There are other brands out there who make pretty good slow feeding nets. No doubt about that. Though some will try to sell you inferior products on the back of Trickle Nets reputation... Some will even price them to match without delivering the quality and design that you get with a Trickle Net. That's a bit naughty.

Variety and choice for horse owners is always a good thing, and competition keeps us pushing to deliver you the best slow feeding solutions. It’s always useful for our product development to get feedback from customers on our nets, and other nets too. So, a recent addition to the market (PP) has really highlighted for horse owners, why Trickle Nets are the best you can buy.

So why are Trickle Nets the best?

No other brand in the world specialises in the very niche area of research, design, manufacturing and fabrication of slow feeding nets for equine use. It's the only thing we do. From the initial pellet extrusion process through to braiding tension, ply depth of the mesh, UV resistance, break tolerance, aperture integrity and many more factors.... we analyse and improve at every stage of manufacturing to bring your horse the very best slow feeding products on the market. We feel our products do such an important job; they warrant this amount of effort. This effort is rewarded by outstanding reviews from our customers.

Trickle Nets are recommended by Vets, Nutritionists, Farriers, Physios, Coaches and Professional riders. All with firsthand experience of what a great job our products do.

The extensive design and research process that goes into each product, is applied for the benefit of YOUR horse. Equine welfare is the primary focus in every design we bring to market. Our aim is to deliver a species appropriate feeding method that helps your horse remain healthy, and that's a big deal to us. We know the benefits that grazing brings to all equines, so we don't cut corners.

Behind every Trickle Net purchased is a story about a horse or pony who needs some help, and an owner who’s making positive changes. This is often triggered by an event. Maybe your horse is poorly with laminitis, or maybe a professional has given you some advice that hit home. Perhaps you’re looking to save money and stop wasting hay, or maybe you have come to recognise those periods of time without forage access can lead to overfeeding or possible gastric ulcers. We get it. We’ve been there too. So now we’re coming on that journey with you, to support you and your horse in feeding a better way.

The products.

Every material we use has been sourced and developed with our global trading partners for use in OUR products only. Ensuring we deliver the best quality, best designs, strongest most suitable and UNIQUE slow feeding nets. Our products are tested in house, before they go out to testing panels which include Independent Reg Nutritionists, Vets, BETA members, Universities, commercial yards and equine hospitals. We work with some of the best Nutritionists, Vets and behaviour experts in the UK to gather feedback and make improvements to products before we present them for use with your horses. The development of our products can take months or years.

Most net manufacturers will firstly source cheap, cost-effective netting with ‘small’ holes and make a ‘slow feeding net’ that will do a mediocre job in slow feeding your horse. The products will be machine made to ensure the biggest profit achievable. These nets will always have loose knots that slip to enlarge the holes, low quality finishes such as exposed stitched edges and messy corners, light weight twines of no more than 3mm depth and poor-quality ropes which are often too short. These guys are not experts in what they do. We see that in the products they put out. Though they do offer cheaper, weaker and less effective products, providing choice for horse owners which is no bad thing at all. These products bring big profit margins to the companies who sell them. These products are made with machines, as hand made products are very expensive and bring little profit.

Here at Trickle Net, we work backwards. We look at the horse first, and the important job required. We study the behaviour in grazing and look at what we need in terms of materials and design to provide your horse the best grazing simulation opportunity. From here we work with manufacturers to develop heavy duty premium materials and hand-crafted fabrication processes to ensure durability and effective use. The quality of Trickle Net products is second to none. Every other ‘slow feeder’ we have seen on the market would never pass our first stage of quality screening. (We purchase them all for testing to be sure we are staying top of the game!) Of course, we must make a profit to make a business work, but profit is not our priority. Equine health and welfare are always front and centre in everything we do. Always.

This is why Trickle Net make the best slow feeder nets. It’s why we continue to innovate bringing new products offering species appropriate feeding. (Grazing! – not just slow feeding.) It’s also why our customers regularly tell us their Trickle Nets are 5 or 6, sometimes even 10 years old and still in daily use! The reputation is real, and well earned. We don’t need to draw you in with any false promises, guarantees or vague claims on consumption rates. Just take a look through the Trickle Net reviews and brose the research articles in our blog.

