Is it bad to feed my horse from a hay net?

Hay nets and other slow feeders for horse are awesome and whoever invented them should get a high-five.

These inventions more closely mimic horse’s natural grazing behavior (small bites that their digestive system can handle more efficiently) and can help us as horse owners waste less hay and sometimes even feed less often.

But, there are some serious considerations at play when it comes to deciding how to feed your horse to optimize their health.

Feeding type (loose, in a feeder, from a net, from a hay pillow) and location (high feeder, low feeder, hay net hung high, hay pillow on ground) will have a passive but seriously impactful influence on your horse’s overall health.

Not unlike an office worker who sits hunched over at their desk all day and develops neck and back pain… a horse who is fed in an unnatural position will develop compensation through their body.

Wild horses spend the majority of their days grazing in a head-down position but they also browse shrubs, bushes, and trees. Research by Sharon May Davis showed that a wild horse spends about 80% of the time grazing (eating below knee height) and 20% of the time browsing (eating above knee height).

Horses are not only designed to consume this way (80% head down, 20% head up), but so much so that it actually directly affects their digestion, respiratory system, muscular system, skeletal system, teeth wear, and even hoof growth.

By feeding horses in unnatural positions (e.g. hay bags hung from top rails or built-in stall feeders at wither-height), we are negatively impacting their functional health and putting their bodies in a position (literally) to enhance dysfunction.

So what does this mean for real life?

In a perfect world, we should be feeding our horses from the ground but also giving them the opportunity to mimic browsing behavior by having hay nets available at various heights in their stall or pasture.

You can get as playful or simple as you want with this, but the goal is to give your horse the opportunity to feed in variable positions with the majority of their feed being provided at ground level.

Ideal feeding options for majority feeding (the 80%):

Any of these options can be fed loose (piles of hay) or in a hay net or hay pillow (ideal, as it more closely mimics taking small bites of grass).

Note: Never place hay nets or hay pillows below knee level for shod horses as it creates an entrapment risk if a shoe gets caught in the net.

• Directly on the ground, spread in piles throughout pen or pasture so they have to mimic grazing behavior and walk to find it (loose or in a hay pillow).

  • Note: There are obvious implications with contaminants here (dirt, dust, manure, urine, etc). Not every horse will be a good candidate for direct ground feeding - it will depend on your particular environment and horse.

• At ground-level in a trough or rubber bin (bonus points if you can add a net component here like this DIY option).

• In a ground-level corner feeder (again, bonus points if you can make it into a slow feeder).

Not recommended feeding options for majority feeding (the 80%):

• Chest or wither-high stall feeder.

• Metal slow feeder (some would argue that the benefits outweigh the risks here, but in general I don’t recommend as it can be detrimental to tooth health - example metal slow feeder).

• Plastic slow feeder (again, some would argue that the benefits outweigh the risks here, but in general I don’t recommend as it can also be detrimental to tooth health - example plastic slow feeder).

• Hay net hung from top railing or in a position that requires horse to reach for it.

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Now all of the above is “perfect world” scenario… but what if you board your horse and don’t have as much control over their feeding situation?

There are still options!

• Talk with your barn owner/barn feeders and ask if they are amenable to feeding into a feeder that you bring instead of the barn’s feeders.

  • If the answer is YES (woohoo!), look into something like Hay Pillows, HayPlay Slow Feed Bags, or a DIY slow feeder.

  • If the answer is NO (boo… but we understand they have business to run), see if you can still implement one of the above options and just fill it yourself as able. Providing your horse with even some ground feeding time is better than nothing. Some barns will be more amenable to something like the HayChix Panel Feeder over pillows, etc. which is still a better option than feeding from a wither-height feeder.

So where does this leave us?

Hay nets are a great resource. They encourage slower eating which is beneficial to the horse’s digestive system and more closely matches what nature intended, but if used exclusively and/or improperly can cause bodily damage and dysfunction to your horse. In a perfect world, our horses should be eating from ground-level for 80% of their daily forage intake.