As grazing animals, horses eat constantly throughout the day. Their digestive system have developed to handle frequent food intake, and meeting these needs help keep a horse healthy. The problem? Horses don't always know how to pace themselves.
That's when a slow feeder might come in handy. Designed to help a horse maintain a healthy digestive system by controlling their intake of roughage, the best slow feeders for horses can also prevent a world's worth of health issues and discomforts down the line.
The Best Horse Slow Feeders
Every slow feeder is made different. So even if they all look the same, these horse hay bags vary in the ways they satisfy your horse's slow feed need. So to make sure you buy the best slow feeder for your horse, you might want to consider these tried, trusted, and vetted options.
1. Freedom Feeder Full Bale Slow Feed Hay Net
With one feeder large enough for a whole bale of hay, this supersized Freedom Feeder hay net lets you accommodate more animals at a time. The design comes with four tethers on every corner, allowing secure placement and installation that reduces the risk of accidents with your animals.
To better suit the needs of your horse, this slow feeding net comes in three different mesh hole sizes. It's also made from durable DuPont Nylon Netting that can securely hold a 125lb round bale so you don't have to worry about having to refill so often.
Keep your horse occupied and happy with this choice from Majestic Ally. Sold in sets of two, this hay net features 2x2" holes that let horses nibble feed to mimic their true grazing experience. The holes also help prevent getting a shoe caught in the structure since they're smaller than the usual.
Measuring 42" in length, these slow feeders can comfortably accommodate more than one horse. This also improves social interactions and relationships between your animals. And because it comes with slightly smaller holes, the hay nets reduce waste, over-spill, and mess by keeping every last straw securely held in place.
With four distinct sides, the Derby Originals slow feeder hay net works to prevent food aggression by keeping your animals a safe distance away from each other as they graze. The bag features 3.5 inch openings that provide the best accessibility for horses who are only just beginning to learn the ropes of a slow feeder.
With a super tough reinforced bottom, this pick works better than other feeders at reducing hay wasted. What's more, the Derby Originals Patented Four-Sided Slow Feeder touts unrivaled durability that comes protected with a 1-year warranty.
4. Roma Hay Bag
Similar to a plastic feeder, the Roma Hay Bag a features a single hole along the front panel and an open top that lets your horse eat and access large flakes with relative comfort and safety. This particular design works best for shod horses that have had a history of getting their heads or hooves caught in a net.
Measuring over 27 inches in length, one slow feeder from Roma can sufficiently satisfy all the hay a horse eats in a day. And when you find the need to store your hay pillow, these bags fold neatly into a neat, 9 inch rectangle for portable, on-the-go performance making it an easy choice for taking to horse shows.
Designed to fit up to two round bales at a time, this slow feed hay net comes out as the best slow feeder for large ranches. Its ultra large capacity ensures that every horse gets properly fed, reducing aggression and competition between the animals under your care.
Using durable, woven, nylon netting, this bag touts small one-inch openings that increase the challenge and encourage nibbling behavior that horses would naturally perform in the wild. And because its holes are so small, this slow feed hay net helps prevent waste and fall-out even after a grazing episode with your whole herd.
Just the right size for one horse, this slow feeder encourages healthy digestion with its small holes. The design uses sturdy nylon material that holds loose hay perfectly secure without causing too much friction against your horses teeth.
Ideal for small quantities of hay, this feeder may have to be filled daily. Nevertheless, its simplified performance and perfectly sized holes make it an ideal addition to your horse's stall.
Benefits of Using a Slow Feeder
Although they might not look like much, a hay bag or slow feeder can present a number of interesting benefits for equine health. Some of these include:
Digestive Health Support
In the wild, horses will graze to meet their dietary requirements. But they don't naturally have access to big ol' hay bales in the wild. So they'll take their time eating what grass and roughage they find on the ground. This keeps their intake at a slow, reasonable pace.
Find Out Here: Can a Horse Vomit?
Faced with a huge hay bale, a horse won't feel the need to pace itself. This makes it possible for the animal to eat too much over a short period of time, causing digestive issues like colic which can be fairly common in a horse.
Stress Relief
While horses do quite well in the domesticated care of a rancher or farmer, it's still important to try to mimic their natural condition as closely as possible. Animals that are placed in strange conditions that don't meet their needs may succumb to stress, resulting to difficult and dangerous behavioral changes.
Adding a slow feeder to your horse's stall can help mimic their natural grazing patterns. This can give the animal a sense of comfort and satisfaction, and may prevent stress-induced behavioral issues.
Improved Interaction Between Horses
Food aggression is a very real possibility among horses in a ranch. If there isn't enough hay or food to go around, a horse may start demonstrating territorial and aggressive behavior versus other horses in the herd.
