Let’s take a look…

What are slow feeders, and why do we even need them?

Since horses are, by design, naturally nomadic they are grazers. This means that they travel their day in search of food that the can consume throughout their day. In their natural habitat horses spend their days walking, running, and trotting to and from water, shelter, and grazing areas. This routine allows them to graze small bits as they are continually moving.

In this manner, they digest their food over time which allow the sugars and nutrients to be broken down fully. Their hooves are continually being rasped, and shaped by the natural terrain.

In the modern, “domestic”, housing or boarding systems today horses are often contained in an enclosed stall, run, or paddock of some sort. In this format, horses are not able to continually move over long distance as in a natural environment. The human world is one of much confinement, and doesn’t allow for accessibility to space. So the horses are in much more confined areas, where they are feed a few small meals, and then stand all day, or at least a portion of the day that they are not getting worked for exercise.

For many horse owners their choices are limited as to boarding facilities that can accommodate their individual horse. Many horse owner who own a piece of land can self-board, but this is usually limited as well. These limitations can be a factor in your horses’s overall health and well-being, such as weight gain, food aggression, resource guarding, and poor hoof care.

Slow feed bags have been around a quite a while now. I remember in my early performance days being introduced to slow feed bags. While traveling on the road from event to event I needed a way to feed hay to my horses that closely mimic their normal “free” feed program that they use to getting at home.

Slow feeders can be one way of alleviating some of these issues. Slow feeders are design to keep horses from eating their whole ration of hay in “one sitting”. The net holes are designed to make it harder for the horse to get the hay out of the bag, thus making eating more like “grazing”. Their food is then digested slower, and they have the benefit of “always having something to eat” mindset.

Over the years slow feeders have transformed. Some improvements have been made to the existing designs, and new innovations have hit the market as well. Companies are now making ground feeders that can be placed in paddocks, net bags that can be placed on the ground, and net bags with varying size net openings.

The question is, “do they work?” My answer is, “Yes!” At least in my application I found over time my horses were able to adapt to eating from the bags, and became very accustomed to eating much slower over time. Their body scores improved, their hooves improved, and their overall mental well-being improved. What was once very upsetting behavioral issues were almost not existent. Even in transitioning my horses to a pasture management system I was able to use the slow feed bags as a supplemental in the transition.

In conclusion, depending on your facility, or current boarding setup, you can modify your current feeding system to include slow feeders. Do your research, look at all the applicable types of slow feeders that will compliment your current setup. No matter what you choose you will need to be patient, and mindful. This is a “slow” process of transition, and calibration. Horses don’t take this program right away. They need time to understand the change, what it means to them, and how to even get the hay out of the feeder. However, slow feeders can greatly improve your horses quality of life over all.

Enjoy the ride, and all my love in Christ Jesus,

Annie 🙂