Can’t think of what to get your horse for Christmas? Get out your tools and start building – your horse is going to love you when you create him his very own slow feeder! Ok, so it might be more of a Christmas present to yourself, but it will do him the world of good too (see Greedy Guts vs. Slow Feeder).
You’ll need a plastic drum (or half of one to be precise), a slow feeder hay-net (you can get them at your local equestrian retailer or stock-feed store – we get ours from Bio-John Equine and Pet Superstore), a drill, some scissors and either a jigsaw or a handsaw.
Start by cutting your drum in half (if it isn’t already). You can do this by drilling a hole in it at the level you would like to cut, inserting your jigsaw and cutting your way around. Alternatively a handsaw works equally as well.
Next step – you’ll need to cut the top/bottom out of it. This can be achieved by using the jigsaw as above, or if you’re clever with a knife you can get it started this way and finish off with the handsaw. Either way, we aren’t aiming for any amputations in the process – so be careful to keep your fingers out the way and perhaps wear gloves.
You’ll need a plastic drum (or half of one to be precise), a slow feeder hay-net (you can get them at your local equestrian retailer or stock-feed store – we get ours from Bio-John Equine and Pet Superstore), a drill, some scissors and either a jigsaw or a handsaw.
Start by cutting your drum in half (if it isn’t already). You can do this by drilling a hole in it at the level you would like to cut, inserting your jigsaw and cutting your way around. Alternatively a handsaw works equally as well.
Next step – you’ll need to cut the top/bottom out of it. This can be achieved by using the jigsaw as above, or if you’re clever with a knife you can get it started this way and finish off with the handsaw. Either way, we aren’t aiming for any amputations in the process – so be careful to keep your fingers out the way and perhaps wear gloves.
Now, remove the draw-string from the top of your hay-net and count how many loops it goes through. You’ll need to drill this many holes around the drum to fasten the hay-net to. It doesn’t matter if they are perfectly even around the drum, I just start drilling and see how many I end up with! You can always thread two loops through one hole to make up the difference.
Finally, poke the hay-net loops in to the holes you’ve drilled, thread the draw-string through the loops (now on the inside of the drum) and tie it off at the end. Cut to length if you’re looking to be fancy you can melt the ends so they don’t fray – don’t drop the melted rope on your leg though, that seriously hurts!
You can mount it with appropriate screws to an upright in your stable, yard or paddock – just make sure it is high enough that the horse can’t eat over the top, or get his foot caught in the hay-net.
Now you’ve got a slow-feeder that even lets you practice your basketball/netball skills each day when you lob the hay into it.
SW
Finally, poke the hay-net loops in to the holes you’ve drilled, thread the draw-string through the loops (now on the inside of the drum) and tie it off at the end. Cut to length if you’re looking to be fancy you can melt the ends so they don’t fray – don’t drop the melted rope on your leg though, that seriously hurts!
You can mount it with appropriate screws to an upright in your stable, yard or paddock – just make sure it is high enough that the horse can’t eat over the top, or get his foot caught in the hay-net.
Now you’ve got a slow-feeder that even lets you practice your basketball/netball skills each day when you lob the hay into it.
SW
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