Hay Nets Archives - Slow Feed Nets

Equipment You Need To Perform Basic Horse Care

Fri, 22 Apr 2022 09:01:32 +0000

Hi, I’m Jack from Slowfeednets. Today I’m going to talk about the equipment you’ll need to perform basic horse care for your horse without costing an arm and a leg.

Halter and Lead Rope

The first thing you’re going to need is a halter that goes on your horse’s head and a lead rope. You can catch them, lead them around and tie them up all that good stuff.

Brush and Hoof Pick

Another thing you’re going to need is brushes, and this is to keep your horse clean. It would help if you also had a hoof pick to pick out their hooves. Brushing your horse is something you’ll probably do on a daily basis, so it’s important that you have this stuff.

Fly Product

Now for some optional things that you may want but your horse doesn’t necessarily need, a fly spray, a fly mask, and any fly products to keep the flies off your horse. Flies can be such a nuisance to your horse, so you can use those pieces of equipment to keep your horse comfortable.

Horse Blanket

Another thing I highly recommend getting for your horse, even if you don’t plan on blanketing them in the winter, is a horse blanket. It will cover them in the winter if they get cold. There’s a lot of controversy about whether or not you should blanket your horse in the winter, and to me, it just depends on the horse. It’s vital that you watch your horse and see how they handle the cold to decide whether or not they need a blanket. I do have my blanket on hand, so if there is going to be terrible weather, I will put the blanket on him, just for peace of mind and to give him that protection.

Riding Stuff

If you plan on riding the horse, it’s important to take a saddle, a girth, a helmet, saddle blankets, a bridle, and all that stuff to ride your horse and have fun. You’re going to buy that tack, and tack can be expensive. Once you buy tack, it’s also important that you keep it maintained so that it can last a long time. This means you can clean and shampoo your leather pieces of tack. This will help make their life last longer and make them more flexible in dealing with stress a lot more. If your saddle or girth or something like that gets wet, it can dry out the leather and become cracked. It can also be a potential safety hazard if you don’t keep your tack maintained, strip leathers can break, and pieces of the bridle can break. If you want to maintain your safety as a rider, it’s very important that you check your tack regularly and take care of it properly.

Medical Supplies

Now we’ve covered all the essential and optional supplies for caring for your horse. It’s also important to stay on top of your horse’s medical needs. Some stuff you may want to have on hand when it comes to owning a horse is basic medical supplies. These can include leg bandages, gauze, certain ointments, and medications. You also need a vet’s contact info on hand if you need it and it also means being able to recognize when your horse does need medical attention. Some behaviors can look like a horse being more frantic than usual, lying down, standing up, laying down, and standing up. Maybe your horse has a running nose, and they seem down. Just being able to recognize things like this and when your horse may need medical attention.
Another thing to stay on top of is your horse’s regular medical needs. This means they’ll need shots, deworming, teeth floating, and getting their Coggins test. So all these things are stuff that they’re going to need to be done regularly, usually on a biannual or an annual basis.

When you get a new horse

When it comes to getting a new horse, it’s important that you have an experienced horse person that you can trust and go to if you need help.
One of the most frustrating and overwhelming things about having a horse is that the horse world is so vast that you don’t know everything, and so it can be really stressful if you’re in a situation and you don’t know what to do.
If you have that experienced horse person, whether it’s your instructor or your trainer that you can go to and talk to, it can help you work through that situation.

Now I’d like to hear from you.

Do you think this blog is helpful to you?

Are there any questions about feeding your horses?

Let me know by leaving a comment below right now.

The post Equipment You Need To Perform Basic Horse Care appeared first on Slow Feed Nets.

Where To Keep Your Horses And Why They need Exercise

Tue, 12 Apr 2022 09:04:42 +0000

Hey everyone, I’m Jack from Slowfeednets. Today, I’m continuing my blog series on natural horse-keeping methods and today I’m going to talk about where to keep your horse and

Place

Let’s talk about some options for where to keep them.

Be out in the wild

Naturally, horses are out in the wild. They’re free to roam wherever they go and they are constantly moving throughout the day. Even if you sit and watch a horse race, you’ll notice that they’re never really standing still for too long and they’re always moving. And so naturally a horse needs to be out and able to move. This is why it’s important that they have a turnout.

