I witnessed two ways to keep hay out of your clothes over the summer. While I was visiting my aunt this summer, she got the coffee brewing and then disappeared into her bedroom. When she came out, it looked like the season had changed… or she was going to go for a run with the intention of sweating to lose weight. My aunt has never needed to lose weight.
Before being polite became too difficult, she explained that she was going out to feed the horses. She had got sick of getting hay all over her, she said.
The key part of her outfit was a lightweight rain jacket, high-necked and hooded, zipped all the way closed. This is definitely one way to do it (though best, I think, in cool weather). Pull some rain pants over your “nice” clothes (unless it’s a skirt, in which case you’re probably going to have to change), slip your feet into Wellies, your hands into gloves, and you’re as close to hay proof as you can get.
A better solution
But I had seen an even better solution for keeping hay out of your clothes earlier this summer, thanks to Laurie Gage at Full Sail Farm in Paso Robles.
The best thing about this solution is that it’s simple.
- Put hay in plastic bags the night before (for morning feeding).
- At feeding time, slide bags into feeders, lift bag off.
- Alternatively, you can use closed versions of hay bags.
The details:
First, get bags. No need to spend any money, you’ve already got them lying around. You can use old shavings bags, like Laurie does, or any large feed sack.
Second, fill the bags the night (or morning) before, when you don’t mind getting dirty. I like to leave the morning feed prepared in any case, because it speeds up my routine (especially good on days when I need to get an early start). It’s also good to do if someone else will be feeding, because it allows you to control the portions. You could even write each horse’s name on a specific bag.
This is about 12 pounds of grass hay in solid flakes.
Leave the bags arranged so that they are ready to go.
In the morning, simply slide the bags into the feeders and pull them off the hay. Stand upwind! Wear gloves if you want to be extra clean.
An extra benefit: Horses get really used to plastic bags!
If you are really worried about keeping every scrap of hay off you, dress in rain clothes like my aunt and use bags. For most people, however, the bags will be enough, and they have many other advantages.
Pingback: How to wrap horse legs (and how to roll the leg wraps)