Check out these great round bale feeders!

Horses are high maintenance animals and it can be frustrating when you spend more time on barn chores than you do in the saddle perfecting your equitation skills.   We decided early in the winter to try long-lasting round bales so we wouldn't have to haul small square bales all over the farm every day. Each of our three horses has a private paddock with a run-in shelter. We planned to put the round bales in the shelters to keep them dry but our hay supplier also suggested that we needed to put each bale in a feeder or there would be a lot of waste.   The metal or plastic feeders we saw online take up a lot of space and cost hundreds of dollars each. We needed three.  So we decided instead to order three "big bale buddies, " which are heavy-duty nylon bags that cost less than $100 each.  We couldn't be happier with our decision, although we do wish we had ordered the biggest bags available.  The big bale buddy fits tightly and is a bit challenging to get on.   If the bale is huge, you may have to peel off a layer of hay.  But it keeps the hay fresh and inside the bag and there's very little waste.  One bale is enough for one horse for at least a month.  That's at last four weeks for us to forget about hay and focus on getting our horses flexible and in the bridle for show season.