For me personally, I like my horses to be out in the field 24/7, just so they can move as they need to. They can graze the whole day and eat hay and all that stuff. If your horse is out 24/7, it’s important that they have adequate shelter from the elements just like a running shed. Or you can even bring them into a stall, if there’s going to be really bad weather.

Be in a stall

The next option is that you can keep your horse in a stall. Stalls can provide your horse with good shelter out of the elements on days when there’s a bad weather. It can also just be a way that they can stand inside and get a fan blowing them or something like that.

When it comes to deciding whether or not to keep your horse in the stall, it’s important to remember that a horse’s natural habitat is out in the wild where they can roam, so keeping them in a stall is kind of the opposite of what they’re used to. This is just important to remember, because some horses can get stocked up legs, if they’re standing for too long in a stall or it can cause their joints to lock up. So this is just a very important thing to be aware of and to know when it comes to deciding where you want to keep your horse. You can always consult a vet and get guidance from them about this as well.

If your horse does live in a stall, it’s important that they get turnout at least once a day. It’s important that that horse does get exercise and get movement to maintain their health. If your horse is in a stall because they’re injured, you can hand walk your horse so just lead them around so they can exercise and move. Another thing to note is that if you’re keeping your horse in a stall, it’s important that the stall gets cleaned out at least once a day. The reason for this is that if your horse is standing in their own waist for too long, that can cause some serious health problems with their feet.

Exercise

The next thing we’re going to talk about is making sure your horse is getting exercise. If your horse has turnout, that’s a great way for them to get just natural exercise by moving throughout their day, but there are other ways you can make sure your horse is staying healthy and getting the exercise they need.

The most obvious way is riding them. Riding is great exercise for your horse.

Another thing you can do is lunge them, and this is a great way to work them without having to ride. If the weather is bad and you can’t ride, this is a great option to make it work.

Some things to remember is that if your horse isn’t getting good exercise, their joints tend to get stiff or their legs tend to stock up. So you need to make sure your horse does have good exercise.

Now I’d like to hear from you.

Do you think this blog is helpful to you?

Are there any questions relating to feeding a horse?

Let me know by leaving a comment below right now.

The post Where To Keep Your Horses And Why They need Exercise appeared first on Slow Feed Nets.

Complete Guide To Help You feed Horses

Tue, 29 Mar 2022 07:49:16 +0000

Hey everyone, I’m Jack from Slowfeednets. Today, I will give you a crash course on all the essential information you need to feed a horse. Whether you’re buying a horse for the first time or just starting to get into lessons and you like to know how you feed a horse, this is a great place to start.

Eating

The first point we will talk about is what your horse eats.

Grass Your horse may eat a few different things, and the main thing they’re going to eat is grass. The grass is a horse’s natural diet in the wild, so it’s the thing that they need most. Ideally, your horse’s main sustenance will come from grass, and the reason is that there’s lower sugar content than grain. So it’s better for them, and they’re made to be eating all day, and so the grass has that abundance to where they could be grazing all day as they need to. There are different grasses that your horse will eat, and some grasses have more sugar than others. Some horses can get super fat off of grass, and these horses are called easy keepers meaning they don’t need that much sustenance to stay a healthy weight.

Hay The next main thing your horse may eat is hay, basically just dried grass. There are many different types of hay, ranging from alfalfa hay to timothy grass. You can sustain your horse’s diet with hay. We feed it in the winter just because the grass dies off, so the horses need that forage. If you are stalling your horse or maybe your horse is injured, so they have to be kept in a stall, you will want to provide the horse with hay. In this way, they can have that food because horses are used to eating all day, and hay gives them the opportunity to constantly be munching instead of just eating the grain which they eat in five minutes.
If you’re going to purchase hay, it’s crucial that you purchase horse quality hay. Horses and cows are different so that they can digest different things. Cows can pretty much eat anything, and they’re fine. Horses, on the other hand, there are a few things they can’t digest as well as cows, so you want to make sure you’re getting horse quality hay.We one time got hay, and it, unfortunately, wasn’t the best quality, and it had this thing called foxtail which may rip up horses’ mouths. Besides, you need to check that horse quality hay for things like foxtail and other weeds that may damage your horse’s mouth or not be suitable for them to digest.

