How can we lengthen meal time while reducing calorie intake in obese horses? It might seem like a daunting task, but University of California, Davis, (UC Davis) researchers think they've found a solution: a hay grid feeder.

Obesity is linked to many equine health conditions, including insulin resistance and laminitis. To help obese horses shed pounds, owners must reduce their caloric intake by limiting meal size. This, however, comes with its own health challenges: Leaving horses—which evolved as continuous grazers—for long periods of time without feed can result in gastric ulcers.

“Stomach ulcers are produced by direct effect of gastric acid and by activation of enzymes that digest proteins by the same acid,” explained Jorge Nieto, DVM, PhD, Dipl. ACVS, an associate professor in surgical and radiological sciences at UC Davis.

Thus, the researchers set out to determine whether a hay grid feeder impacts the amount of time horses spend eating, amount of hay consumed, and intragastric pH versus feeding on the ground