Providing several slow feeders for horses can reduce food aggression and inspire a more harmonious relationship between the animals in your care. When there's enough food to go around, horses will hardly have reason to act territorial and angry.
Weight Management
Whether you've got underweight or overweight horses, a slow feeder will come in handy. Horses that weigh more than they should (see average horse weights) can benefit from slow feeders in that they can regulate how much hay they eat and reduce spikes in insulin. The slow feeder's capacity to reduce stress might also help towards proper weight loss.
For underweight animals, slow feeders help to aid in proper digestion and in the absorption of nutrients. Whatever the case, a slow feeder may be instrumental in helping your horse achieve the desired body weight.
Alleviate Boredom
A bored horse will soon start to demonstrate maladaptive behavior. Chewing on wood posts, destroying buckets, and even getting into fights with other animals on your ranch are just some of the possible showings of a bored horse.
Suggested Read: Funny Things Horses Do
Slow feeders give your horse something to do throughout the day by prolonging feeding times. Although seemingly simple, the dynamic of a slow feeder allows horses to regulate their time and keep their mind preoccupied enough to prevent potential boredom.
Different Types of Slow Feeders
Slow feeders come in a variety of styles and designs. Each one delivers a unique set of benefits that might work better for your horse than others. Choosing the right slow feeder for horses ultimately depends on your ranch situation, and even on the temperament of the animals under your care.
Floor mounted metal grate feeders for horses
Typically made from heat-treated wood, these feeders sit directly on the ground. They usually come with a metal grate where hay pokes through to give access to your horses. They're quite large, and were designed with communal grazing in mind.
Ideal for large, strong animals that might dismantle a feeder made from lighter material, these metal grate slow feeder designs present dental challenges depending on the size of the grates. Generally, four-inch grates can help reduce the risk of gum and teeth damage.
Hay bag feeders for horses
These feeder nets usually hang from a beam or a fence on your property and can carry as much as (or more than) a whole bale of hay. They're typically made from a sort of nylon hay net material that stands well against wear, tear, and challenging weather conditions.
Although somewhat easier on the teeth, a hay bag can cause friction on the gums. On top of that, positioning a net slow feeder for horses can present unique challenges. Because it hangs from a height, it may alter the natural grazing position. Keeping it as low to ground level as possible should help maintain the proper posture as your horse eats.
Tub slow feeder
A tub slow feeder essentially comes in the form of a tub with a textured insert that prevents total access to the feed or pellets contained inside. These single horse slow feeders use ridged bumpers that provide sensory feedback and mimic their natural grazing experience.
Also Consider: The Best Grazing Muzzles for Horses
Ideal for feeding a horse its fair share of grain or hard pellets, tub slow feeders may present certain hazards to aggressive or fast eaters. Since they're typically not mounted, it's possible for a horse to tip one or over or destroy it completely with just the press of a hoof.
Slow feeder toys
Some owners provide their animals mental stimulation with the help of slow feeder toys. These come in a variety of shapes and designs. But ultimately, they contain just small morsels of food or equine treats to reward a horse and reinforce positive behavior.
Other slow feeders designed as toys can come in the form of hanging balls with small holes, or as loose geometric ball feeders with a single hole to engage the horse's mind. Of course, the obvious hazard is choking. Since horses are powerful animals, they might be able to crush these toys in their mouth and end up ingesting pieces of the toy itself.
What to Consider When Buying Slow Feeder for Horses
Before you spend money on any horse feeder, it's important to consider some major health-related concerns that might affect your horse's well being. Although every horse feeder tries to provide what's best for your animal, design flaws can cause the risks to outweigh the benefits.
Teeth and Gum Health
Horses can suffer from chipped teeth and infected gums with the wrong kind of feeder. A horse slow feeder with smaller holes can cause the animal to bite mistakenly on the metal grates. And because these animals bite down with power, they can easily damage their teeth even with small bites.
As previously mentioned, nylon feeders for horses can cause friction against the gums. Over time, this may result to injury and infection. Checking to see that the horse feeder has appropriately sized openings can prevent dental and oral health concerns.
Potential Limb Entanglement
Yes - we've heard stories of a horse getting its shoe caught in a feeder. As the hay starts to dwindle down, the horse may feel the need to paw at the hay bag to rustle up the roughage and improve their chances of eating comfortably. Some owners even report their horses sticking their heads into the feeder and subsequently getting stuck.
A hay bag or feeder with a smaller opening may reduce the chances of getting a limb caught. For hay nets, it's important to make sure that there aren't any loose ropes that a horse might get entangled in. According to some equine experts, it's very possible for a horse to get a shoe ripped out if the horse pulls on a foot that's caught in a feeder. See some more reasons a horses lose their shoes.
