How long do you leave it between feeding and riding?

[JoBo]

Just wondering how long you leave it between feeding and riding? Does it depend on what you are doing?

Also if you have ridden how long do you leave it before you feed?

Just wondering as I have heard so many different opinions.

Thanks,
Jo

 

[siennamiller]

Hi
I wait at least 1 1/2 hrs after feeding to ride. I feed as soon as I get back as I always walk for 10 mins and until he is dry and not blowing.
Annemarie x

 

[the watcher]

Between feeding and strenuous work, at least an hour, but I would try to time meals and exercise so they are as far apart as possible. After exercise I would feed when the horse is cool, and respiration is returned to normal.

However, I feed sloppy fibre heavy feed. If I was feeding something more concentrated or drier I would probably wait longer (not that I can think of a time when I would feed that kind of stuff but know others do)

 

[checkmate1]

Hiya, I was taught to leave at least an hour after feed for work, and I leave 10-15 mins after arriving back at yard for feed, and leave that sort of time when arriving back with horse and trailer as well as it can take 20mins for their pulse rate to come down after travelling. Thanks for your nice comments about my girl.x

 

[Orangehorse]

If the horse is eating only forage - grass, hay, chaff, alphalfa it doesn't matter too much, although they don't want a full stomach for fast work, obviously.

If they have cereals - oats, some feed balancer, mixes, etc. then you should wait 1 hour.

Feeding after work - when I was in France we went out for a strenuous ride, they did walk the last half mile, but we took off the tack and they got about 1 kilo of crushed barley, dry, nothing else, before they were turned out in the field. The English people were a bit horrified, but all the horses seemed to survive. They lived out 24/7.

 

[mrdarcy]

Horses competing in endurance races (50 to 100 miles) will be fed sloppy feeds throughout the race, at vet gates (every 25 miles for 100 mile races). No need to wait an hour before getting back on and resuming the ride and these rides are done at a fast pace - at least a fast trot more usually a canter. Equally a hot sweaty horse will be offered a sloppy feed (or anything he will actually eat if fussy) as soon as he comes into a vet gate or even on route when the rider meets their crew.

If you're feeding high fibre, low starch food then there's no need to leave time between feeding and riding or vice versa. It's a different matter with cereal based feeds which a horse's digestive system isn't designed for in the first place.

 

[hussar]

Exactly as gedenskis_girl says - providing you're not stuffing a 5lb cereal feed into your horse and then going for a stiff uphill gallop, you can feed and ride. At home I usually give my horse half his breakfast, ride, and then feed the other half when we come back in. I don't wait for any longer than it takes to untack and make up the feed.

Endurance vets get panicky if they can't detect any digestive sounds in the gut at vet holds, so we do take every opportunity to give our horses something.

 

[deicinmerlyn]

Yes that's absolutely right. That's why I don't have a problem feeding my horse when I bring him in from the field BEFORE I ride. He lives out 24/7. so I want him to think he isnt coming in just to be ridden! I think as someone else said it depends entirely on what you are feeding. Monty only gets lo cal and sugar beet (small amount). If he was fed cereals I would feed after riding and wait at least half an hour depending on how hard he worked.

 

[reddie]

Usually about an hour after a hard feed, ride straight from the field

 

[MagicMelon]

The way I do things means I dont generally need to wait as before work, if I ride I do it before I feed them and at night I feed them after as well. But generally, I usually leave it for the usual hour and a half I guess, unless it was non-cereal based like if it was just some chaff then I wouldnt worry. Mine live out 24/7 though so they always have hay and grass in their tum before riding.

 

[amanda1788]

I usually wait an hour after feeding and if was to feed after riding would also wait an hour.