I received my first Porta-Grazer near the end of November. I purchased the XL size with 4″ holes (the biggest size openings) for Phoenix because he was spreading hay all over his stall and making it hard to clean all while wasting a bunch of the hay. I didn’t want to limit his hay. One of the best parts of horses at home is being able to offer them free choice hay and having them get over that crazy angst of waiting for the next meal.
The beginning of a life changing horse care moment
The instructions that came with the Porta-Grazer say you should offer regular hay in addition for 5 to 10 days to allow the horse to acclimate. Interestingly enough, Phoenix quickly began choosing the hay in the Porta-Grazer over the hay I had put on the floor. Honestly it was shocking how quickly he figured it out and just happily ate away. I will say the biggest surprise to me what just how much waste it actually saved. Normally cleaning P’s stall used an entire muck tub before getting the Porta-Grazer. I now use one muck tub to clean both stalls most days. That’s with the horses in for roughly 12 hours a night currently. Instead of driving the poop out to the pile ever other day, I do it ever third day. If that isn’t awesome enough, it saves me so much time cleaning since I’m not trying to save good hay that’s all mixed in either.
After that experiment went so well I started getting annoyed that Stampede had hay everywhere at one end of his mega stall. Now Stampede is usually a pretty neat horse who believes in pooping only along the back wall and in the one corner (unless he’s feeling traumatized by something in life) so cleaning and hay weren’t usually an issue. However I usually had to pick the hay off of the shavings and pile it up in order to even things out which meant I often tried to figure out how much hay he would eat and not give him much extra. So a couple of weeks after getting Phoenix going on it, I removed the Porta-Grazer from his stall and put it in Stampede’s to make sure he would use it. We all know Stampede is special and he certainly could have decided to refuse to use it. However, the morning after his first night with it, he had eaten a ton out of the feeder and a bunch of hay remained stacked in the corner.
So right away I was back online shopping for one for Stampede. While looking around I realized that while I had thought the XL size was the biggest (because XL), the Corner size is actually bigger, and also totally usable on the wall or corner. So Stampede and his large appetite for hay got the bigger size feeder, also with the 4″ openings.
The corner version is definitely my favorite of the two, not just for the size, but also the ease of lining up the pan to pull it out. Lastly, because the corner size has 8 openings and the XL only 6. Amount of openings depends on the size of the openings for each feeder.
Here are some pictures of my final installations of the feeders in the stalls. I used eye hooks, plastic chain, and the same lockable carabiners I use for my outside hay feeders. I read something about a horse that got a carabiner through its lip – there were pictures – and I don’t need that experience.
Phoenix’s feeder all filled up and ready for another night.
How Phoenix’s feeder is secured – one on each handle
Stampede’s one attachment for the corner feeder. Note the arrow to the inside of the handle.
In the above picture you can see just inside the handle opening there is a triangle/arrow. You line that up with the hole in the pan pictured below in order to be able to pull the pan out.
Hole to line up with arrow for pan removal
4″ openings in the corner feeder plus you can see the hole for lining up to remove the pan
Lastly I wanted to show just how much the horses love their feeders. This hay is what remained when Stampede got his corner feeder on December 22nd. He will not eat it. He just walks over to his Porta-Grazer and starts munching instead.
Someone please eat this lonely old hay already.
Obviously you can tell I love these feeders. I wish I had bought them sooner but the price tag really backed me off, especially when I was unsure if my horses would use them. Honestly frustration with cleaning Phoenix’s stall is what finally pushed me over the edge. After getting the first one my husband told me to just buy another because the difference was so obvious. This may have been slightly self serving on my husband’s part since he often drives the poop (I work the gate – teamwork) and he also has to listen to me complain and rush around being late to go ride Maestro. Regardless, these things have greatly improved my barn life and the horses also seem to love them.
The XL size feeder runs $259 and the Corner feeder $319. I paid $38 and $53 for shipping to Michigan respectively. I did find via google a $25 off code that I used.
thank you for posting this. I still have not bit the bullet and ordered one but I want to for all the reasons you state. However I can see as picky as my horse is him not eating out of it (and i dont think tate would since putting his head in that means he can’t watch out for PIGS! ugh. I really don’t want an expensive hay feeder to become a planter in my mind 🙂 HA
But i am still mulling it over. Great review!! Thanks again!
It’s hard to put the money out there and not know if they will use it that’s for sure. I really didn’t think Stampede would since he’s so hyper vigilant and picky (hence the testing first with Phoenix’s) but if anything he stays in place longer and is more focused on eating. I mean he will leave grain if he is distracted or decides it’s not up to his standards so he’s pretty special. It takes me over a month to get him over the shock of the fly supplement pellets, lol. I do think you could easily resell for almost what you paid if it didn’t work out, or at least that’s what I told myself before buying the first one.
Yay! Can’t wait to do a review. But wish I had seen yours before purchasing the XL. Although, not sure I would have paid more for the corner..
