How would you feed the hay??

Question

I have 2 equines

one 9 hand shetland

and another 17.2 TB

they are on a 4 acre pasture and the pony only eats the grass if he eats hay or grain he will founder.. but my tb needs lots of hay and grain

how can i feed my TB hay without my pony getting too it?

for graining i take my tb out of the pasture and he eats it all under 10 minutes so thats easy but he eats hay really slow

i have no barn or stalls (just storage for grain, hay and tack) and no round pen ot correl

SO could i just get a hay net and hang it from a tree? or what? are there any TALL standing hay racks? Any creative ideas? I can't leave my pony tied because it's toodangerous and he knows how to pull off a quick release lol

please help i'm really thinking that the hay net idea is the best idea that will work so far but is it safe? how much hay can fit into a hay net?

and we have SO many trees in the pasture so i always have a place to hang it from

thanks!

Answer 1

You need to build a feeding pen to keep then separated,while you feed the hay and grain

Answer 2

as Gallopal said, it's bad for horses to eat reaching up and this is the most common eating behaviour for horses they just aren't built for the strain as well. More and more studies are showing it's far better for a horse to eat off the ground as they were built for. Until your barn/round pen i would just take your TB out because anything you hand is going to have to be above rearing height of your Shetland and your are also assuming that your TB wont share with his paddock mate or even the shetland eating anything that spills onto the ground from the nets

Answer 3

But with a hay net, hay still falls out. Cant you separate the fields? Or build a shelter?

Answer 4

It is bad for a horse to eat with his neck up....the neck should be down, and eating off of the ground is best.  Otherwise, they breathe too much hay dust, and the position actually impairs their digestion.  Can you get a grazing muzzle to fit your pony?  I have a Best Friends muzzle for my easy keeper horse.  That way, the pony could wear it while your tb lingered eating his hay.  The muzzle only allows a small bit to be eaten through the hole at the end.  The muzzle could be removed after the tb finished his hay.

Answer 5

You can usually get a hay net that will accommodate a bale of hay. So in theory, you could hang several bales around in different trees in the pasture to make life interesting. You could even get a bale holder with tall sides, so the pony won't be able to stick his head far enough down to get to the hay.

The hay net should be safe if you don't have rope dangling all over the place. You want to have the net tied using as little rope as possible to eliminate the possibility of strangulation.

Depending on what your hay nets are made out of, you may have to replace them periodically, especially if there are natural cotton. I wouldn't bother getting one of the fancy hay bags, since they will be out in the elements and will get torn up pretty fast.

Answer 6

Straw is free Grass is better buy a Farm and have all three

sirdaveoh

http://sirdaveoh.info

Answer 7

If this is just a temporary problem with both horses feeding together then why not put up a temporary fence, corral, confinement of some sort for the pony while TB eats.  You could keep the pony in a pretty small confinement for the feeding times since pony is so chubby anyway, wouldn't't hurt for him to lose a few pounds. Keep pony in the barn if you have to while the other eats.  Let him out for the night to enjoy a romp with the big guy.  If there is a round pen there, you could use that for a temporary confinement.  If you are around while it is feeding time a trailer is not out of the question for the pony while TB eats.  I would rather see my pony eating hay than grass if he was a risk at foundering.  One can monitor the amount of hay he eats and how often.  

Answer 8

thats a great idea, just as long as the pony doesnt try to rear up to the hay.  

Answer 9

I have to agree with Gallopal, the idea of hay nets in the field is frightening and, being a pony, the shetty would be ingenious in his ways of getting at the forbidden food - even to the point of rearing up so that he could reach.( I have seen this happen)

I would go for the muzzle idea  - that way his grass will be restricted but so will the hay and hopefully you will find a happy medium.

Answer 10

I would think the pony would be more likely to founder on grass than a coastal hay. Hay nets scare me. I always worry about a leg getting caught it it. Hanging hay up high means when the horse pulls a bite down, hay and dust fall back in his face, nose and eyes.