Not every horse will figure this out, but some do.ģ. You must have a trapping method that prevents the horse from grabbing the grid and tossing it out of the feeder. It’s also a good idea to offer both grates and nets, so the horse can choose and also vary the pressure points.Ģ. So I switched to 4-inch openings and all my horses (11 total) have been fine with the 4″ openings for years now.Īgain, whether using nets or metal grates, you must check your horses’ teeth and gums regularly. Then I changed my hay vendor and two of the horses damaged their teeth. I keep an eye on my horse’s teeth, and I had 7 different horses eating from my 2-inch metal grate slow feeders (2″ x 2″ openings) for over 4 years and all their teeth were fine. However, as with all slow feeders, you need to keep an eye on your horse’s teeth and gums, or this can happen: Some slow feeders have rows of slats (not a grid) so unless you have a horse that needs a lot of hay, the slat design will allow them to consume too much, as it’s much easier to pull out large strips of hay. 2″ – 4″ square or round seems to be the optimal size hole – depending on the horse (no smaller than 2 inches). On a metal or plastic feeder, the openings need to be the right size.
Slow feeders allow the horse access to hay and the ability to “graze” for most of the day, yet only consume a healthy amount of hay.įrom what I’ve seen and my discussions with others who have experimented with various types of slow feeders, here are the key points to keep in mind:ġ. The solution to this dilemma is slow feeders filled with low sugar hay! On the flip side, if you give a horse in a stall or paddock 24/7 access to unlimited hay, they can overeat and end up with laminitis, colic, founder, etc. So I think the contrast with horses kept in stalls, paddocks, or dirt enclosures was really striking for me and I personally do not enjoy hanging out with a horse who is always thinking about food, or trying desperately to get a mouthful of grass. When I had my horses on pasture for 10 years in Alberta, they never showed any anxiety about going out for rides, or impatience to get back home, or any tension at feeding times. Of course, since a horse’s stomach produces acid (for digestion) continually, it makes even more sense why a horse fed even 4 times per day would become distressed about food. I became motivated to investigate different feeding systems after I noticed how horses kept in any kind of enclosure other than pasture, became fixated on food! Even though they received the right amount of hay and/or feed for their body weight and activity level, they were psychologically “starving”.
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