Appealing to the wide range of experiences here. Is there any reason, with bare foot horses, and replacing the drawstring with a carabiner, not to simply throw small hole nets on the ground? The pony clubber in me is appalled, but with a two inch net is there a huge safety issue?
Back story for the question: I’ve always fed out my hay as flakes on the ground. It has worked quite well for many years, especially in the winter as the horses have to move all over the acre plus paddock reducing mud and ice issues since I can move the hay around to help with management. But, I’ve had to switch to round bales due to supply issues. This presents an odd problem for me: I’m on a windy, very windy hill and the unrolled hay just simply vanishes in the slightest breeze. Last week we had three days of high wind in a row, I’ve estimated that well over half the hay was blown out of the field making everyone miserable.
I can’t put the bale out, since the two fatties would simply eat it 24/7 and would make darn sure that the pony (who is not fat) never gets close. I’ve tried that already, not going there again. I’d like to avoid tubs or feeders because the two fatties are drafts, if they can break it, they will break it. And get hurt in the process, because horses!
So hay nets, which would also let me control said fatties intake better anyway, which is very appealing! But I can’t hang them on the fence (electric) and the last thing I want is to have them all trying to get at the hay in the run in shed, someone will get hurt. I like making them move around the field looking for the hay, just throwing the nets out would let me do that still…if it is safe.
That is exactly how I have been feeding hay to three barefoot horses for over ten years. The only issues I have ever had with hay bags is two different horses have each gotten a hoof up and over the top of a hanging hay bag in a trailer. Still trying to figure that one out. They had to have reared up to get their leg up that high. But, on the ground, zero issues.
With barefoot horses, I don’t see a reason why not. I know Hay Chix nets says it’s perfectly safe to do so with unshod horses and their nets.
There are companies that make hay pillows for this purpose. They are long and rectangular. They might have solid fabric on the bottom to stop hay falling out.
If your horses are anything like my horses, you are going to end up with hay bags that get manure and urine on them and bonus of frozen stiff in the winter.
Other than that it is a great idea.
Yeah, I’m thinking I will have to have multiple nets to rotate out due to the freezing issue, I remember that being a problem even with the hanging nets at the barns I worked at, so I imagine the ground is going to be worse by far.
I am just worried, right now the set up has very few things in that I have put in there that they can get hurt on, I want to keep it that way if possible…but!
Agreed with this. Have a fresh net for each day, and a plan to dunk/soak/clean the dirty one.
The net seems to be the same though, so the potential for ‘catching’ somehow must still be there?
I fed my barefoot pony out of 1" and 1.5" hay nets tossed on the ground for a couple of years without any injuries/hangups.
From my experience:
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Don’t stop at one knot. If they can pick the net up they will probably untie it in short order and eat out of the nice big hole rather than nibbling. Tie a reef knot (or other fancy functional knot of your choice), then 2-3 regular knots on top of that. There is still a chance they will untie it.
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One day, they will untie one of the nets and the drawstring will vanish forever. You will systematically sweep back and forth across the paddock looking for it. You will not find it.
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One day, the entire net will vanish. You will spend a significant amount of time looking for the net, wondering if it sunk into the mud like a Far Side explorer into quicksand. You will find it in the neighbouring field where the nice horses were having fun investigating it.
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The nets will get disgusting and stiff very quickly when used outside on the ground. It is essential to have a few so you can rotate. The only way I’ve gotten them resembling their original condition was to soak them, then scrub inch by inch (rubbing the net on itself) with dish soap, rinse, and repeat until the water turned clear (or clear-ish).
The biggest problem was that my pony developed a rather brutally efficient method to empty his net as fast as possible. He’d shake it violently until it either untied itself or all the hay fell out. It made me worry about his neck and back the way he’d wing his head around. Never had any real problems from it but he gets fed flakes on the ground now, as I think it’s better for his topline and vertebrae alignment. Most horses aren’t as aggressive with eating out of the nets of course, but I would keep an eye on how they’re eating.
I don’t think the unshod horses will get caught up in a hay net on the ground but yes, the potential for damaging loose hay nets is immense. You will need to see how the horses treat them. That can differ alot. Also give thought to the size of the holes. If you have a horse that isn’t getting enough to eat as it is, small hole hay nets make it harder.
All good points, I think even if they do turn them into toys it is probably worth it. Or learn to shake them apart for that matter. I’m not too worried about the pony not getting enough hay, I suspect even with the best dentistry by next winter hay is going to be an amusement for her and not a real food source; it really is already. However, the psychology of always being chased off the hay bale is bad. But, if the boys (the fatties!) want to be frustrated by the hay nets and turn them into footballs at the same? I’ll post the videos!
You could also put the hay (with or without a haynet) in an unused water trough, to solve the “blowing away” problem.
Yes, have done this for years without a problem. I do not replace with a carabiner (tried it and they smashed it). I find it best to untie the top knot, fill with hay and then tie the knot at the base, keeping the top snug.
I have enough nets that I can wash them in the washing machine with some Nellie’s detergent when really filthy. I may only need to do that once or twice per season. Mine are not that playful so they don’t really trash the nets or toss them about.
That had been my original thought, until the day I found them playing with water tub…
Did this for a barefoot, fat pony for years. I didn’t replace the string, instead I would make a daisy chain down the entire length then tuck it inside the net. Pony would pick up the entire net and throw it around the paddock, never came undone.
Too true! Much to the confusion of our non-horsey landlord our mini horse gelding had a hot pink grazing muzzle for this precise reason.
My old shire gelding would pick up entire square bales by the baling twine & walk off with them, shaking them until they broke apart. I’m picturing him getting into a tug-o-war with a pony over a hay net & accidentally tossing the entire pony over the fence or something 
I have my hay nets secured in rubber water troughs. The troughs end up being toys of sorts – they drag them all over the place. They haven’t managed to do anything hazardous with them though.
I use the Tuff Stuff 110 gallon water troughs, fwiw.
And I have been known to just throw the hay nets on the ground, too. With the drawstring, but twisted around the top and then the end looped through the drawstring and then clipped to the net. No problem with that with barefoot horses so far.
I’ve got inverted tractor tires for ground feeders. They’re safe, indestructible, and you can roll them to new places to avoid mud pits from developing.
we put the troughs into a utility wagon… it made it easy for us to move but could be locked in place
We used the troughs when we fed from round bales, but after all was reviewed even what was consider expensive bales of hay was actually cheaper (and the quality of the baled hay was/is higher)
Hungarian Hippo, do you use a hay net inside the tractor tires? And what do you mean by “inverted” - do you mean that the tread is towards the center of the feeder? How is that done? I like the idea and would like to try it!
