Has anyone used the hay pillow or hayplay bags with a shod horse? I need to slow feeder and also am dealing with some poll tension I’d rather not exacerbate with the twisting motion happening using every type of hay bag I’ve tried so far. The corner or ground box style ones don’t seem to have as small of holes as I need and are so so heavy. I’d love something I could carry to the hay loft, load, and drop back in a stall.
I just purchased these to feed on the ground.
https://www.chewy.com/hayplay-horse-slow-feed-tie-bag/dp/1932942?
I’d feel safe leaving them on the ground with a horse that had shoes.
I believe someone on here also uses them and likes them.
I have used one of the hay play bags, and found it not nearly durable enough for the price tag. They may have upped the construction of them, but I wasn’t impressed when I tried one last summer. And it didn’t slow my guy down much at all with how big the holes are. I would think they would be ok for shoes though.
@GraceLikeRain - have you looked into a Portagrazer? They are also pricey, but they are also much, much more durable. They can just be put out in turnout and don’t have to be anchored to anything. They have options with pans/hole size as well.
I drop a net into an old water trough and secure it in there, if that might be an option for you. It’s super flexible, since you can use whichever net you need for that specific horse, and really no more complicated than using a net alone.
Cheap to free, too, at least if you have an old busted trough kicking around.
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I’ve thought about it. Ideally I’d love something that could go from stall to dry lot or travel with us pretty easily. I’m guessing I’ll need this set up about 60 days a year so the cost per use and lack of portability is a real pause point for a portagrazer.
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This is more or less what I do too, except I have old totes that I cut down - they can easily fit a whole bale.
I boarded my horse at a full care pasture facility that had all the owners purchase these for overnight hay feedings.
I also worked there and we never had issues with them and there were plenty of shod horses. Very minimal waste and easy to fill.
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Did you use them on the ground?
I have a shod horse that insists on pawing his hay, so loose hay trashes his stall and he will paw at nibble nets hung on the wall. So, we use the GreenGuard hay play bags. We use it every day, and at shows, and we replace it every 6-8 months or so. I’ve given the company feed back on any weakness we find and they are very receptive. We’ve used for almost 2 years and find every new one gets better.
One tip I got from our local tack shop that sells a ton of GG products, and this came from the GG rep, is to use baling twine to tie it closed instead of the orange cord it comes with. We just tie it up, snip the twine the next day, rinse and repeat. They have a helpful video on the website.
Yep, in the mud, driving rain, snow, and pasture full of geldings shenanigans. Mine only got a years worth of use (moved states and horse passed away) but it’s in like new condition other than stains. They’re super easy to fill and easily fits half a small bale. We did remove the rope ties for efficiency and just relied on the Velcro closures, the Velcro ripped off a few of them in places but still serviceable.
