replace --I ended up with extra hay this year, so I think I will. Horses each have individual 5 ac pastures, with lush grass, so not necessary, but I like them to have “something to do” on those days when they hang out in the shed.
The two that are not on hay nets are because the elder horse no longer has teeth that can make a hay net work. He bunks with a younger (unsound) horse that is a hay net master and could easily manage a hay net --BUT my goal is to make my horses happy and healthy so those two have free choice hay tossed on the ground. Although they are good about cleaning it up, there is waste.
I think the two gents, the elder and the unsound, are happiest together [they have 10 acres of pasture and a double wide shed] . I would put all my geldings in one big 20 acre pasture with sheds for each except Bob is herd aggressive and would drive me crazy picking on the others --herd aggression on his part was why such a great horse was within my price range. He must be kept separate.
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OP, as you’ve read above, there isn’t 1 simple answer. It depends on your net (I see your nylon woven net), how tall your horse is, shod or unshod and what type of eater they are. If your horse tends to paw, hang the net higher out of hoof range or leave on the ground if it’s safe for that purpose. In general, hang the net so the horse eats with his head neutral horizontal or lower - not reaching up to eat. Observe the horse using the net and use your best judgement.
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I pretty much only use hay nets when I need to restrict consumption (e.g. metabolc horse).
Whe I want to reduce waste I put the loose hay in a (dry) water trough. You could also use a manure basket with the handles removed.
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It’s very unnatural for horses to eat from hay nets. Horses were designed to eat from the ground and chew with their heads lowered and their lower jaw hanging. Horses spend much of their free time eating, so forcing a horse to have to twist and pull with their neck in a weird way for 8-12 hours of a day doesn’t seem great to me. While it is bothersome to humans to see horses rummaging through their hay on the ground and making a “mess” or “wasting” their hay, actual horses love to sift through their hay and find the choicest pieces first and then work through the rest. It’s a soothing and happy pastime for them. If you must use nets for metabolic horses, I recommend hanging at a height where they would not be able to get a foot (or the heel of a shoe) caught. Both of the nets pictured look too low to me for safety reasons.
