HayPlay Bags
These bags have been a great addition to our 24/7 forage routine. The XL bag has a solid back so works perfectly for feeding straight on the ground of the pasture. Unlike nets, their bite size is not necessarily limited BUT the accessible spots are much more limited. The design allows for an enriching experience because you can add extras like pieces of carrot, celery, hay cubes, pellets and even more exciting handfuls of tastier hay mixed with grass hay. The horses get to forage for those bonuses, which engages their sense of smell in a fun way. The snack sized bag is excellent for hanging like a toy!
Hanging the bag somewhere that cannot be pushed against a wall creates an enrichment toy at maximum difficulty. This would not be best option if it were to be your horse’s only source of food for a long stretch of time, as the frustration may outweigh the benefits! But it can certainly offer entertainment for long periods, stretching their regular hay by keeping them occupied.
Placing the bags on the ground is obviously the easiest option! While a metal shoe could certainly get caught on a hole, I don’t think it is as much of a risk as nets. The other risk would be sand colic, as hay will inevitably end up on the ground when they flip the bag around! And if you have a Trubee, there’s also the chance that they pee on it.
TIED IN A CONTAINER
Ideal when there is damp weather, tying the hay in a container prevents the hay from getting muddy! The fallen hay (there’s always a little) stays clean and edible. You’ll want to secure the smaller bags to a swivel, like this one on Amazon, as they will be spinning it constantly as they forage through it!
EASY
All the sizes are very easy to use! The XL has a heavy duty zipper that can be a little tough to unzip, but I’ve never had to try too hard. For the other two, I add a locking carabiner (we get them on Amazon) to two strings to hang it up!
Durable
Trubee paws he XL on the ground a LOT. So far, the edges of the holes have some fraying but only a little. The reinforced holes are holding up better than I expected, and I will update this when something does break on us!
Enriching
The hanging snack size bag with only a few pounds of hay and some cubes mixed in provides quite a lot of entertainment for the horses. They of course have multiple other hay stations too, but I’ve seen them spend hours at the snack bag. They’ve never emptied it completely in 24 hours, but they do give up on it once there is only a little left. The XL bag lasts them all day too! Even with all 3 taking turns.
VERSATILE
All three options can be used on the ground or hanging. While the solid back of the XL would help for sandier areas, enough hay comes out of the bag when they flip it that I would still caution against using these on very sandy footing to minimize sand colic risk. I love that you can mix other things in with the hay in these to create interesting games for them!
HayPlay Bags
The folks at GG Equine are also the kindest type of people! I always love when I find a company that I truly love, with products that are so useful.
I have a 15% off coupon for you to get your own HayPlay Bag! Simply use “NANTUCKET” for 15% off the whole store. The coupon is good for one use per customer, and includes their incredible grazing muzzles too!
GreenGuard Muzzle
GG Equine’s main product is their grazing muzzle. Here’s some info about them: “GG Equine is a woman-owned business with a mission to improve the health and well-being of horses that wear a grazing muzzle. We believe that horses out on pasture are happier than those confined to a stall.”
Our good friend Pony (pictured) wears one of their muzzles to keep her healthy, so I’ve seen it in action and know they are superior to others we’ve tried! Trubee use to have to wear one when living on irrigated pasture, and I always hated the ones we had at that time. If ever my horses need one again, this is the one they’ll be getting.
They also have a 30-day money-back guarantee, and each muzzle comes with a 1-year replacement promise.
There are options for every horse out there.
With so many options, your unique situation has a solution. I’m happy to help brainstorm if you’re stuck!
The links I share that lead to GG Equine’s website and Amazon are affiliate links! This means I will receive a small commission if you purchase after clicking on my links – so, you help me support these beautiful animals who are modeling these products! 🙂