Is there a better way to offer hay to horses? There are dozens, as it turns out, each with its own advantages.

In most parts of the world, pasture is, at best, a seasonal thing. For a good chunk of the year, most of us who are feeding horses have to replace green grass with the dried variety.

Hay, as we all know, is both bulky and vulnerable to the weather. It's also not inexpensive, even if you grow your own. So it's little wonder that humans, in their unflagging drive to build the better mousetrap, are constantly coming up with better ways to feed hay, both indoors and out.

There are certainly arguments in favor of feeding hay on the ground and letting the horses have at it. Feeding from the ground allows horses to eat in the posture for which they were designed, with their heads down. This minimizes the amount of dust and mold spores they inhale from their forage, and it allows their respiratory passages to drain each time they lower their heads

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