When the horses are awake, they are hungry. And unlike humans, who tend to eat three large meals throughout the day, horses need to eat constantly.
A small and frequent intake of fodder helps cushion the acids naturally present in the stomach and helps digestion and absorption of nutrients. Because the horse’s stomach is quite small, it needs many smaller meals throughout the day to help food move through the stomach, small intestine and into the back intestine.
Horses are drip feeders, designed to continuously graze to maintain the normal functioning of the digestive system, thus preventing ulcers and colic. When feeding them in sync with their natural instincts and physiology, it is necessary that they have fodder available at the time they want, and that means 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.