How To Make A Haynet from Bailing Twine
By Annamaria Tadlock
Use that baling twine for more than just to tie gates!

Materials Needed:
15 baling strings (12 for the net, 3 to braid for string)
Measuring tape or ruler
Sharpie (optional)
Matches/lighter to burn ends (optional)

Instructions:

You need an even number of hay strings to make the haynet. 10, 12, 14, 16 will all work. In this example I'm using 12.

Take your strings together and tie a knot in one end.

Chop off any excess above the knot and measure down about 4-6" and make a mark with your sharpie (or, if you want, just estimate the distance). At the mark tie a knot in each pair.

Now to start making the diamond pattern, start your second row of knots by taking one string from each pair and knotting it with a string from the adjacent pair.

Continue knotting a row, then splitting your pairs to make another diamond row. As you move down your strings, you can increase the length between knots. The larger the length, the wider your haynet will open. As you move down you should increase the length, so the haynet is wide in the middle and top for the hay.

It might help to stuff a towel or something in your haynet to help you see which strings go where and prevent you from knotting across and closing off the net.

Continue knotting your diamond pattern. You should lengthen the amount of string between knots to make the bag bigger/wider toward the middle and top.

When you get near the end, make loops.
To hold the bag closed, you can use 1 hay string, or three braided together.

When you are done, you can cut any excess off (leaving about 1/2 inch) and burn the ends to prevent them from fraying.

Tips:

Do not use hay twine made of natural fibers, it resembles hay and horses could injest it.

Hay nets are more dangerous than haybags because horses can become tangled in them. As with any haybags, make sure your homemade haybag is tied high enough so that a horse cannot get its leg entangled.

Cut your baling twine near the knot so that when you use it to make things such as haybags, you won't have knots in the middle of your string.

About The Author:

Annamaria Tadlock is the webmaster and founder of the www.ultimatehorsesite.com. She has been riding since her family moved to Oregon when she was 3. She began training horses at the age of 11, and started www.UltimateHorseSite.com when she was just 13. She was home schooled through her high school years and started a successful equine web and graphics design business when she was 16. She has shown and barrel raced her horses. She is currently attending college locally and still training young horses, and regularly updates The Ultimate Horse Site.

The Ultimate Horse Site provides horse articles, facts, an equine dictionary, message forums, free classifieds, horse stories, equine color genetics, and even horse games and jokes. It receives over 90,000 unique visitors monthly, and has international readership. It accepts quality articles from equestrian authors, and runs contests periodically.