Grain Many people also like to feed their horses grain. When it comes to feeding grain, it’s important to feed grain that will benefit your horse’s diet and your horse’s overall health. In my personal opinion, not every horse needs grain. Grain can be high in sugar, and it’s just unnatural for the horse to digest because horses are used to getting natural sugars from grass compared to grain with a high amount of sugar. That being said, some horses do need to sustain their weight with grain. It is up to the horse’s needs, so this is a great thing to talk to your vet about, and they’ll be happy to guide you in the direction of what your horse needs to eat. So if you’re working your horse hard every day or have a rigorous routine, supplementing their diet with grain may be beneficial. You can also give them supplements with that, like electrolytes that can help them retain their water. And if you have a fat horse, that’s one option you can choose. But like I said, always talk to your vet, and they’ll be happy to guide you in the direction you need to go when feeding your horse.

Water

Another thing your horse is going to need in order to survive is water. Horses need between 5 to 10 gallons of water a day, so you need to ensure that they have enough water to get through their day. If your horse is out in the field with other horses, you need to make sure you have a water bin that will be able to hold enough water for all of them.

One thing to note is in the winter, water buckets can freeze, and even the water buckets are kept installed. So it would be best if you made sure the water stays unfrozen. You can get water heaters for these, or even try some things to keep the water from freezing over. If they’re not hydrated, they can get colic, leading to more health issues and even death. So it’s important that you make sure your horse has adequate water and that they have access to it and know where it is.

If you are getting a new horse, why don’t you comment below and just let me know some more information about your horse and what you plan to do with them.

The post Complete Guide To Help You feed Horses appeared first on Slow Feed Nets.

Two Actionable Ways To Help You Fill Slow Feed Hay Nets In Three Minutes

Mon, 21 Mar 2022 07:23:05 +0000

Hi, Jack here from Slow Feed Nets. I’m continuing my blog series on natural horse-keeping methods and today I’m going to talk about how to fill slow feed hay nets for horses.

The hay net is a great feeding option. I actually prefer the hay net when using grasses hay because that helps eliminate the waste. Whereas the feed bag uses alfalfa, it doesn’t come out of the holes easily. The particular hay net is designed with small spacing to help eliminate waste.

However, when you’re using hay nets, it can be really challenging to get the flakes of hay in hey nets. So today I want to show you two super easy ways of how you can fill hay nets. Then maybe it’ll be a viable option for you to feed your horses by using hay nets. Now let me show you how to fill hay nets.

The following would demonstrate these two ways step by step. The easiest way to fill a horse hay net, I suppose, is using a can. But if you don’t have a big can, you can choose the second way, which uses no tools.

Utilizing a big container

If you do have a can or a container that is big enough, you’d better try this way.

You’d better wear gloves before you get started when you are filling up the hay nets because it makes it a little bit easier, and you don’t get poked with all of the hay.

In order to fill your hay nets easily, the first thing you’re going to need is a big container, such as a trash can. Then you take the hay net and if its ends are separated, you could make a square knot. Because it would be inconvenient if the nets completely come apart, while you’re opening the hay net up and putting it over the trash can. Then you just open up the hay net and put it into the trash can and fold the top down over.

Next, once you start filling up the hay net with the hay, you need to shake it into the net to separate out the hay. I find it would be better if you just put one flake at a time. When it starts coming up on the edges, you just need to push it back down and keep going on. If you get close to the top, you could shake the hay. Then you should untie this little knot that you made before and tie one knot down at the bottom like this. Next and then you have a hay net all ready to get hung up and feed hungry horses.

Without using any tools

When using a small amount or a large amount of hay, I find it easy to leave the hay on the ground and just put the hay net over the top.

As you get it covered, then you can turn it back over, pull up your sides, give it a good shake, and then you’re ready to go.

Other Tips:

This is critical that you’d hang the hay bag high enough that a horse can’t get its front feet in it when pawing or traveling in the trailer. I like to go around a couple of times if you have a ring or a piece of pipe. And then half hitch your loop, so that it’s secure and the horse can untie it with its mouth while it’s feeding.
It is easier if you have multiple hay nets that are full and ready to feed. Therefore, you don’t have to spend as much time packing up the hay nets when you’re getting ready to feed your horses. This is especially helpful for me because I work from Monday through Friday, so I can do their meals the night before. I just put them out in the morning and then they get to eat and they’re super happy.

