Money saving. If you have to pay someone to feed your horse when you can't be there, automatic feeders may pay for themselves.
Waste. Horses that toss their grain around at feeding time may be less likely to do so if they receive much smaller amounts in multiple feedings. If your problem is with hay wastage, switching to multiple feedings of pelleted hay can eliminate this, but pelleted hay costs more so you'll have to do some careful calculations to determine if you're saving money.
Bottom Line
With a $2,500 price tag, the Stable Grazer is a luxury item. Even if you have hay waste from feeding enough to allow free-choice hay with twice-daily feedings, it's difficult to imagine enough wastage to justify the price. Ditto on cost savings on paid help. If cost isn't an issue, this system would be useful for doling out controlled amounts of hay to horses on lay-up. Although advertised for outside use, we worry that damage to the coating on the feeder would lead to rapid rusting.
The iFEED and Quick Feed are similarly priced plastic feeders. Quick Feed holds more feed/pellets, but the iFEED has the advantage of being a covered, rodent-proof system. They're both limited to indoor use. If you're considering an automatic feeder just for when you can't be there, or to give one meal a day to horses in stalls, these are economical choices. For outdoor feeding, the durable ProFeeder is the best choice.
