Hay Feeders Uncovered

Is there a better way to feed hay to horses? There are dozens of hay feeder options, as it turns out, each with its own advantages. Hay feeders are designed to keep hay off the ground and sheltered from the elements to reduce wastage.
Share
Favorite
Close

No account yet? Register

ADVERTISEMENT

Is there a better way to offer hay to horses? There are dozens, as it turns out, each with its own advantages.

In most parts of the world, pasture is, at best, a seasonal thing. For a good chunk of the year, most of us who are feeding horses have to replace green grass with the dried variety.

Hay, as we all know, is both bulky and vulnerable to the weather. It's also not inexpensive, even if you grow your own. So it's little wonder that humans, in their unflagging drive to build the better mousetrap, are constantly coming up with better ways to feed hay, both indoors and out.

There are certainly arguments in favor of feeding hay on the ground and letting the horses have at it. Feeding from the ground allows horses to eat in the posture for which they were designed, with their heads down. This minimizes the amount of dust and mold spores they inhale from their forage, and it allows their respiratory passages to drain each time they lower their heads

Create a free account with TheHorse.com to view this content.

TheHorse.com is home to thousands of free articles about horse health care. In order to access some of our exclusive free content, you must be signed into TheHorse.com.

Start your free account today!

Already have an account?
and continue reading.

Share

Written by:

Karen Briggs is the author of six books, including the recently updated Understanding Equine Nutrition as well as Understanding The Pony, both published by Eclipse Press. She’s written a few thousand articles on subjects ranging from guttural pouch infections to how to compost your manure. She is also a Canadian certified riding coach, an equine nutritionist, and works in media relations for the harness racing industry. She lives with her band of off-the-track Thoroughbreds on a farm near Guelph, Ontario, and dabbles in eventing.

Related Articles

Stay on top of the most recent Horse Health news with

FREE weekly newsletters from TheHorse.com

Sponsored Content

Weekly Poll

sponsored by:

Where do you primarily feed your horse?
303 votes · 303 answers

Readers’ Most Popular

Sign In

Don’t have an account? Register for a FREE account here.

Need to update your account?

You need to be logged in to fill out this form

Create a free account with TheHorse.com!