Extend Feeding Times of Stabled Horses with Haynets and Hay Balls

Stabled horses sometimes spend only a few hours per day consuming feed and forage, a far cry from the 8-12 hours horses would spend eating if given free-choice access. Using haynets or hay balls significantly extends feeding time compared to feeding off the ground or from a manger.

When roaming freely, horses spend most of the day consuming forage. Certain management practices of stabled horses such as offering high-calorie, large grain meals with limited forage or feeding limited amounts of hay and feed due to weight gain concerns, can leave horses without feed for long periods.

“The potential consequences of leaving horses without feed include the development of stereotypic or unwanted behaviors such as chewing wood or eating bedding. Gastric ulcers may form from reduced buffering of stomach acid. The more horses are stabled the less socialization they have,” explained Catherine Whitehouse, M.S., a nutrition advisor for Kentucky Equine Research.

Unfortunately, stabling is unavoidable for many intensely managed horses, so identifying strategies that prolong feed intake would be beneficial.

To explore the effect of various feed management tools on feeding time, a group of Icelandic horses was recruited and divided into four groups. Horses were fed using a haynet, hay ball, off the floor, or from a manger. Horses were all offered 3.5 kg (as fed) of haylage per meal twice daily, which was approximately 10 g dry matter per kg body weight (1% of body weight per day).^*

“Results showed that horses fed from the haynet and hay ball took significantly longer to consume the entire ration. Times were 178 minutes and 183 minutes per meal, respectively, which means the horses spent 6 hours per day eating. In contrast, horses fed from the floor or manager took 154 minutes and 160 minutes, respectively, approximately 5.2 hours per day,” Whitehouse said. “The hay net and hay ball extended feeding time by 13%.”

According to the research team, “simple feeding methods extend the feed intake time of maintenance-fed horses to resemble natural foraging time more closely.”

“Extending feeding time allows owners to satisfy the desire to chew and stimulate saliva production in response to eating, potentially improving both health and welfare,” Whitehouse said.

She added, “It is also important to note that this study fed a restrictive amount of hay due to the higher energy value of the haylage. When managing horses with lower energy needs such as easy keepers or sedentary horses, it is important to source lower calorie forages that allow for larger amounts of forage to be fed, ideally 15 to 20 g dry matter per kg body weight per day.”

Horses continuously secrete gastric acid, which is neutralized by saliva, feed, and forage. When horses don’t have access to near-constant forage, the risk of gastric ulcers increases.

“Providing a digestive buffer can help extend the period of buffering in the stomach when access to forage or voluntary intake may be restricted,” shared Whitehouse.

This study also showed that weighing the hay took approximately 40-50 seconds per horse. Filling the hay ball (2.5-3 minutes) took longer than filling the haynets (20-30 seconds).

^*Ragnarsson, S., S.V. Víkingsdóttir, and G.J. Stefánsdóttir. 2024. Initial impact of different feeding methods on feed intake time in stabled Icelandic horses. Animals (Basel) 14(8):1211.