Busy Horses Snacker

[sedeh]

At my last horse show one of my friends was using Busy Snacker hay bags for her minis. They absolutely intrigued me so I had to order some. Most of my mini's get to be in a herd environment and are out on pasture(though my "pastures" are mostly big dry lots.....they still have some stuff they can nibble on). It's the ones that are being stalled that I worry about. They gobble their food down so fast and then are bored the rest of the day. I do give them turn-out time and work them and their stalls all have runs but mostly they just stand there.

They also act like they're starving to death....and believe me, none of my horses is skinny.

I don't really have a consistent schedule where I could feed them several small feedings a day....which would be ideal. I'm delighted with the Busy Snacker because it slows their hay consumption way down! Takes them hours to get all the hay out!

I give them about a third of their food loose and then the rest goes in the Snacker. It has webbing with approx 1 in open squares. They really have to play with it to get their food out. I thought I'd share since so many of us have easy keepers that aren't allowed much food and/or horses that are stalled for long periods of time. Here's the link to their website, the snacker size is perfect for mini's. Busy Horse

 

[Charlotte]

those look very interesting for our show horses. Which size did you buy for minis?

thanks for mentioning these.

Charlotte

 

[midnight star stables]

I'm a user too

I found it worked great for my "easy keeping" younger horses. I bought the smallest one for my guys and it works great - It holds more then a flake of hay from the small bales. The can still eat it pretty quickly, but I find it does help.

 

[LittleRibbie]

Those look great ....how high did you hang yours? Does the webbing stay pretty tight...just alittle afraid of the holes getting too big

 

[~Dan]

Ive seen those the only issue is I worry about someone getting hung up on the top if they start to play over the stalls because they are mini sized. Has anyone ever had an issue with getting a horse caught up in it.

 

[midnight star stables]

Ive seen those the only issue is I worry about someone getting hung up on the top if they start to play over the stalls because they are mini sized. Has anyone ever had an issue with getting a horse caught up in it.

I thought the same thing, so I have always tied a string in a knot on both sides at the top. Never had an issue. But I hang them pretty high too, just at or above head level.

The fabric is like a halter, and the square sizes do not change even when beat up, pulled, rubbed on, etc. It is really strong.

 

[sedeh]

I've only been using mine for a couple of days. I don't have it hanging too high...just head height. My friend has one horse that kept pawing at the bag and was wearing her hoof down. So now she just throws it in the stall with her. She tosses it around and still takes her a while to eat. I got the "snacker" size. They're actually made for full size horses but the snacker size is just right for the minis.

 

[Becky]

That's a really neat idea and I am going to have to try that out! The show horses get bored standing in their stalls and that looks to give them something to do. I like the idea!

 

[Sue_C.]

Cool! I had never seen one of these...would have been easier for me than what I have done...probably cheaper too.

I just took an ordinary top load hay bag, Top Load Hay Bag and sewed a webbing grid over the one already there. The holes are then about 2" square, and it takes almost all day for a good-sized flake of hay to be eaten. I love using this at the shows especially, as we all know that as long as they are eating...they are happy. I have done basically the same with the regular hay bags as well, but do like the top loading ones that I linked to, the best.

 

[KanoasDestiny]

I wanted to get one of these last year but I was scared that either the holes would be too big, or that the horses would be able to eat the hay too quickly. I have a couple of questions for those who use these bags...do you tie down both ends of the bag, or does it kind of sway at the bottom where they can bat it around? Do you find that there's a lot of hay that falls to the ground during use? And how much can fit into a snack sized bag?

 

[sedeh]

I wanted to get one of these last year but I was scared that either the holes would be too big, or that the horses would be able to eat the hay too quickly. I have a couple of questions for those who use these bags...do you tie down both ends of the bag, or does it kind of sway at the bottom where they can bat it around? Do you find that there's a lot of hay that falls to the ground during use? And how much can fit into a snack sized bag?

I just hang the bag against the stall wall. They play with it and bat it around. The hay will fall out in small amounts and then they'll eat it off the floor. They also pick at it through the holes (the snack size holes are around 1"x1"). I'm not sure how much hay I could stuff in it....probably more than a mini should eat!! Right now I put a little more than a pound in it. So far I'm happy with the bag.

 

[KanoasDestiny]

I wanted to get one of these last year but I was scared that either the holes would be too big, or that the horses would be able to eat the hay too quickly. I have a couple of questions for those who use these bags...do you tie down both ends of the bag, or does it kind of sway at the bottom where they can bat it around? Do you find that there's a lot of hay that falls to the ground during use? And how much can fit into a snack sized bag?

I just hang the bag against the stall wall. They play with it and bat it around. The hay will fall out in small amounts and then they'll eat it off the floor. They also pick at it through the holes (the snack size holes are around 1"x1"). I'm not sure how much hay I could stuff in it....probably more than a mini should eat!! Right now I put a little more than a pound in it. So far I'm happy with the bag.

Thanks so much! I need to get the horses a couple more hay feeders because I wanted to put the metal one they have now in the horse trailer. I just wasn't sure if I wanted to spend the money to do it right now. These are about $20 cheaper than the ones I was going to get, so maybe I'll try these out instead.