Feeding and riding

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Kelly1982

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How long after feeding do you wait to ride and visa versa?

I was always taught after feeding you should wait an hour. And also after riding you should wait an hour to feed (although I generally wait til the horse is cool enough or half hour at least).

Some people on my yard just jump on and go though or feed straight after riding even if horse is sweating to no ill effects??? I worry far to much for that.

So how long do you wait?
 
I feed a v.small amount of fast fibre & chaff, so I'm not overly concerned by feed times - if I was feeding larger amounts or cereal based feed, I would be more worried.
 
NativePonyLover said:
I feed a v.small amount of fast fibre & chaff, so I'm not overly concerned by feed times - if I was feeding larger amounts or cereal based feed, I would be more worried.
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^^^This, I used to wait for about 1.5hrs with my old boy, but he used to have a v large feed. George just has chaff & a handful of mix, so I quite often ride after 20-30 mins. I always cool him down after riding anyway, so by the time I've untracked & brushed him off, he's fine to be fed then.
 
I think it depends on fed size also. Although now having an ulcer prone horse i actually make a conscious effort tho either have a haylage net or a small feed of chaff just before riding as it benefits him.
If he works hard i don't feed until cool, although he does have hay net at all times.
 
When I hack out I don't worry too much about how long after I feed - it is a relatively small feed and walking about with me on his back is not dramatically different to walking and trotting around the field as he eats rich grass ;)
If he was doing any hard work I, like you was always taught to wait and hour. Similar with feeding before.
 
I happily feed my pony a bucket of fast fibre before riding unless we are going galloping which is unusual. We don't jump any more. I haven't had any problems with it. I wouldn't feed cereals, but I am happy to feed fibre before gentle schooling or hacking. I don't really see much difference between feeding things like fast fibre and speedibeet and tacking up a horse with a belly full of hay, which I am also happy to do.
 
I think these rules apply more to something like hunting or racing than what actually counts as "work" for most horses.
 
Agree Cortez. Also it is really only "hard feeds" like cereals, mixes, etc. that need time for digestion. With forage - hay, grass - it isn't so important. The advice for horses about to do even fast work is to feed a small forage feed to try to prevent ulcers as it is the stomach acid splashing around in an empty stomach that can cause the damage. Mind, you wouldn't want to do fast work like a lot of galloping with a FULL stomach of anything.

If you think about it, in the wild horses are eating all the time, yet they are able to dash off and gallop away from any nasty lion that wants to eat them.

I think if a horse has been eating hay or grass, and you go and catch it, tie up, groom, put the tack on that is long enough. And then start out at a slow pace then that is going to be fine.

A feed with a lot of oats in, for instance, takes longer to disgest and then the 1 hour rule would apply.
 
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