Please Be Careful With Hay Bags!!!

[mustangtrailrider]

Everyone, please head my story!My mare is fed with a hay bag. It is a cotton one. We always thought it was high enough off of the ground to keep her from getting tangled in. We were wrong.I went out this afternoon and found my mare with both front feet stuck in the hay bag. She waited patiently while I figured out how to get her untangled. She lifted one foot; I untangled it. She lifted the other foot; I did the same. She walked away from this with only a tiny scrape on her fetlock. She followed me around as if to say thank you. She was calm and quiet the entire time. She waited for me to save her. She is uninjured. She appears to be appreciative.Did I mention that I love this smart, patient mare? What a good girl!Everyone, please be careful. Hers is now hung much higher. Out of harms way.Be careful. I should have known better. Poor girl.

[Go Fish]

I never use them. They scare the hell outta me.

[myrna]

are we talking about hay bags or hay nets?

[Huntertwo]

You're lucky your girl was so patient and level headed. I'd hate to think if she was the panicky type...

[Bluey]

I assume it was a haynet.
Good that your mare was so patient and didn't injure herself trying to get loose.

I also don't use them unless I am right around, like at a show, tied to a trailer and use those that look like a suitcase for that.

For regular feeding, if high enough, hay gets in their eyes and down their throat and maybe some in their lungs and if too low, they can get hung on them.

Sometimes, you have to use them daily and take your chances, but I rather they waste some hay than some horse gets in trouble with a bag.

That was very sweet of her to be so nice and thankful for your help.:)

[CatOnLap]

I don't like haynets unless they are well secured and tied up tight, at a level too high for them to get the feet caught even if they are empty- but that is too high to feed properly from- dust falls down into their eyes!

Hay bags though are generally cheaply made and if a horse ever gets a foot caught in one, mine have ripped to shreds without much force. In fact they rip on their own it seems, I repalce mine about every 6-10 months as they are in daily use. Maybe you are buying too good quality ones? haha. Buy the cheap ones! Mine are thin nylon fabric and cost about $10. I like them because there is less waste than with a net and they are easy to pack half a dozen of them and take to a show, or if the horse sitter is coming, I can measure out every horse's rations and just leave full bags for the sitter to hang.

[Saidapal]

I wish I could remember who I learned this trick from, but this is how I hang my hay bags:

Get a double edged snap. Put one end through the tie loop. Fill haybag. Slip end of loop through eyeloop, around post, whatever. Then run the double edged snap around the hay bag, through the "hole" on the bottom, and back up to the top. Fasten to a ring at the opening (I try to grab two or three if possible for security).

This way when the bag is empty it won't fall to the floor and it will keep it from getting tangled in their feet. You can hang it chest high and it will never drop low enough for their feet to get stuck in it. They can pull and tug to their hearts content and unless they destroy the bag it will stay secure, and if they destroy it you won't have a problem anyway.:winkgrin:

Easy-peasy. I do this in trailers as well.

[LittleblackMorgan]

I knew a horse who lost an eye due to a piece of hay poking out of a hayNET. Since then, I refuse to use them. NEVER EVER EVER. Always use the ones that are BAGS and have either a hole or feeder area. The hay nets should be banned and taken off the market

[katarine]

True story with a caveat: I know how to hang a hay net high and tight and strung up like a trussed up bear bag and all that. My 15.2 (meaning NOT tall and leggy) QH got frustrated about 'whatever' in the trailer one day and pawed at it. Big, Spanish Walk type pawing. Hung himself by a shoe in the nylon netting :( stood up in it, splitting his noggin wide open and denting my steel trailer, and hung his OTHER dang foot in it. scramble flop and rock ensued. As quickly as possible, I got off the road and opened the escape door to find a bloody headed Jake, with tweety bird's circling, all tangled up in that damn net. Quick slash of the pocketknife, he was freed, and we skeedaddled back to civilization, where we found a vet to meet us at a gas station, and stitch my poor boy back up.