Experts in Trickle Feeding

We ONLY make products to feed your horse at a species appropriate rate. It is so important that equines graze. In fact, its fundamental to their health and wellbeing. Without that natural slow trickle of forage through the gut, an equine cannot function. Ill health is inevitable if equines cannot graze.

We specialise in ‘forage application.’ We look at types of forage, and how best to deliver that to the horse in the most natural and beneficial way possible, while navigating common horse management practices. Of course, in a perfect world we wouldn’t use any hay nets, and we wouldn’t have to fill them every day! Though in a perfect world we wouldn’t have obese horses, laminitis, colic and gastric ulcers either…. So, we’ve got to find the balance. It’s crucial for our horse’s health and happiness. Plus, as owners, we all know that their happiness is deeply linked to our own.

Trickle Net are the experts in trickle feeding equines.

Did you know Trickle Net Founder Ellen also runs a retirement livery? This is in addition to owning 4 horses of her own. This means here at Trickle Net HQ, we have up to 19 willing volunteers of all shapes ages and sizes to test our concepts, theories and prototypes.

We also have an external research programme with a dedicated budget, which enables us to provide batches of products to universities for their own studies. This research is ethically approved and there is no funding or affiliation between parties whatsoever. This ensures we can provide accurate fair and true results without bias. Results of these studies are published on our website and in the industry press.

Trickle Net work alongside some extraordinarily clever experts in equine nutrition and consult with these professionals regularly throughout projects to ensure optimum results in product development. From the brilliant (free for everyone to use) Forage Calculator, the radical Shake & Graze Chaff Net and the good old Original net. All these projects have involved external experts to advise test and feedback with results that not only help us in product development but help all of us to improve equine welfare for the future.

Experts in trickle feeding

I’m going to let you into a secret. The other net manufacturers haven’t learned this yet, because they don’t study the subject like we do. This may come as a surprise.

It’s not all about the hole size!

As the experts here, we can tell you it's not all about getting the smallest hole size you can. We do sell products with 20mm holes, but the 'wall' of the net is equally important. Without getting too nerdy about this (I could really go down a rabbit hole on this subject)

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What does this mean? - Two nets with the same hole size will behave differently if they have a different twine (mesh) gauge. The cheaper one with a 2.5mm twine will provide easier access (faster consumption) than a heavy duty 5mm twine. Additionally, a higher braid tension in the mesh material will bring a more consistent hole size. Meaning a cheaper material with a looser braided mesh, will again provide easier access and faster consumption times. Cheaper, thinner nets will always be less effective, based on the quantity and composition of the material involved. That’s a scientific fact.

You can compare the mesh pliability with the ground when a horse is grazing. If your horse is on restricted grazing, they are pushing the muzzle onto the ground surface to enable a purchase with the incisors onto short blades of grass. If the ground were soft and gave way to that pressure, the horse would get a better purchase on the blades, even perhaps biting further down the blade towards the roots.

This factor also comes into play when a horse is presented with a small hole hay net. If the net is made with more flimsy thinner mesh, the horse will push the net inward to gain purchase on more hay. A thicker heavier mesh will act differently, in providing more of a rigid barrier between the incisors and the forage. The thicker the mesh, and smaller the hole, the more material is involved, creating a heavier more reliable way to regulate the forage extraction.

When the mesh is thicker and more rigid (like the ground in the paddock) the horse realises that pushing the muzzle into the net to make a purchase with the incisors, only results in a mouth full of net. It's at this point we see horses revert to what they do best – grazing. To extract the forage from the thicker mesh, they must use the lips to select the strands and the incisors to pluck those strands out. This is exactly how your horse eats in their natural environment, and it’s what Trickle Net aim to achieve with all of our products. Thinner, cheaper mesh doesn’t bring this important aspect into play. This is why we don’t compromise on materials, - because we prioritise on the objective. Feeding your horse at a species appropriate rate, for better health and wellbeing.

There are other aspects to creating the perfect grazing mesh, and maybe next time I’ll talk about braid tension, or fill pressure, or gsm quality tolerance.

Or you can leave it to the experts, and rest assured we will continue to research, test and develop to bring you more brilliant Trickle Net products, helping you to keep your horses and ponies healthy and happy.

Spend wisely, buy the best. Buy a Trickle Net