I hope you found these tips useful, especially if you’ve been considering using hay nets for your horses for feeding.

Now I’d like to hear from you.

Do you have a better way to fill slow feed hay nets?

Are there any questions relating to horse hay nets?

Let me know by leaving a comment below right now.

The post Two Actionable Ways To Help You Fill Slow Feed Hay Nets In Three Minutes appeared first on Slow Feed Nets.

How To Help Your Horse Gain Weight?

Fri, 11 Mar 2022 03:07:16 +0000

Hi, I’m Jack from Slowfeednets. A fairly common question asked by horse owners is how do I put weight on a thin horse. The simplest response is often to either switch to a higher calorie feed or just increase the total amount feed to the horse. Are these answers reasonable?

So today I’m going to show you exactly top tips for helping you identify what to change in your horse’s diet to achieve better weight gain in the healthiest way without costing an arm and a leg.

Ask yourself a question

A horse owners’ first step should be to determine exactly why the horse is not maintaining an appropriate body weight and condition. So my first question for the horse owner would be: is your horse receiving the right amount of daily feed and forage to support body weight and condition.

A ration evaluation to compare daily calorie intake to the calories needed for maintenance and workload will help to answer that question.

If the horse is receiving adequate calories:

If the answer is yes and the horse is receiving adequate calories, your next step would be to contact your veterinarian to perform a health exam. There are several medical conditions that would lead to a horse being underweight, as following shows:

disease or injury
poor dental condition
parasite infestation
a change in nutrient requirements

Due to age or a medical condition, it results in impaired digestive function such as ulcers, inflammatory bowel disease or absorption dysfunction. Therefore, addressing any underlying health issue may be all that’s necessary to help your horse regain lost body condition.

If the horse just needs more calories:

If the answer is no and your horse just needs more calories to reach the desired body weight and condition then you need to make a change in your feeding program.

There are a few points to consider in designing a weight gain diet.

evaluate your feed

choose the amount, quality and appropriate product to fit the situation
weigh the amount fed, both feed and hay with a scale
compare to the feeding recommendations on the bag or the tag

You may need to choose a different feed that would be a better fit for that particular situation.

2. determine lifestyle

the age and activity level of the horse compared to feeding recommendations

In general, feeding two to four pounds of extra feed per day will support weight gain of one-half to one pound per day, which is a good moderate rate of weight gain.

3. examine the amount and quality of hay

at least one pound of hay per hundred pounds of body weight per day, or about ten pounds for a thousand pound horse, but you may very well need to feed more hay than that.

The quality of the hay will greatly affect the calories that it provides to the horse. Higher-quality hay will provide more calories as well as other nutrients.

Weight gain and timeframe

The approach you take to help a horse gain weight depends on how much weight he needs to gain and what timeframe you have to accomplish the desired results. The more weight needed, and the shorter the time frame, the more aggressive the effort needs to be.

Gaining a relatively small amount of weight, 25 pounds or less, can often be achieved in 60 days by increasing feed intake by 2 to 3 pounds per day.
Gaining 45 pounds or more in that same period can require substantial increases in feed intake. It’s important to remember that a safe rule of thumb is to feed no more than 5 to 6 pounds of grain per meal to an average thousand pound horse. So if you’re at the point of increasing feed intake by 5 to 6 per day to support more or faster weight gain, you should add an additional meal each day, or consider changing to a higher calorie feed. A more calorie dense feed will provide the needed calories in a more reasonable amount of feed.

Healthy weight gain is achieved not only through calories but also from providing a diet complete with essential amino acids, fatty acids, vitamins and minerals. All these nutrients play a role in hair coat,muscle tone, hook quality and overall appearance and health.

Now I’d like to hear from you.

Do you think this blog is helpful to you?

Are there any questions about feeding your horses in a healthy way?

Let me know by leaving a comment below right now.

The post How To Help Your Horse Gain Weight? appeared first on Slow Feed Nets.