Essential Guide to Slow Feeding Horses Safely

How to Support Healthy Digestion, Weight Control & Natural Grazing Behaviour
By Equell Team 27.11.25 -  Plant Powered • Science Led • NOPS Accredited

Slowing hay intake isn’t just a trend, it’s one of the most effective ways to support digestive health, prevent excessive weight gain, reduce boredom and promote natural grazing rhythms in modern horse management.

Whether you’re feeding a good doer, a horse prone to laminitis, one on restricted forage, or simply trying to support calm, healthy eating patterns, slow feeding systems can make a dramatic difference.

Our Equell guide explains how to slow your horse’s hay intake safely, the best slow-feeder setups, common mistakes to avoid, and how to ensure your horse’s gut health and emotional wellbeing stay protected.

Why Slow Feeding Matters

Horses are natural trickle feeders designed to browse 16–18 hours a day.
Modern routines - including stabling, traveling, rich lush pastures, haylage, or long periods without forage - create unnatural spikes and gaps in intake that can contribute to:

• Weight gain in good doers
• Increased risk of laminitis and Equine Metabolic Syndrome (EMS)
• Gastric discomfort or ulcer risk
• Stress, frustration, and stable vices (cribbing, weaving, wood chewing)
• Reduced hindgut motility and digestive issues

Slow feeding extends eating time and mimics natural grazing, allowing the horse to consume forage continuously but more slowly, supporting both physical and mental wellbeing.

The Benefits of Using Slow Feeders (Backed by Science & Practical UK Experience)

1. Supports Healthy Digestion

Slow, steady fibre intake keeps the hindgut active, maintains gut motility, and helps regulate microbial balance - crucial for horses at risk of colic, loose droppings or digestive sensitivity. Chewing produces saliva which is the horse’s natural acid buffer and that combined with constant fibre intake can help hugely with gastric ulcer prevention.

2. Helps Manage Weight in Good Doers

By reducing intake speed, slow feeders allow restricted rations to last longer - ideal for horses prone to weight gain, laminitis, or metabolic issues where it is necessary to reduce the forage intake for calorie control.

3. Lowers Stress Around Feeding

Horses quickly become calmer when forage is available for longer periods, reducing food-related anxiety, shouting, fence-walking or barging at feed times.

4. Reduces Hay Waste

Nets, mangers and floor-based slow feeders keep hay contained and clean - saving money and reducing mess by preventing it being mixed in with bedding and becoming waste if horses then refuse to eat it.

5. Encourages Natural Behaviour

The more we can replicate grazing, the healthier and mentally steadier our horses become as they are designed to have constant forage intake. The chewing mechanism produces their natural acid buffer (saliva) and the slow intake of fibre through the digestive tract keeps gut motility active and provides the good bacteria with a food source to stay healthy for optimal gut health.

How to Slow Your Horse’s Hay Intake Safely

✔ DO choose the right hole size

• 3–4 cm holes slow down most adult horses effectively.
• 5–6 cm holes may suit older horses or those who become frustrated easily.
• Very tiny holes (<2 cm) may cause irritation for some horses and those with knots can cause damage to teeth and gums. Use with care and balance the need to restrict intake with horse welfare.
• Consider alternative methods of reducing intake (including soaking, splitting rations, adding straw etc) if your horse becomes overly frustrated or is damaging their teeth.

✔ DO consider the type of forage

In the UK, haylage is typically richer and has a higher moisture content than hay meaning you need to feed more for the same dry matter weights. For good doers, overweight horses or laminitis-prone types, opt for:

• Hay over haylage
• Lower sugar (NSC) batches (testing is the only way to know for sure)
• Soaked hay (1–3 hours) to reduce sugar intake and increase water intake

This helps keep calories down while keeping fibre high.

✔ DO offer multiple small feeding points

If safe, providing two nets or foraging stations encourages natural movement and prevents resource guarding in group turnout. Splitting rations into as many meals as possible across the day is also a very useful method of extending eating time whilst ensuring they do not go more than 4 hours without forage intake (a really important part of management in how to prevent gastric ulcers).

✔ DO use slow feeders to extend restricted rations

If your horse only needs 1.5% of bodyweight in dry matter, slow feeders help that ration last MUCH longer than feeding loose would - reducing stress and supporting gut health.

✔ DO keep forage available as continuously as possible

Aim to avoid long gaps (>4 hours) without forage, which can affect gut pH, behaviour and if done consistently can cause gastric ulcers and insulin spikes.

What Not to Do When Slowing Hay Intake

✘ DON’T overly restrict forage without a plan

Sudden large reductions in forage can lead to:

• Stress
• Binge-eating behaviour
• Hindgut upset
• Increased ulcer risk
• Insulin spikes

Always reduce gradually and support gut health during the transition with a quality, prebiotic rich gut supplement for horses. 

✘ DON’T hang nets too high

High-hung nets alter neck and back posture and can irritate the respiratory system as horses shake the nets and dust falls downwards.
Aim for lower, safe positions where your horse can eat in a more natural stance but manage that against safety and ensure that your horse cannot get stuck in the net – particularly if they are shod. Hanging nets lower inside a haybar away from hooves and shoes can be a good compromise for those more accident prone types!

✘ DON’T assume one net is enough

Determined good doers will demolish hay through a single small-holed net.
Layering nets (one inside another) can dramatically slow intake but monitor your horse to see that they do not become frustrated with double netting and that they are able to extract sufficient forage.

✘ DON’T ignore frustration behaviours

If your horse becomes irritated, aggressive, or stressed, adjust the setup:

• Increase hole size
• Reduce layering
• Provide more, smaller forage points
• Split the rations across more feeds through the day and evening

✘ DON’T forget hydration

Horses eating from nets often take in drier forage — always ensure:

• Clean, fresh water at all times
• Utilise soaked feeds beet pulp and grass nuts which hold water but remember to introduce any new feed gradually
• Warm water in winter – horses love being offered a bucket of warm water when the temperatures drop and most will drink significantly more warm water than cold
• Electrolytes for horses in work – to replenish lost salt and minerals.

Hydration is a massive contributor to digestive safety and can help in the fight against impaction colic.

Best Slow Feed Options for UK Horse Owners

• Small-holed hay nets (3–4 cm)
• Double or layered nets for ultra-fast eaters
• Hay balls / treat balls to encourage movement
• Ground-level slow feeders with grids (safe, enclosed designs – not usually suited to shod horses)
• Track systems to increase walking and slow grazing
• Forage bins with holes (ideal for field turnout)

Every horse is different - you may need to experiment to find the balance between slowing intake and avoiding frustration.

When Slow Feeding Is Especially Important

Slow feeding is particularly beneficial for:

• Good doers / easy keepers
• Horses prone to laminitis or EMS
• Restricted-grazing horses
• Overweight horses needing calorie control
• Box-rest horses needing mental stimulation
• Nervous or stress-prone horses
• Any horse on limited turnout or during winter stabling

Final Thoughts

Slow feeding isn’t just about reducing calories — it’s about better health, calmer behaviour, happier horses, and safer weight management. For UK owners dealing with rich pasture, unpredictable weather, winter stabling and metabolic-prone breeds, slow feeding is one of the most valuable tools you can implement. Before you reach for a calmer for your horse, consider if you have got the management set up correct to reduce stress and frustration levels naturally.

Want More Support?

We have a wealth of information available to you in the Insight stable, with articles on gut health, behaviour, building topline, joint health, metabolism and more. We have a range of products designed to support you and your horse through every challenge, browse our collection here or reach out to us using info@equell.co.uk for any specific queries you need help with.