Different ways of horse keeping across the country. If it works for them scroll on by. There is no perfect way to keep horses safe from everything.
I use nets outside as I don’t like to see my expensive 2nd cut orchard hay wasted and pee’d on or trampled into the dirt.
I’m confused by this–if the horse’s head is down, gravity would move the saliva onto the ground, not down the esophagus.
LOL I saw a Facebook post debunking gravity as all apples should be on the ground and all the water should be at the bottom of the world, with pictures of both.
That is what I was taught and the reason to feed all horses and especially horses with ulcers on the ground. A lot of what I was taught has been debunked. I haven’t heard of that one being debunked.
My horses have rubber feed pans with no handles on them to be put on fences. Our horses do not waste hay given on the ground.
At the moment Sim has a tablecloth. A quilt cover. We finally had a couple of days of rain so hopefully the grass will grow a bit.
Consider yourself VERY lucky!
She looks great OP. And she does look so happy!
Not sure if this is a generic comment or responding to these photos … as a generic comment, yes ABSOLUTELY!
With regard to these photos, it’s hard to tell but it looks like this isn’t electric. (No insulators are being used which means fence would be grounded through the post.) Hard to tell, though - maybe some one has better eyes than mine. Looks like high tensile wire for the main 3 strands and then a braided top line that is either just a visual barrier or unfinished electric at this point?
Yes, it’s high tensile. You can see the tensioners in the background. Likely the only electrical current is in the top braided wire which the bag isn’t touching.
As far as I am concerned feeding hay on the ground is the best. If you feed ample hay on dry ground( under roof) but don’t overfeed there is no waste. At least mine never do. We feed hay under the lean -to on mats.
If you are throwing hay out where it can get rained on or in mud then expect waste.
You’re very lucky that you don’t have any that enjoy using the hay on the ground under the overhang/in the stall as a toilet. I feed in lots of piles on the ground as long as it isn’t raining, but if I feed in the sheds on the ground during rain, it will be toileted before finished. Why must they do this?!
They do this because they don’t like their legs splashed. If they pee on hard ground it splashes. Peeing in long grass or hay negates the splash.
We have no grass at the moment. I put down the quilt cover so as they are not eating dirt cleaning up after feeding.
During my Aldi audits yesterday I noticed extra thick canvas paint drop sheets. I bought 2. We will have to pick them up afterwards to let the sun in, so hopefully some grass will grow after that bit of rain.
Honey is looking very content and continuing to slowly fill out. IMO. Also looks like a very nice and well managed pasture boarding situation, complete with a girlfriend.
OP, one thing about the internet is no matter what you post, somebody will disagree. Some take it to extremes and sort of virtually beat you up. Trick is to read and consider everything mentioned then sift out what won’t work for you in your situation. Never take anything personally and try to ignore predictions that if you don’t do it their way, your horse will suffer dire consequences or die.
Text only is difficult to communicate with and nuances and/or subtleties get lost. You really don’t know anything about who is talking to you. Just remember the old saying all roads lead to Rome. Long as the raod you are on is safe, you have a good team of in person advisors with you and do your own research using reputable sources? You are going in the right direction.
Looking forward to your next update.
This! I bought a TB around the same time as you got Honey. He was about 250 lbs underweight. It’s taken time for him to fill out but good nutrition and time helps a lot. FWIW, I spent 2.5 months long lining him to help build up muscle and now we are mostly walking up and down hills under saddle to continue to build strength, however, all horses are different.
My horses have never done this , so I guess I am lucky.
They have their specific places to " go" and all 3 seem to use them without fail. Now if they were locked into a stall for hours that may be a different story–but they are not.
The run in is deeply bedded so they walk into the longer grass or use the run in to pee/ poop.
Horses will be horses I suppose. Mine are out 24/7 on ~20 acres- and still sometimes poop on the hay if it’s in the sheds or scattered around the turnout area near the sheds 
While I always give them the option of something on the ground, nets really help avoid that kind of waste.
I wish my horses were so polite! My three horses are on about two acres, no grass since it’s dry CA but plenty of room to move. If I don’t use nets in the feeders, they throw hay out of the feeders to pick through it, use the floor hay as a bathroom, then refuse to eat the floor food because it’s been stepped on and pooped/peed on. When I fed it on the ground, one of my horses would spread the hay out a bit, poop in it to mark it as “his,” and keep eating around it while stepping in the manure, wasting HUGE amounts of hay. And one gelding who would go out of his way to pee in the hay piles if they’re available, despite having multiple soft, no-splash surfaces. Both horses in question lived in stalls for a good portion of their lives prior to coming to me, so I attribute it mostly to them being messy geldings who never really had the option of separating their dining room and bathroom. I also need to have the feeders staggered throughout the field, both to keep them moving around but also because when they’re close together it becomes a DISGUSTING mess of trampled manure and sand and hay. With the feeders spread out they are more inclined to use the bathroom on the way from one feeder to the other, thank god.
So: feeders, with nets, spaced out, year round. Keeps me sane with hay prices peaking around $30/bale.
More related to the OP, I’m really glad you came back to share your journey with Honey despite a lot of the nastiness that went on for like 200 posts. She looks like she’s moving in the right direction with her weight, and she looks really happy. I hope the new boarding situation works superbly for both of you, and best of luck as you navigate through your divorce and hopefully new and better opportunities!
I missed our four month update, sorry about that! So how about a fun side by side?
Wow. I really have to say I see very little difference. More of a belly, hay, possibly. Same spine and “shelf” off her backbone, same lack of condition top line and haunches. I’m not saying that to be mean, but I’m not going to ooh and ahh at the Emperor’s new clothes. I’m saying it because that’s what I see. A better coat, but I wouldn’t be happy, i would wonder about the hay belly, and I still wouldn’t put a saddle on her back. But thats me.
So you don’t see any change at all in her booty or in her neck?
I love your dedication to your horse and appreciate you coming back.
I honestly don’t see a difference. Her coat color looks more saturated and fluffier but weight wise she still has the same points very visible including her neck and booty. Her neck actually looks better in the first picture because of the angle.
I’m sure she is happier with all of the love and attention from you. I personally would be feeding her 3x a day something like a high quality senior. I’d increase the poundage until I hit the max per meal. To put it in perspective my TB who gets very very little work and has grass/hay 24/7 required 3lbs of senior 2x a day so 6lbs a day. In winter that amount has to increase. This is for maintenance only if he needed to actually put on weight he would need a lot more feed.
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