09/12/2024
I've had a couple of questions on haynets recently, so here is my experience.
Horses can eat from haynets without it having bad consequences. They are designed to graze 80% of the time and forage 20%,. As foraging means anything between knee height to trying to reach a branch high up in a tree, a haynet should be ok. There are a few things to remember when using your haynet.
1. The height of your haynet really matters.
Although this might seem obvious, it's also the thing that is often wrong, with haynets being put too high for a horse. This tends to force your horse to have his/her neck and back tense in order to eat, which is not great for your horse's body, or his/her mind.
A good height is one where your horse can relax, which is often somewhere between knee and shoulder height.
2. Try to stay close to your horse's natural eating habits.
One of the problem with haynets is that we shift the 80/20 ratio and start to ask horses to forage more than graze. As much as possible we should stay close to the 80/20 ratio.
It's harder in winter when horses might be stabled more, but using a couple of hay balls or a hay bar as well as your haynet are an easy fix, and will keep your horse's bed fairly neat.
3. Finally, if possible, giving your horse the choice between a couple of different heights is always more fun.
When your horse is in the stable and their only source of food is a haynet (if you currently don't have hay balls or a hay bar), you're choosing how they are eating for them. It often means your horse is a bit static and not a lot happens when they eat. Offering a couple of different heights can make things more interesting and as a bonus, stimulate different muscles!
You can put a smaller haynet a bit higher so that they get to choose and change eating position. And if you know your horse won't put their feet through it, you can also put a haynet a bit lower.
All of this these are just guidelines that encompass what I've noticed over the years, so adapt to your horse and stable, but one thing I know is that compounding small changes can lead to bigger changes, so don't underestimate what a few adjustments can do for your horse!
