Pony has to go on Safe Starch Forage, and like most ponies he is a Hoover on legs. I’m concerned that he’ll be able to eat bagged forage even more quickly than hay and be left for long periods without any forage in front of him. We were already struggling with this on his meager hay rations. He’s stalled except for AM turnout in a grazing muzzle and daily exercise rides- that part isn’t going to change.
Anyone have tips on how to slow consumption of Safe Starch? Doesn’t seem like a hay bag will work, and I’d prefer him to eat from ground level if at all possible. Ideas?
Do they make timed feeders that drop a certain amount down every so often? Don’t know if that would work on bagged forage and it may be pricey but the other alternative is small frequent meals and that gets old real fast , when someone has to do that.
My horse is on only SafeStarch and soaked cubes/pellets for his FWS, and I have tried a few things to slow him down with limited success. The most successful in terms of slowing was this “chaff net” that I ordered from the UK: https://tricklenet.com/chaff-net It worked, but it did make him visibly frustrated so I have since discontinued it. I now use a Grad-Dual Feeder, which slows him a bit. He’s always been a super fast eater, even with long stem hay, so unfortunately there doesn’t seem to be a way to keep forage available to him around the clock. He will literally just stand there eating until it is all gone and has absolutely “no chill” about eating. Our other issue is that he dumps his food on the floor no matter what kind of container it’s in and short of bolting a container to the wall (which he’d probably find a way to destroy because he is the “destroyer of things”) we haven’t been able to prevent that. Even the Grad-Dual feeder which seems like it would be tough to pick up has become a toy to be flipped and tossed around once he’s dumped it.
But, maybe one of these will work better for your pony. And by all means if you find something different that works let me know!
I have the some problem. I also got a chaff net from tricklenet and she couldn’t figure it out at all. I tried different configurations and she just couldn’t get the concept. But it is a great idea if you think it might work for your pony. I never did figure anything out, so please post if you come up with a solution!