I use only cotton hay BAGS now. They'll give way if he tries to climb in another.

[mustangtrailrider]

Well, it was a hay net. Oops. Forgot the difference. I was tired when I was posting last night. She prefers it out of a* net vs on the ground. We will keep Ms. Maresie happy won't we! She is happy as a clam tonight. Mares!

[BelladonnaLily]

I don't use haynets either...just bags. About 10 years ago, I was following a little 2 horse trailer with a pony in it. Suddenly, pony goes up and starts thrashing. Within minutes, I am able to alert the driver and she pulls over. Pony had both feet caught in the haynet. Fortunately, she was able to free her without any damage, but had I not been following her, who knows what she would have found when she got where she was going.

[SonnysMom]

mustangtrailrider- can you set up a hay manger or hay rack instead since she likes to not eat off the ground?

[Quinn]

I will never feed from a hay net again. Quinn's FIRST time in the trailer. At the time had a 3 horse slant. Put her hay net in, ran the double snap down through the bottom hole and secured it to the trailer. When we went to unload, I went into the dressing room. There was a dreadful banging and rocking and out I went. My partner at the time had opened the back doors, swung the partition, unhooked Quinn and turned left to walk her off. She had been pawing, put her right front leg into the haynet and so when he attempted to walk her off, she fell hard on her left side. The partitions all swung closed. He literally had to drag her out under the partitions. She was shaken up obviously and a bit scraped but it could have been so much worse. Had he not dragged her out as she was scrambling to get up, she would have broken her back on the dividers. I don't think I'll ever forget that feeling of being so helpless. I now have a 2 + 1 straight load and use corner feed bags.

http://community.webshots.com/user/ballyduff

[ChocoMare]

The only hay net I will use is a Small Mesh (http://millerharness.com/product.asp?pn=X4-27286)one, with four sections of the draw string secured inside a giant snap hook, hung up. Regular hay nets are hoof traps.

In a trailer, I never use a hay net...just the manger.

Jingles for your mare MTR!

[BlueEyedSorrel]

Glad your mare is OK!

About 15 years ago, I saw an unattended, tied horse at a show get his head caught in a nylon material haynet and nearly take the barn down in his struggles to get free. No one wanted to get near enough to help (horse had been quite fractious with his owner earlier AND was still in possession of his balls, which is a whole other story). No one seemed to know the owners either, as they weren't regulars on the local show circuit. Poor horse eventually got loose when the net broke. Of course, when the owners finally returned, they were unconcerned:confused::sigh:

After seeing that, I would NEVER use a net. A hay bag with a center hole, yes, but a net, never.
BES

[joiedevie99]

We only use these. Same function as hay net- but safer. We also tie them with a single loop of twine so if some rearing creature finds a way to get tangled up - it will come down pretty easy- and its a lot less of a disaster after its down and a net is.

http://www.doversaddlery.com/product.asp?pn=X1-27216&ids=895663542

[goeslikestink]

Everyone, please head my story!My mare is fed with a hay bag. It is a cotton one. We always thought it was high enough off of the ground to keep her from getting tangled in. We were wrong.I went out this afternoon and found my mare with both front feet stuck in the hay bag. She waited patiently while I figured out how to get her untangled. She lifted one foot; I untangled it. She lifted the other foot; I did the same. She walked away from this with only a tiny scrape on her fetlock. She followed me around as if to say thank you. She was calm and quiet the entire time. She waited for me to save her. She is uninjured. She appears to be appreciative.Did I mention that I love this smart, patient mare? What a good girl!Everyone, please be careful. Hers is now hung much higher. Out of harms way.Be careful. I should have known better. Poor girl.

