I’m contemplating getting a slow feeder for my horse and am not interested in a net option. Has anyone had the opportunity to compare the Haygain Forager to the Porta Grazer? Which do you prefer and why?
Any reviews of the Haygain Forager even without the comparison would also be helpful as I don’t seem to find many reviews of it as a somewhat new product.
I don’t know anything about a Haygain Forager but I do have two Porta Grazers and I love them.
Just looked up the Haygain. It looks cool . . . but, here’s my concern: I have two PortaGrazers, and my horse and two minis play soccer with them. They roll them, flip them, and knee them all around the paddock, just for fun, while they’re eating and then afterwards, too. The big horse loves the booming noise he can make knocking the XL one around. So, the Haygain looks a little more breakable because the body’s not solid. The PortaGrazer is very robust.
That said, I love that Haygain top – looks like a very effective slow feed design. Now, my horses also gnaw on the edges of their PortaGrazer pans a bit . . . so they might chew the Haygain to pieces. I guess it depends on if your horses are as destructive as mine!
Did you make a choice? If so, how did it work out? I’m literally on the fence between the two and need to order this weekend.
Thanks!
This is a blast from the past! 
I actually ended up ordering a Savvy Feeder as I had someone locally I could get it from and could see it first. https://savvyfeeder.com/
It worked great when I was at a boarding barn, but I don’t really use it anymore now that I have her at home. I prefer to use hay nets that I then clip into a big stock tank.
But, as for the product itself, it works pretty well. I didn’t realize that you weren’t supposed to stuff the thing chock full so we ended up with a bunch of sharp edges and teeth marks on the grate as she was using her teeth to try to get out the tightly stuffed hay. I spoke the owner and she set me straight, plus told me how to dremel out the sharp edges. It’s really sturdy. My horse would knock it around, turn it over, etc., and it isn’t any worse for the wear.
I stopped using it for two reasons.
First, I feed her by weight, and it’s easier to stuff a hay net and weigh it than it is to weigh loose flakes and then fill the feeder. If you’re feeding free choice hay or by flake, this isn’t a consideration but my mare is a hoover and needs to be on a strict diet.
Second, I think the hay net slows her down more than the Savvy Feeder does (I even tried the grate with the smallest holes). I have a bunch of different nets with different hole sizes that I’ve tried, but what I almost always use is the SmartPak hay bag made out of webbing, with the 1.5 inch holes. If I want to slow her down even more, I use my HayChix 1 inch nets. My set up looks basically like this: https://www.doversaddlery.com/freedom-feeder-full-bale-net/p/X1-270103/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIseLa3amy9QIVJv_jBx2caQIeEAQYASABEgLPfvD_BwE
Another one to consider that I think looks pretty awesome is the Helix Feeder. https://kiwifeeder.com/ It has a grate with adjustable hole sizes and the whole thing collapses as the hay is eaten down, rather than just the grate lowering.
If I had to choose, I think I’d likely get any of the other three before the Haygain. That one doesn’t seem to have many reviews whereas each of the other three get really good reviews.
I use a portograzer as do a couple others in my barn and we all love them. One of our boarders had the helix one and it worked well enough, but it got so gross not being plastic 
I ordered the Helix. I was just concerned that the Haygain was overly complicated and offered too many options for him to get creative and rearrange the parts, and break off the plastic clips. The Porta-Grazer looks really great, but the Helix just seemed like it makes more sense to get lower so his head/neck are not all the way in the bucket. And I like that it flattens (ish) so I could take it with me when I go places. (haha, like I go anywhere except the vet hospital at this point).
I like the way the Savvy Feeder looks … really streamlined and simple. My DIY husband is dying to try to make something, so I’ll share this with him and see what he comes up with.
I have the Helix feeder, it’s very portable since it can collapse but it definitely does look a little dirty on the sides since that part is a little hard to clean. The plate inside has the option to adjust the hole size which is nice.
A student of mine bought the Haygain and we both love it for her horse. It’s very sturdy and it has a pan underneath that can be filled with water so it’s not batted around like a toy. Personally, I prefer it to the porta grazer. I like the slow feeder top better then the porta grazer holes and it has a larger capacity. I had no preference over which slow feeder my student bought but I am so happy she chose the Haygain and I will be recommending it to others.
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