I was wondering about the definition of large meal also.
Typically, my horses eat all night and most of the day, so I think they probably
never really eat "a large meal". Sometimes they eat most of their morning ration
of hay before we go for a ride, sometimes they haven't eaten much at all, so
I'll bag it & take it along if we're trailering out. Possibly, large meal
refers to horses who eat their entire ration in an hour or so, then stand around
for 8 -10 hours waiting for another "large" meal that they gobble
up?
And, yes, "working them hard" varies so much from rider
to rider, horse to horse. I don't consider a 15-20 mile trot as hard work
now, but I did 3 years ago, and probably my horses did as
well.