haynets are better and hould be hung from the rafters or a ring at the top of the wall
so when they empty they still cant be reached by legs they should not however be at the same level as the horse is - as they empty they hang lower
even pony haynets can bee hung by top fixture ie by a ring or by a fixture point on the wall of the stable -- haynet strings are then tied to the fixture ie ring or lump ofpalited bailing twine fixed into position to take the haynet string
loop the haynet string through the holes of the haynet to the bottom loop back up to fixture then loop back through the haynet with a slipnot quick release if however you have excess string tie the end of further dwon in another quick release knot

bucket fittings/ holders also can be dangerous at chest height or feed bowls etc
solution remove bucket afterwards of feed over the door place buckets in old tyres on the floor and remove any handles so horse wont get cuaght up them
or buy thicker garden muck buckets which hold 6 buckets ofwater and place in a corner of the stable or a haybar in the corner so horse can eat drink without hurting himself

as regards to haynets in trialers horse boxes hanf them high enough and thread the string through so its tight and close the fittings then you wont have a problem
same to id tieing up outside the trailer tie it high enough and thread the string through so it doesnt get in the way of his legs so its above his nose not down at his chest as when they empty they hang lower

[mjrtango93]

True Hay Net horror story here........ a couple of friends had a very nice, very fancy, very expensive stallion that was going intermediate. Friends didn't have enough time/money to campaign him further, so decided to sell so he could go and get bred and shown by an operation able to accomodate him. Someone came out tried him a couple times, loved him, arranged vetting. Vet comes out a week later, studly passes with flying colors, new owners run to bank to get check, and trailer to return in an hour or two. Friends feed studly and other horses lunch while waiting and go to the house. People come back, go to get studly and he was dead, he somehow got his head stuck in the hay net and hung himself. They were in the house not 100 yards away and never heard a thing, and none of the horses made any noise. They feed on the floor now.

[mustangtrailrider]

After hearing of all of the horror stories, I may just have to toss her her hay the old fashioned way....on the ground. I may put it in an old water trough instead. I just worry about her. Thanks for the encouraging words!

[mustangtrailrider]

After hearing of all of the horror stories, I may just have to toss her her hay the old fashioned way....on the ground. I may put it in an old water trough instead. I just worry about her.

Thanks for the encouraging words!

[ThatScaryChick]

We only use these. Same function as hay net- but safer. We also tie them with a single loop of twine so if some rearing creature finds a way to get tangled up - it will come down pretty easy- and its a lot less of a disaster after its down and a net is.

http://www.doversaddlery.com/product.asp?pn=X1-27216&ids=895663542

I like those a lot better then hay nets.

[foundationmare]

This has been an eye opener. I haven't used either primarily because it's so much easier to throw hay into a corner of the stall. However, many, many racing stables hang nets/bags OUTSIDE the stalls of their racers. While there is still the risk of inhaling dust and/or fine debris, the possibility of getting hung up is lessened considerably.

All of this just amplifies the myriad ways a horse can inflict injury upon itself no matter how innocuous the situation may seem. How many times have we witnessed a horse cast in a stall?? Usually they extricate themselves from their predicament, but I have known others who have died. For the most part, I think stall confinement is the most dangerous environment for ANY horse.

[summerhorse]

This has been an eye opener. I haven't used either primarily because it's so much easier to throw hay into a corner of the stall. However, many, many racing stables hang nets/bags OUTSIDE the stalls of their racers. While there is still the risk of inhaling dust and/or fine debris, the possibility of getting hung up is lessened considerably.

All of this just amplifies the myriad ways a horse can inflict injury upon itself no matter how innocuous the situation may seem. How many times have we witnessed a horse cast in a stall?? Usually they extricate themselves from their predicament, but I have known others who have died. For the most part, I think stall confinement is the most dangerous environment for ANY horse.


My vet thinks hay nets should be banned.

I lost my old horse to getting cast in a stall. He was on the downhill road anyway but it would have been so much nicer to have been able to put him down the next week with everything arranged and peaceful than for him to suffer like that. And well me too, talk about the bad day from hell. I've known of so many horses killed or ruined from getting cast in stalls. Then of course others come up fine. Roll of the dice.