My First Product Review!

My horse Dede is a hoover, she can gobble up a flake of hay in just a few minutes.  So I have been wanting to find a bag that would slow her down so it takes her longer to eat.  Here is my review of the Derby Slow Feed Hay Bag!

In case you haven’t jumped on this bandwagon yet, I’ll let you in on a secret – I am OBSESSED with Amazon.  I love how easy it is to find items you need and that you can order things, and 2 days later, they arrive on your doorstep!  I also have a guide of how to save money on Amazon, Check it out!   Anyway, I thought that honest product reviews of items that I have used, may be helpful to some people, so here goes my first one!  The Derby Originals Slow Feed Hay Bag.

I like this bag for a few reasons:

• It slows down my hoover/piglet of a horse!
• It holds  a lot more hay than other slow feed bags (the others I have tried held like 2 flakes if you were lucky, this holds 4-6 depending on size).
• It does not have metal anywhere on it – uses velcro and rope to close it.
• Durable
• Can mimic grazing with putting it on the ground, so your horse is eating with their head down, but leave it on the ground with caution (see note below)

Cons:

• I am not convinced that slow feed nets/bags are safe for horses with shoes (my horse is barefoot).  I would always worry about a shoe getting stuck somehow.
• A little difficult to load, but I am brainstorming a way to make this easier.
• The rope started fraying so I had to wrap it with tape, but you could probably burn the end and have it working better as well.

Anyway, for my needs (a barefoot horse who inhales her food quickly), this is great!  It slows her down and it takes a while for Dede to finish a giant bag of hay (we turn her out with it, then bring it back inside, and she is still eating out of it).  I like that there aren’t sharp or dangerous things for her to bite or hook herself on.  I feel comfortable leaving her unattended with it.

Have you built your own slow feeder?  My next goal is to make a good sized slow feeder that has the same positive features as this bag, although makes it much easier to load so I can feed all the time in it!