Slow feeding hay nets

[RedComet]

Hi,

I have tried a tricke net, shires slow feeder and one of those that look like double nets (not sure what they are called) however none of these seem to slow her down. The good thing is that she doesn't break them/make holes in the nets. But there is definitely no difference in the time it takes her to much her hay. She is in at night and goes out during the day unless when the ground is frozen. On frosty days she gets a morning hay net and another one mid day so she can't eat the whole lot in one sitting.
Any other ideas as how to slow a horse down.
Thanks

[Aftertheraincomesthesun]

I soak hay so they can have a larger net. My horses are also bedded on straw so they eat a fair amount of their beds too.

[Pixel]

Are you making sure you buy coarse hay? That soft fine stuff is lovely but horses seem to practically inhale it. You could always mix in some straw so it takes longer to pull out of the net.

[RedComet]

Thanks. Soaking doesn't work. She doesn't touch soaked hay at all. Not tried adding straw but yes it is the fine hay. Was thinking about mixing it up with hayledge as that too is a bit coarser. Straw is not something I have thought about. She used to have a straw bed but our current yard is a shavings yard. Personally I preferred straw but not too fussed now because she spends a lot of her day outside.

Just seems like these so called special haynets are a waste oh money tbh.

Thanks

[Pixel]

Do you know if she eats haylage? Just wondered as my old pony wouldn't touch the stuff and he didn't really like soaked hay either.

Dhorse has one of the small hole haynets and it does seem to slow him down quite a bit but as I say it depends on the hay you put in it. I think I'd try and get hold of a few bales of the coarser stuff and mix it up to try and make what you've already got go a bit further. I'm assuming you want to limit what she's eating as she's a bit tubby (sorry if not) and I always thought haylage could be quite rich compared to hay? (plus it's more expensive and you have to use the bags fairly quickly once opened).

[Gabilan]

You could try buying old hay with less nutrients in if it's her weight you're worried about. Can you use several small nets tied in different parts of the stable so she's more inclined to move about and mooch between them?

[RedComet]

Unfortunately the hay at our barn is fairy fine. Been thinking about mixing done haylage in but I have to be careful because she is a "fatty". If she was thin I would probably just increase the amount of hay she gets. She is only 15 something hands and she goes to just as much the 17H stables next to her and will finish it first. She does not get much hard food. Only top Spec balancer and Alfa A unmolassed..

The idea of encouraging her to move between different nets doesn't work, she chooses one and demolishes it before moving on to the next. Far too clever for her own good!

[Aftertheraincomesthesun]

Do you weigh your hay? How much is she eating and how quickly?

[Pixel]

How about something else to keep her occupied so she doesn't care so much that she's finished her hay? A swede on a rope or a lick or something.

[Gabilan]

How about a hay roller? It might slow her down a bit

www.stubbsengland.com/index.php?route=product/product&filter_name=hay&product_id=625

[Millie2013]

I feel your pain, my pony is an eating machine. But the trickle net has slowed her down (the shires greedy feeder and double netting were useless, she just chewed holes in them).
It's the providing trickle fibre that's the challenge, isn't if? We're currently giving DPony a stuffed trickle net, dampened, baileys fibre nuggets in a treat ball, hay bricks in tiny holed nets and swedes in tiny holed nets. My friend suspends a second hay net from the rafters, so her pony can just pick at it and it keeps him amused.

I've had both extremes, a pony I couldn't keep weight on and this one, I'm not sure which is harder to manage!

[DraughtyWindow]

Try Martsnets (you can find them on FB) Brilliant quality, very very tough and very small holed but not flimsy. Not expensive either.

[Pixel]

I bought one of those treat balls but it was rubbish. It was almost impossible to get anything out of it at all and dhorse understandably soon lost interest. Perhaps I just got the wrong sort? (bought it on special offer at Hickstead, can't remember the make).

[DraughtyWindow]

I think it depends - you have to put the right size food in as they come with different sized holes. Have you tried using some plain horse & pony nuts? They're quite small.