a Forage Based Diet

HAYLAGE & A LITTLE CUNNING:

... with a little thought, you can turn your horses hay or haylage supply into the other  'real' meaning of forage: to seek for food.

 

...and you know: Tom & Henry just love to munch.

 

Here Tom & Henry are enjoying the new layout of their forage, they are foraging, and strangely I have noticed they prefer the nets on their right side, how strange?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 I had to buy more nets of course, I dont like them so only had 2, but as long as safety is guaranteed, I support thier use here, because I can see how handy they can be.  But I wont ever tie one up where it can get loose, or they can get caught up in it.


It's always worth remembering all horses arent the same: Henry can jump clean over his stable door, so geting caught in a net is childs play for him, so be careful with your own horse, even if he's not as 'athletic' as mine!

 

 

As you know, Tom & Henry eat their ad-lib haylage from Haybars: there's 2 in their yard, brilliantly customised by John to fit on a straight edge, (Haybars are a corner unit), and the other 2, one in each stable. 


These are filled twice daily with fresh haylage and the boys are just crazy about this arrangement, because they can wander between the grass and 4 separate hay sources.

 

 As you will also know, Tom & Henry have been brought in at night already because of the saturated ground here in Essex and my serious aversion to any more mudfever, so they are forced to spend time indoors, and I can only imagine how boring that must be once you've wandered around a few times and had a nap.

Horses need to eat, they eat for about 18 hours a day (almost the same amount of time cats need to sleep!). 

They eat to stay healthy both physically and mentally, to generate warmth and keep their guts in tip top condition,  of course the idea is they wander in equal measure too, which is why you'll rarely catch a wild horse overweight, he has to work for his living.  But it doesn't have to be a bore.

So I decided to hang some nets outside their stables, and they are crazy for this plan.  They now have three places to choose from to 'forage' for their forage, horses love this, plus it's safe because the nets are outside and less messy too (which the butler likes).

 

I came home early today from work so I was able to take photos in the daylight, normally it's dark when I put them indoors.

 

Try this with your horse, he'll love it!



T&H recommended x