Do you let your horse munch before a ride?

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darkhorse123

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Wondering what peoples thoughts on this are.
At our yard we let our horses and ponies have a haynet munch whilst grooming and tacking up etc before we hack out.
New liveries seem surprised we do this, that its bad for their digestive systems?

What do you think?
 
My horse has constant access to haynet when he is in, including before he is ridden...
Surely this is just the same as someone catching a horse from field where it has been grazing and then riding? which i am sure goes on!!
I know not to feed concentrates before riding (at least an hour), but never ever heard i have to starve my horse!!
Be interested to hear other opinions on this...
 
Horses in the wild would stop grazing and run from a predator, don't think they'd wait half an hour ;)

Obviously a large hard feed is different, but I'll ride my horse straight from the field or stable (with haynet). And they always travel with haynets so we ride after they've been eating in the lorry, even on funrides - it's not as if you get straight on and gallop is it? Much worse for their digestive system, IMHO, is when you see horses stood in stables for hours with nothing to eat.
 
Yes I always put a small net up for them to chomp on while grooming them before I tack up, they don’t have time to eat much of it however and it's nice for them to munch on it again when come back and wash them off etc
 
Mine have hay in their stables & have a munch while I am getting them ready, but when I am about to put the bridle on I remove the hay.
 
As the owner of an ex-racehorse I recently went to a seminar held by a local vet about gastric ulcers and their management. I was surprised to learn that statistics show up to 85% of horses suffer from ulcers at some time in their life whether they're racehorses, competition or pleasure horses. One of the pieces of advice given was to make sure horses had access to hay at least 30 minutes before riding to create a 'coconut mat' on top of the gastric juices and help line the stomach, this was especially relevant for stabled horses. My horse is turned out 24/7 and even though I don't think he is suffering from ulcers I now make sure he has a hay net to munch on while I'm getting him ready to ride :)
 
If I ride first thing (before horse's breakfast) she gets a handfull of hay to munch while I groom etc so she's not working on an empty stomach.
If I ride in the evening she's just come in from the field anyway.
 
alison_oliver said:
My horse has constant access to haynet when he is in, including before he is ridden...
Surely this is just the same as someone catching a horse from field where it has been grazing and then riding? which i am sure goes on!!
I know not to feed concentrates before riding (at least an hour), but never ever heard i have to starve my horse!!
Be interested to hear other opinions on this...
Click to expand...

Ditto - always has access - and shoot me down she has it when we get back as well:eek:
 
Bonceboy said:
As the owner of an ex-racehorse I recently went to a seminar held by a local vet about gastric ulcers and their management. I was surprised to learn that statistics show up to 85% of horses suffer from ulcers at some time in their life whether they're racehorses, competition or pleasure horses. One of the pieces of advice given was to make sure horses had access to hay at least 30 minutes before riding to create a 'coconut mat' on top of the gastric juices and help line the stomach, this was especially relevant for stabled horses. My horse is turned out 24/7 and even though I don't think he is suffering from ulcers I now make sure he has a hay net to munch on while I'm getting him ready to ride :)
Click to expand...

This - forage in the stomach helps to prevent gastric ulcers.

Now whose yard management practices are bad for their horse's digestive system? ;)
 
Mine don't get access while they're being tacked up if I'm competing or working hard (schooling / jumping) as they can seem a bit stuffy if they've been pigging out before hand. If I'm trailering out, they tend to either not have hay or have enough to last half way there (depending on how far), meaning they don't eat for up to about half an hour before they're ridden.

If I'm hacking they have access to forage while they're out - imo more important they can eat a bit during a 3-4 hour hack, than that they have access to hay right before they're ridden for 45 minutes. And in terms of ulcers that logic works too - total time without forage c.1hr15 minutes if I'm schooling, total time without on a 4 hour hack if you don't allow them to eat on the way would be the whole 4 hours ;)

ets, mostly I ride from the field, and I don't fanny about grooming and tacking up for ages - flick off, feet, tack on, go, so I just don't see the need.
 
I dont take out any left over hay in the stable but wont give hay for half hour before riding. If at grass, usually by the time they are in and tacked up its 20-30mins anyway. I expect the horse to work when I ride (dont enjoy hacking) which they cannot do with a belly full of hay. Also wont give a hay net on the way to a show (unless its a long journey - then just a small one) but they can have a full net on the way back.
 
ISHmad said:
Mine always have access to a haynet when being groomed, tacked up etc.
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mine does because it makes my life easier - hes an ever starving cob (according to him -hes not really) and hes just so much nicer to get ready and ride when hes munching and nice and full - my ex instructor used to go mad with me for tacking up with him munching away.
Had to hide his haynet when she was due lol - ty for the replies x
 
my horses always have a net while tied up before riding ,but my ex racer has a scoop of chaff for his stomach, as soon as he sees the saddle his guts start to gurgle and if he doesnt get the chaff he grabs hold of the door and is very stressy so it soothes his stomach and as previously said it helps prevent ulcers by buffering the stomach acid.x
 
yes I do all except one of my horses are on add lib forage so it's just always there. I feed them a small meal of Alfa a with a little oil added before they are ridden after they have travelled so I know they have something in their stomach when they work.they always have haylage to travel as well.
The one who's restricted at the moment has a mega weight prob as he's coming back to work after a long time off so it's the lesser of two evils to restrict his forage.
 
darkhorse123 said:
Wondering what peoples thoughts on this are.
At our yard we let our horses and ponies have a haynet munch whilst grooming and tacking up etc before we hack out.
New liveries seem surprised we do this, that its bad for their digestive systems?

What do you think?
Click to expand...

It's a very old fashioned view not to let horses have a haynet whilst tacking up or before being ridden, and many people still do not allow it. However, research has shown that it is better for horses to have some forage in their stomachs before they work to help prevent ulcers from forming. However, if a horse has been on very lush grass, or has just had a hard feed then I would allow time to let it settle first (half an hour if on lush grass and an hour if they have just had a hard feed.)
 
ISHmad said:
Mine always have access to a haynet when being groomed, tacked up etc.
Click to expand...

same for me - I always let my boy have a munch whilst been tacked up - he isn't held there though so can just have a bit to eat - I do have to make sure though that all the hay is out the bridle before we set off or he spends the entire hack trying to reach a bit of hay on the edge of the bridal ; )
 
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