I designed these treat dispensing toys after seeing the smaller hexagonal ones for sale for what I thought was a rather absurd price. These are much larger, so can dispense more food and hay cubes as well. As the horses became more and more adept at using them, I had to add a few things to make it harder, such as interior baffles and objects so they couldn't just roll all the food out at once.
One of the things I've found fascinating, is that the horses seem to love these, and will go to play with them rather than eating hay cubes scattered on the ground, readily available. After reading up on things such as Dopamine release, clicker training and varied schedules of reinforcement, I believe something similar is at work here. To paraphrase, it's sort of like a person at a slot machine... never knowing WHEN it will hit next is part of what keeps you pulling the lever. There are many more studies and such around this behavior, which I may eventually link if there is enough interest.
