Just curious how every sets their hay out in their pastures? We’re having a brutal winter in PA and I’m worried my horse isn’t getting enough hay so I’m looking to restructure our pastures. We have the tarter hay basket, which is in the run in and always full, but I fear the herd bully is preventing him from eating. I’m going to lay mats down and move the basket so it’s out in the open - but what else are you guys doing?
I just toss flakes out at random.
In front of the barn & into the pastures.
3 geldings - 16h horse, 13h pony & 34" mini - who get long fine on the ~3ac they share between drylot & 2 pastures.
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I also toss flakes randomly, at least 10 feet apart. The old owners left several hay feeders but I have the issue that my one horse can guard the entire thing, allowing only his ‘chosen’ to approach.
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I toss flakes out in random piles, making sure there are more piles than horses to offset hay battles.
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I have 6 horses together on 24/7 turnout. There are 3 hay feeders- 2 hay huts and one metal ring round bale feeder. Usually they have round bales but if it’s too wet for me to drive in there to put out big bales, then I divide small squares up into the feeders.
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I have 3 horses and keep the feeder full . I don’t like to feed hay not under roof if I can help it since my horses don’t want to stand out in awful weather. If I have a horse who is timid I put 2 feeders out.
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I have hay in nets in the shelters, but I’d prefer the eat in the pasture as it allows for distribution of manure. So I spread part of their allotment out in the pasture. 2 small piles per horse + a few extras.
I also have a bully who will not let others near the big hay feeder, so this allows me to make sure everyone (especially the poor 30 year old) has access to hay.
If it’s warmer, I spread less, if it’s cold like tonight (-15) I spread more. I’ll also spread it in the area with the least wind. They can go in the shelters and eat from the nets if they want, but they prefer to be out most of the time.
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I toss flakes. More flakes than critters. Mine are only out days right now. If they lived out this would be expensive and wasteful. I just toss as much as I think they will clean up. Works as they get most of their forage calories at night. Daytime flakes are to stay warm/avoid boredom in sea of snow (I’m in PA too).
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We roundbale our own hay and have plenty… i have roundbales everywhere! Every day i deliver two to one of the herds. For my domestic horse herd I have two loafing sheds that are outside the communal barns and always have a bale under roof in each of those as well as their roundbales in their pasture. (think there are four or five still viable and fresh now). When it’s cold (if temps fall below 40) i feed alfalfa hay too and like others here have said, i toss around flakes.
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I scatter flakes all over the field. I have started to put a few flakes in some hay nets in the shed. 24/7 free choice is neither in the budget nor in the diet. Especially not the diet. The boys will eat themselves into obesity if given a chance.
So, widely scattered flakes and then the last few in a couple of hay nets in the shed. I know the pony won’t get to the netted hay, but it keeps the boys from tearing the place down before the next feeding. And the pony is mostly eating senior feed these days anyway. But 2 percent of the body weight of horses that weigh in at a ton is lot of hay each day!
I would love to do round bales, but it still won’t be free choice (even netted) which is a bummer
In any case though, my rule of thumb is number of horses plus two for the number of hay piles or nets. And the farther apart the better.
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Our geldings gleefully pee on any hay placed on the ground, so haybags are a must. I have some that hang from hooks on the posts of the barn overhang and some whole bale nets in a covered feeder in one paddock.
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I don’t know how big your run in shed is but we have one that is split in half and we hang hay bags on both sides. When the horses have access to the awning on one side of the barn we will put a hay bag at each end of the awning.
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This is a great hay feeder set up!
I am interested to see responses from people who use nets in pastures and who have shod horses.
In years past I would use small bales in whole bale nets and just throw the bales out in random places in the pasture (2 horses). This year one of my horses is wearing front shoes, and I am worried about him possibly catching a shoe in a net that is on the ground. I have been just throwing out flakes but my other horse picks through the hay for the tastiest bits, and apparently this process leaves the remaining hay scattered all over - which apparently renders it poisonous and no longer fit to be eaten (according to my horses, that is).
I have tried cutting back the amount of hay I throw but that isn’t working either. Even when it is cold and I know they are hungry they do not want to eat hay that has been picked through.
So, safe ways to feed hay in a net in a pasture that don’t involve buying or building a big structure? I am all ears.
I definitely would not throw nets on the ground for shod horses. I dropped one on the ground last week because my hands were full and before I could pick it up (within 2 minutes) one of my horses got a shoe caught in it.
If you don’t need to keep the hay dry, what about setting up 3-4 corral panels in a triangle or square and hanging the nets on the outside of it?
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I have 3 horses so I set up 4-5 hay nets or bags at various spots around my paddocks. I use the largest nets I could find so I only have to fill them once a day. My bags are hung on the back of my stalls, and on large sturdy trees in the paddock. The herd really seems to enjoy playing “find what tree the hay is in” when I use multiple trees.
I will also put out two round bales and just set them side by side. My herd typically won’t bug each other at the hay, and my boss mare lets the other two eat with her providing they’re on the other side of the rounds.
Edited to add: none of my herd is shod but my one mare is a pro at getting her fly sheet hung up on things. Using the trees, along with duct taping the sheet buckles has stopped this idiocy.
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Ooh I love your setup! Did you build or buy your covered feeder?
Can you hang nets from a fencepost or tree in your pasture?
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Friends use old plastic water tanks to throw their netted bales in. I tried that with mine initially and they straddled it to pee in it ( 
), but maybe your horses are less determined to mark everything! There is no way I would be able to put them loose on the ground as my young horse is into everything and would kill himself even without shoes.
My wonderful DH and his brother built it (and a couple others for my SIL). It is actually meant to hold big bales but I got creative as we use small squares.
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I hang hay bags in trees in the sacrifice paddock and in the shelter. I was putting flakes on ground but with the cooler weather one horse is using hay piles as his bed. And obviously the horses can’t eat hay that’s been slept on 
I’ll still throw out flakes of legume hay if I’m tossing extra at lunch or night check, as they’ll clean that up quickly but most is going in the bags.
If I didn’t have trees, fence or building suitable for hanging bags, I’d probably go the corral panel set into a triangle or square route.
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I feel hay in the pasture using a hay feeder that is very similar to the one posted by @phantomhorse. The floor on mine is closer to the ground.
I hang hay bags, just like in the attached photo, when feeding small bale hay and put a small hole hay net on the big bales if that is what is being fed.
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