I have been using the web slow feed bags but hay gets all over the floor. I see hay bags with a “tray” at the bottom (for grain…) however none of the ones I see has webbing over the opening for the hay. Has anyone put a slow feed bag INSIDE one of these? https://www.statelinetack.com/item/nylon-hay-and-grain-feeder/E005947/?&srccode=GPSLT&gclid=Cj0KCQjw6cKiBhD5ARIsAKXUdyYWzhHWtMDBSiv2HUcXylOUn30B1WSBiixCnOs4hjFh-Fh_8fSccF0aAvN3EALw_wcB
I use these hay mangers in my trailer. They are easy to remove for those times I want them out. The hay net hangs directly over it, or I sometimes just put small hay nets directly into them, or just put flakes directly in them. It just depends upon which horses I am hauling that trip and the type of hay I am using. I can get a picture and post tomorrow morning if you want to see the setup.
$32.95 each from ridingwarehouse.com
Thanks… hanging that under the hay net would solve the problem. Just not sure how I could hang it - I have a straight load… where to hook the two straps near the horse?
Added an eyebolt to the center post for the breast bar and to the side and front walls for the mangers to clip onto. Two horse straight load for me also. I will get pics tomorrow.
Be really careful using those if you have a mare or a smart-ass gelding that likes to put their feet in things. My mare stuck her front foot in one coming home from the vet and she traveled an hour and a half on three legs on the interstate. I don’t know how she managed to be upright when we got home but she has really good balance. Or if you use them - attach with velcro strips that will break if somebody thinks a foot in it is a good idea. Even if you have a camera (which I don’t have) you would still have to get off the road to remove the foot which isn’t that easy if you are on the interstate.
Maybe you didn’t mount yours high enough?
Horses will be horses - Years ago I had a straight load with a “hay shelf” directly in front of the horses (tack compartment below, accessible from outside - you remember). My horse actually got one front foot up on the shelf while I was driving! I tried to lift his hoof over the lip of the shelf without unloading him but could not. Had to unload and reload on the side of the road. Thankfully, he was happy to get back in.
Phew.
1 Like
I have several very strong magnets of this style that I use for temporary mounting of anything
in our steel trailers
3 Likes
The next time you take your trailer in for brakes and bearings maintenance, take a handful of grommets with you and ask they attach where you need them. Available on Amazon or Horsetrailer Accessories. You can do it yourself but I like to let the pros do stuff like that.
Pictures as promised. To attach the straps to the breast bar side, I used rings taken from old bits and halters. The bigger rings are from old Happy Mouth snaffles. Smaller rings are from an old halter. So no need for me to drill holes there. On the front of the trailer I did have to drill for three eye bolts. The magnet suggestion posted above would not work for my aluminum trailer.
7 Likes
What a great idea!
thanks so much!!
This is probably bad but…
I carry a battery powered leaf blower with me to clean up hay. The WERM floor is impossible to sweep hay off of, and the blower gets it under control in a jiffy.
Just a thought, if the bags still yield a mess!
3 Likes
I remember those. There was a saddlebred mare, in foal, being hauled to the farm I managed who got both front feet up there. Not sure how she managed, it was a small trailer, and she wasn’t a small mare. Fortunately I didn’t have to deal with getting her out of it.
One of the reasons I sold my small trailer was the mangers. I can imagine a horse getting up in them and the bottom of it falling through, slicing-and-dicing as the horse struggled their way back out.
1 Like
This is brilliant!
1 Like
They have become so widely available and relatively inexpensive and easy to install that in my opinion a trailer camera to monitor the horses should be considered the standard of care for horse trailer towing these days.
1 Like
I have a similar set up, using the Hawk hay/feed bags in my trailer (which is a Hawk). I quite like them but the Hawk ones are more expensive and the ones from Riding Warehouse are probably just fine. There are a few size options. I just toss a few flakes directly in them, but as mentioned it wouldn’t be hard to use a net in conjunction.
I prefer this set up over mangers and whatnot.
1 Like
I have that hay bag as well, horse trailer accessories has multiple sizes to fit various trailer widths. I added the loose D rings to the center divider pole, sides and stud gate center pole… sometimes I put the hay in the hay net and snap it to the hay bag but since I too have a blower that lives in the trailer, that takes care of loose hay.
As for the worry that a horse could climb in a hay bag, honestly my bigger concern would be that they were over the chest bar. The straps on those bags aren’t holding up to that kind of stress so that problem solves itself. Getting your horse off the chest bar is a whole other level of fun said nobody ever. But if it keeps you up at night, just snap the bag snaps to a hay twine loop attached to the d ring or however you attach the bag, problem solved!
4 Likes
I’ll raise you both front feet and then trying to go out that stupid front window, slowly cutting into his his neck with every forward lunge. He finally got stuck at his withers and came within a hair’s breath of his vertebra. The vet had to tie his tail to the truck hitch and pull him out.
He ended up ok, although with a large dent in his neck. I was scarred for life. Just say no to mangers in trailers.
1 Like
