TRIED & TESTED

TRIED & TESTED

What the professionals have to say

Vanessa Britton
Editor, Equestrian Business Monthly
Editor's Choice - November 2017

"Feeding hay in the stable can be a problem. If you are not a fan of haynets or hay racks, then, traditionally the answer has been to simply feed hay in a pile on the floor in the corner of the stable.

Having been sent a Hay Bar a year ago, I thought I’d try it for my Percheron mare. A large 17.1h horse, who is not in hard work, she needs forage only. Throughout the winter, she is fed ad-lib hay and 100% natural dried grass overnight in the stable.

My main concern was that she would break the Hay Bar as she rubs on anything. However, it’s nearly a year later and it is still as good as new. It’s made life so much easier and quicker as it just gets filled up and she can munch away all night. One of the best benefits, however, is that I couldn’t find anything suitable to feed the dried grass in, without her tipping it out and wasting a great deal of it. Now we just put the dried grass on top of the hay which works well. As she eats, the dried grass mixes through the hay, which keeps her happy all night long.

I have been so happy with the Hay Bar, that I’ve bought one for each of the stables. They are easy to fit and work really well for feeding more naturally."
Maggie Jackman
British Dressage Magazine

"I am delighted that for the first time I do not have most of the hay trampled into his bed. This has happened both with the yards hay racks where he pulled a great lump over the top to spread on the floor rather than pull mouthfuls through the bars, also with the extra large stable bucket I have used for the past year, which he pulled over and spread the contents in his bed. 

Like many people I feed soaked hay and one advantage of the Hay Bar is that the handler does not get wet and filthy, either filling hay racks or hoisting up wet hay nets that way a ton and soak the handler.

After a momentary shock of seeing the black monster in the corner Bob started to eat his hay happily from the Hay Bar. There has be NO wastage since we installed it, if he picks up a clump the residue drops back into the Hay Bar. I like to feed on the floor as this is better for the horse but usually is very wasteful.

The yard owner is so impressed with the lack of waste and ease of filling that he wishes he could afford to remove all the hay racks and replace the whole yard with Hay Bars, it would speed up staff at hay times, eliminate wastage and keep staff clean and dry."
Absolute Horse Magazine

"I tried out a pony size HAY BAR and found it to be pretty good. I liked the fact that it has a rounded edge along the top so no chance of injury. The HAY BAR offers feed as nature intended, on the floor, so no problem of wrong muscle development and no worries of getting tangled up in a haynet, by that I mean the horse when being fed and the owner when filling it.

My family and I find it easy to use and to clean out as we installed it just a few inches off the ground so we can remove any hay that may be left over from underneath, The HAY BAR was straight forward to install and all in all I am quite impressed with the product, enough so that I intend to purchase a HAY BAR for my other boxes."
Henry Whittaker
Access dept. British Horse Society
"Once attached to the wall the Hay Bar became rather sightly. The Hay Bar curves in, so that the horse can get close in to eat, without banging his knees. However it is big, and therefore not very suitable for the smaller breeds (Hay Bar are developing a smaller version which will be on the market early spring).

A Shetland pony was introduced to it and promptly tried to get inside! Any thoughts about the Hay Bar’s strength were instantly dismissed as the greedy Shetland literally had to be lifted out of it.

The Hay Bar was a great success; and it is practical and looks good – a worthy addition to any stable."
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