Are you thinking about adding a horse feeder to your barn or pasture? Horse feeders have many different benefits, and often they are a worthwhile investment. If you’re still on the fence about whether you should use a feeder for your horse, consider the following factors.

Convenience

Horse feeders can provide you with convenience! Some horse feeders allow you to program them to deliver your horse’s meals throughout the day. This is particularly helpful if your horse receives multiple meals and you can’t always be on-hand to feed him.

Reduced Waste

If you have a horse who is a messy eater, using a feeder can cut down on the amount of feed that he wastes as he eats! Additionally, if you are feeding your horse high amounts of grain, his body can only absorb much nutrition from the grain per feeding. A feeder allows you to break those larger feedings down into smaller feedings, so your horse gains more nutrition from the feed.

Reduced Risk of Sand Colic

Whenever you feed your horse from the ground out in the pasture, he ingests small amounts of dirt with his hay and grain. Using a feeder out in the horse pasture helps to eliminate the digestion of dirt, reducing your horse’s risk of sand colic.

Eating Position

When you start looking at horse feeders, think about the position that they put a horse in while he is eating. In the wild, horses eat with their heads close to the ground. This position allows your horse to clear dust from his respiratory system, and allows him to eat with relatively little muscle tension.

Some feeders are positioned so that your horse must eat with his head up higher, in a more unnatural position. Used long-term, such a feeder can put your horse at risk of respiratory issues and abnormal muscle development.

Look for a feeder which puts your horse in a fairly natural position while he eats! If you will be using the feeder in the barn, then maximizing the barn’s ventilation and air flow can help to minimize the risk of respiratory issues.

Ultimately, the decision of whether to use a feeder for your horse depends on your individual situation. If feeding your horse multiple meals per day isn’t restrictive to your schedule, then you might be able to make do without a feeder! But if you ever have variations to your schedule and can’t be on hand to feed your horse every meal of the day, a horse feeder might be a worthwhile investment!

Original Source: http://blog.classic-equine.com/2015/11/should-you-use-a-feeder-for...