The Hay OptiMizer with Sue Wilson

by Lisa Kiley | Published in Horsmen’s Corral Magazine August 2023

When it comes to hay feeders, there are many styles and concepts that people have tried over the years. The idea of using a hay feeder is simple – keep hay from spoiling and going to waste. Over the years, the health benefits of slow feeding forage to horses have encouraged us to use hay nets or other slow feeders. In my years of looking at different styles of feeders, I would be hard pressed to find an individual who has put more thought and research into their product than Sue Wilson who makes the OptiMizer.

To better understand why Wilson is so dedicated to creating a product that works for horses and humans alike, it helps to understand her background. Like many of us, Wilson was a horse crazy kid who got her first horse as a teen. When she went to college, she had to part ways with her horse and took a 30-year pause from the horse world. On her 50^th birthday, she and her family decided that it was time to go back to her roots and bring horses back into her life.

Wilson also studied the rate of chewing in horses. A horse that is meal fed tends to bolt their forage and will chew at a rate that is 20% higher than a horse that is fed in a way that mimics grazing. This can be accounted for by the horse being hungry versus having a continual supply of hay. A horse that gets used to eating from the OptiMizer and realizes that they will have a steady supply of hay available will drop their chew rate by another 20% over time and increase the amount of ‘chews’ per day.

The OptiMizer has a paddock version where multiple horses can eat from the same feeder, which comes in several sizes to accommodate different herd types. The new InStall option is for horses that are stalled individually to eat in a natural way. The product has a limited lifetime warranty and is made of durable materials that are built to last. Quality hay is always a valuable resource, but we do have the opportunity to help reduce waste and save money in a way that is healthy for the horses we love and care for.

Wilson isn’t done with her quest toward better horse management that has been backed up by research. She has also spent time tracking her horses to determine when they prefer to be inside versus outside and she is working on creating an optimized track system in the horse pasture to increase the steps horses are taking and mimic natural behavior. She encourages horse owners to keep an open mind and optimize what they have for the betterment of horse management practices.

If you are interested in learning more about the OptiMizer, check out Cashmans.com for more information.