Slowing down feeding? My options?

Do you also work? If school's typically from 10-4 and you don't work, and Lacey's only a 7-10 minute walk away, then feeding twice a day shouldn't be a problem. I wouldn't worry about it being "too early" or "too late" to feed her...I've fed mine at 6am some mornings, midnight some nights. Depends on work and when I'm able...throw enough hay accordingly. Either way, feeding twice a day would help regulate how much she eats and how fast - give her alfalfa in the morning, regular hay at night because she gets more of it.

Still going to advise against the hay net though...

Ah now that I've seen a photo of the manger it's not the same thing I was referring to with my mare...hers is a corner feeder. It's metal and up high and I put the net inside the bars. On the ground I'd say be careful because as others have mentioned she could get a leg stuck :/
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This!

Bolding mine.
Wrong.
Horses do not graze 24/7 in the wild.
They travel, they nap, they drink, they breed, they play, etc.
When you exaggerate the most important part of your reason it makes it hard to believe the rest of your logic.


I do like Cori's idea of various feeding stations. But if she is fussy about her hay getting wet I can see how that would not work.

I have had very good luck with the small hole haynets they see. There are several brands. If you want to put all the hay into one net the large freedom feeder works great. Very easy to fill once you get the knack for it too. Linky The picture with the horse shows the large model.
This is the model I use in my stalls. I have taken the knot out of the string so I can hang it low and there is nothing to get a hoof stuck in since the holes in the net are so small.

You could probably set either style of small hole up so you use it with her manger.

Efficiency? You make it sound as though your horse is a burden.

What about checking her over for cuts, scrapes, colic? Do you pick the turnout area? Check for trash that may have blown in? Pick manure? Check water?

That second feeding could save your horses life.

Oh for Pete's sake, have you ever read any of Wallaby's posts? She adores this horse, and has only ever done right by Lacey. I highly doubt feeding twice a day will "save her life." If you read the post, you would see that Lacey is at her neighbors house. It's not like she goes days without being looked in on. And furthermore, I honestly don't know anyone who thoroughly checks the pasture for trash and debris and the horses for injuries every time they come out to the barn. And lastly, not everyone picks paddocks, and the people that do likely only do it once a day. Wallaby is doing nothing wrong.

I pick my paddocks twice per day during the months of the year that they are not totally covered in snow.

Generally speaking, I do not disagree with what MLS posted. I think in this case the horse is not going with out attention/being observed though, just because she is getting only fed 1x per day.

I thought I've always read that feeding at the same time everyday was better than feeding at various times everyday? Maybe that's been proven to not be exactly true...
Another thing is that sometimes I end up just not having the time to go over there twice a day. A lot of days I could, but I'd feel bad on the days I couldn't, since she'd be expecting me and I didn't come...

Those look great AB! I will definitely look into them. Thanks for sharing.
Also, thanks in general for your post.

Thank you Leigha!
In September-ish when there was enough grass in the field and I didn't need to feed Lacey, there was a day or two where I ended up not seeing her all day and I felt SO guilty.

She's also not terribly injury-prone, I know things can happen, but she used to be scraped up a lot at her old house, but now that she's a lone horse she hasn't gotten a scrape in months. That's not to say that there's anything dangerous in her field (there isn't) because I think she won't get hurt, but that I think she'll probably be ok.

I do appreciate your concern mls, though.

I completely agree on all counts. For some people who just throw food down, one feeding a day could get dangerous. If they weren't really interested in their horse it would be easy to start ignoring little things. I think it's a very specific situation where this can work out and that I'm in perhaps that situation.

I do like to spend at least 15 minutes with her while she's eating to take her blanket off, groom her, pick out her feet etc, so that I know she's doing fine.