Frustration Tolerance
Slow feeding your horses can significantly reduce stress. But using the wrong kind of hay net or slow feeder can cause more stress than it relieves. As a general rule, your slow feeders should provide just enough of a challenge to keep your animals engaged. If the slow feeders make it near impossible for the horse to pull hay, it becomes a source of frustration.
Not all slow feeders are designed with a horse's frustration tolerance in mind. Remember - your objective is to keep your horse busy but still fed and satisfied. If the feeder has small holes that make it too difficult for your horse, it may result to increased stress levels.
Postural Concerns
One of the main objectives of a slow feeder is to mimic the natural condition of a horse in the wild. But it's not enough that you give your animal a grazing opportunity that only focuses on satisfying its stomach. The natural grazing posture also plays a role in how satisfied your horse will feel.
Slow feeders that sit on or close to the ground help prevent postural problems and allow your animals to eat comfortably. If your horse has to raise its head for most of the time while eating out of their feeder, then they might develop neck and back problems later in life. This becomes especially true for older horses.
Injury and Damage
If a horse notices that it can access hay more comfortably by tearing the feeder apart, you can bet that it will. Poorly constructed slow feeders for horses can easily get dismantled by a powerful kick or bite. Some horses will even gradually work away locks and latches to remove a steel grate and improve access to the hay inside.
But more than just the damage to your property, these instances present potential injuries for your animals. Thus proper slow feeder selection, installment, and placement all play a role in the comfort and safety of your horse.
Hay Fall-Out and Waste
Hay bales can get pretty expensive especially if you keep having to restock your supply so often. So it's any practical farmer's desire to reduce any form of hay waste. That's why it's important to consider the design of a slow feed system before you buy into it.
Large holes allow lots of roughage to fall-out of the bag. In some cases, you might find yourself losing close to 30% of the bale's total weight to fall-out alone. Smaller holes and a solid, structured base can help prevent wastage and give your horses more time to graze and eat.
Durability
No one wants to have to keep buying new feeders so often. That's why durability should also be one of your major concerns. With structured feeders that use wood and metal grates, durability becomes less of an issue. Although it does sacrifice some safety and comfort for your animals considering the stiff, injury-prone material.
On the other hand, nets present a reduced risk of serious injury. The only problem of course is that they also take a hit in terms of durability. On the upside, some net feeders use reinforced nylon material that helps prevent fraying and breakage. Some even come with a warranty that promises to replace your purchase in case of untimely damage.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are slow feeders good for horses?
When properly chosen and installed, a slow feeder can present wonderful opportunities for stress relief, nutritional health, and cognitive stimulation. Horses can benefit much from a carefully prepared slow feeder, but the responsibility of ensuring the animal's safety during use still falls on the shoulders of the owner.
Injuries and accidents aren't always far behind when animals use a slow feeder. That's why owners need to pay close attention during use, and should regularly check on their animals for any signs of potential injury and hazards that the feeders might pose.
Are slow feed hay nets good for horses?
They can be. If a hay net hangs close to the ground and doesn't present the potential risk of entanglement, then it can be a suitable choice for your horse.
Most often, hay nets mimic nibble feeding most accurately which may work best to replicate the natural grazing experience that horses have in the wild.
How can you build a slow feeder for horses?
Horse owners have gotten quite creative with their DIY slow feeder designs. Pinterest overflows with ideas for those looking for inspiration. Generally however, you'll want to find a large enough barrel or bin which you can use as the basic structure.
You can then cut large holes along its side panels and secure a grate or net inside to increase the challenge of accessing the hay inside. Some horse owners have simplified the process by taking durable fishing net material and hanging it from a reasonable height before filling with hay.
Just keep in mind that if you plan to make your own slow feeder, you will have to consider the size of the holes and whether your horse's teeth and gums might get caught in the material. Observing your DIY project in action before actually offering it to your animals 24/7 can help you identify and remedy potential design flaws.
Are slow feeders bad for horse teeth?
They can be. Horses will do whatever they can to eat - even if it means breaking a tooth or two. Steel and metal grates can cause serious damage to your horse's teeth while nylon net material can injure the gums.
Providing both options on your ranch can help prevent specific damage to either teeth or gums. This allows your animals to cycle between their feeder options, giving the teeth a rest as they eat through net, and giving the gums a rest as they eat through grates.
Over to You
The best slow feeders for horses can present valuable health benefits for your animals. Alleviating stress and anxiety, improving nutritional health, and providing grazing opportunities that mimic their natural experience, slow feeders for horses are a simple solution with immeasurable advantages.
Of course, that's not to say they don't come with their own risks. A horse slow feeder may present unique challenges that could cause problems for your horse. But by choosing the right slow hay feeders and taking the necessary precautions, you should be able to provide your horse the benefits of slow feeding sans the dangers.