Do you have any issue with hay getting packed down in the bottom? June loves to eat from hers, but there is like 6 inches of hay just flattened at the bottom. I can’t figure out if it is too packed for her to get through the holes? Because if I throw more hay in, she’s happy to keep eating…
Phoenix doesn’t have an issue with the hay packing down, but he’s on grass hay. Stampede sometimes will get his alfalfa mix hay packed down a bit since it’s finer but he never stops eating it (although he’s never gotten it almost to the bottom like that since I fill his nightly and it’s bigger than the XL by 4″). Every once in a while I will pull the stuff from the bottom, put fresh in, and put the older stuff on top. I never want them to run out but I don’t like to leave the old stuff down there forever.
Makes sense. Yes, June is on mix and I think that may be why it’s packing down (the alfalfa). I’m tempted to see if I can sell my XL and purchase a corner one. June does eat all the hay in there occasionally before her next feeding.
Yeah maybe the extra 4″ in height and a little more width would make the difference on it. I bet there are plenty of people who would want to buy one, especially if your reason to sell is getting a bigger one, lol. Stampede also ends up with alfalfa crusted on his face sometimes he gets so into it, lol.
Oh totally! June had a green muzzle!
Thank you! I’ve been trying to come up with some better feed options for the boys and their hay. I like Jamp to eat off the ground because he gets a snotty nose otherwise (he’s a little special needs too…) but haven’t figured out what I want to do yet. I was looking at these, the savvy feeder, and the one that’s a ball. The ball is the cheapest, but I think better for outdoors than in the stall.
Stampede has to eat with his head down because of his prior tie back surgery so I understand! Now that you say it I haven’t see his nose be goopy for a while now (probably just jinxed myself!). Will be interesting to see if that’s just coincidence. The ball just seemed too small to me and a pain to deal with. The Savvy I like the concept of but the porta-grazer seemed easier to fill and anchor in place for my set up. I wonder if the size of the savvy is comparable.
We got one of these for Eugene and it’s been working great. Really cleaned up his stall and he hasn’t destroyed it like destroyed tons of hay nets before (giant hole ones not meant for slowing down but just to keep the hay off the ground.
It’s so nice having the stall easier to clean. The boys have DIY hay feeders outside with the hay chix nets in them which I’ve been impressed with. The horses aren’t super hard on nets but the cheap ones I bought originally didn’t last a full winter season and these still look brand new a few months in. I’m on the buying the big hole nets and not trying to slow down eating plan too, lol. I wish I had Stampede’s metabolism!
Dang I can see how the price tag would back you off, but it definitely seems like they will pay for themselves over time. So glad you are loving it!
Yes it took me so long to pull the trigger but they are totally worth it for my situation. It’s just so cool to see the boys choose to eat out of it versus eat hay on the ground.
It’s been over a year now, do you still love them? I am looking at these and the savvy feeders, but I have four horses so its going to be quite an investment over time so I want to make sure the horses are doing well and liking them (I am mostly concerned about the sticking their heads into it as opposed to eating it more on the ground).
Yes, I still love them. I’ve since introduced two other horses to the feeders and both immediately preferred the feeder to hay on the ground (literally never ate the hay on the ground, had to pick it up). The size holes I got definitely doesn’t restrict eating, but keeps the stalls much tidier and the horses with 24/7 hay when in their stalls, which is what I wanted. Their heads are always below their withers when eating, just not to the ground low unless they’ve eaten way down in the feeder. Depending on how full the feeder is the neck height varies which I think is nice versus being always in one spot. Mine have held up well. Let me know if I can answer any questions about them.
In 2018 I had a mare gas colic twice. Tried hay nets, rubbed her gums raw. Bought a Porta Grazer feeder, it slowed her down, no more bouts of colic.
Fast forward this spring I have an elderly pony gas colic three times in 2 months. Always fed her cubes, switched to teff but still inhaling. Added free choice Teff hay in a ports grazer, she’s quit gorging, and 4 weeks no colic. She always has hay unless in turn out or exercise.
The price of ER colic visit is the same price as a feeder.
Just bought the corner feeder, going to try and free choice with my one mare who does not stop eating. My third mate has had no problems, but switching her to free choice as well.
This are worth the price. The pans do wear out over time. I have used gorilla tape around the cracks. Seems to solve the problem.
Glad you (and your horses) love them too! I find time and time again that the horses will choose to eat out of the feeder rather than off the floor. Interestingly (knocking on wood) my pans are still in perfect shape after a couple years of use. I don’t think my horses are particularly hard on them though.
I purchased an item of this nature long ago (not Portagrazer), and within 4 months, the plastic holes were torn and bent, and sharp edges protruded that cut my horse’s gums. My question – is the plastic durable? And if the holes are damaged, can I purchase new tops only? My horse needs to eat slowly due to health issues, so I would be .needing at least a six hole top – not sure if that would affect durability. Thank you.
I’m still using the same trays that I started with and they have almost no wear. It would take a purposely destructive horse to have an issue. You can purchase different size trays/tops, I have two different sizes for one of my feeders.