A hay net is the simplest way to make a horse eat the way it would at grass: for a long time, in small mouthfuls, with breaks it does not choose itself. Instead of hoovering up its ration in forty minutes, it pulls hay through the mesh a stalk at a time. The same weight of forage lasts two to three times longer — and stops ending up under hooves and in the bedding along the way.

The Balotade® range has three formats — for the stable and the trailer, a large one for the whole day, and one pulled over a round bale. Below is a short guide to choosing the right one.

How to choose a hay net

Mesh size: 30 or 45 mm

This is the most important decision, because it determines how much the net slows eating down.

• 45 mm — versatile. It genuinely extends eating time, but the horse eats smoothly, without frustration. A good choice for a horse that has never eaten from a net, for older horses, and for coarse-stalked meadow hay, which in tighter mesh tends to fold over.
• 30 mm — strong slow-down. Hay comes out a stalk at a time. For good doers, ponies and the ones that make a ration disappear in two hours. Horses after dental work or with dental problems do better with 45 mm.

Format: bag, flat net or round bale sleeve

• Stable and travel hay net 70 × 80 cm — a bag drawn closed at the top with a cord, 45 mm mesh. One feed’s worth. For the stable, the trailer and competitions; once empty it rolls up to the size of a fist, so taking a spare costs you nothing. Five colours.
• Stall hay net 120 × 90 cm — flat, with tape-bound edges and loops along the top, tight 30 mm mesh. Holds a day’s ration for a horse of 500–600 kg. The white version is polyester, the others HTPP.
• Round bale hay net — a sleeve pulled over the whole bale, 45 mm mesh, seven sizes. It closes the bale off from above and at the sides, so the hay is not dragged around the paddock.

Choosing the size of a round bale net

The size given is the dimension of the target bale, not of the net laid flat — the net itself is made with an allowance so that it can be pulled on. So do not size up “to be safe”: for a 130 × 130 cm bale you take a 130 × 130 cm net. The first figure is the diameter, the second the width of the bale. If your bales fall between sizes, choose the larger one.

What slower eating actually gives you

A horse at grass takes in forage for well over a dozen hours a day. Its gastric acid is secreted continuously, and the natural buffer is saliva — produced above all by chewing. A ration eaten in minutes means many hours without food and without chewing. A net spreads the same ration across the whole day.

• Less boredom — weaving, crib-biting and wood-chewing most often come from long gaps between feeds.
• Easier weight management — without cutting the forage ration drastically.
• Less waste — hay does not get mixed into the bedding or trodden in. At current hay prices a net pays for itself quickly.

Construction

Every Balotade® net is made from braided cord, not thin string — the braid is thick and smooth, with no sharp edges to chafe the lips. The weave is knotless, so there are no hard lumps and no single knot for the mesh to start unravelling from. The cord is UV-stabilised, which matters most in the round bale version, standing out in the paddock for a whole season.

The material is HTPP (high-tenacity polypropylene); the exception is the white stall net, made of polyester. The material does not absorb water, so the nets are also suitable for haylage and dry quickly after rinsing.

Hanging and safety

Hang the net at wither height or lower — the horse should eat with its head down, in a position close to grazing. With shod horses, set the height so that once emptied the bottom edge does not drop below roughly 60 cm above the ground; an empty net hanging loose is the one real risk of a shoe catching. For the first few days it is worth offering a small amount of loose hay alongside — some horses need a moment to work out the principle.