Rules of feeding

[CPW]

I have had my own horse for many years now and always left an hour after feeding before exercise and after exercise an hour before feed. Recently I have noticed more and more that particularly after exercise people tend to feed straight away - all views/advice welcome!

 

[gummybear]

I tend to feed after I have ridden - as long as my horse isnt puffing and has relatively cooled down then I think OK to feed. Still wait 1 hour to ride/travel after feeding though.

 

[Madam_max]

I am the same as long as she not sweating and puffing I feed. Again, I do wait an hour before travelling or riding after feeding.

 

[Abbeygale]

I'm with gummybear - if my girly isn't puffing or sweating still I will feed. Although to be fair it usually takes me a good while to untack and get everything sorted before I would be ready to feed anything anyway!

 

[scotsmare]

I'm quite fortunate in as much as my husband feeds them before he goes to work (usually around 6am) so that when I tootle down to the yard after dropping the kids off I can ride straight away then they don't get fed again til lunchtime.

I don't feed though before travelling / riding and if I have to feed afterwards then generally leave at least 1/2 hour.

 

[AmyMay]

I have to be very careful with my horse - and learnt the hard way earlier in the year when he had colic. I fed him too quickly after exerciseing him.

I allow a minimum of 1.5 hours before riding after food (I prefer 2 ). And the horse has a minimum of 40 mins to an hour before feeding after exercise.

 

[Jellymoon]

It think it depends on what sort of diet they're on and how hard they are working. If they were doing fast work and on lots of hard feed, then I would leave it for 2 hours either before or after riding.

If they're on small feeds of mainly fibre, as most of us are feeding these days, and just going out for a gentle hack then I wouldn't worry too much.

 

[SO1]

I tend to walk the last bit of of our hacks so by the time we get home he is not puffing and he just gets a small fibre feed of dengie gooder so feed more or less straight away.

 

[kellyeaton]

i always wait an hour before and afterwards!

 

[Diggerdog]

A completely empty stomach is not normal for horses and can actually cause problems with acid splashing in the stomach during exercise. A <u>small</u> fibre based feed before exercise is beneficial to horses that have, or may be prone to ulcers.

Equally, after exercise, as long as your horse is not still blowing or fatigued, a <u>small</u> feed is fine

 

[merlinsquest]

I ride straight after feeding..... well obviously I can groom and tack up after the feed....

But he only has a handfull of chaff with his suppliments in it so its not an unnatural amount of food in his stomach....

I dont usually feed after exercise though..... because he has been fed before I suppose....

 

[dwi]

I just tack up after feeding and go if I need to although as a general rule she is fed about half an hour after riding. I wouldn't feed her if she was blowing but a horse that has just been on a hack is fine to eat a small fibre feed such as happy hoof. No different IMHO to giving them a haynet or putting them out to graze.

 

[imafluffybunny]

I ride about 30 mins after feeding as my horse has symptoms of gstric ulcers, I find he works far better than on an empty stomach. He only has a fibre feed anyway.

 

[lornaA]

very much depends how much you feed and how hard you are going to or have ridden. I mean my mare eats a large amount of feed so if i was needing to ride i would just give her a couple of handfulls then feed her properly when i was finished. After riding i always cool her down properly anyway before i dismount then by time i would un tack possibly quick brush over and rug up she would be more or less ready for her feed. After all if i was turning her out she would tuck straight into the grass. I would compare it to if i was going to the gym, I wouldn't have my main meal then go straight to the gym but i might have a small snack and likewise when i'm fininshed i like to get home and have a shower then i'm ready to eat.

 

[Chunkie]

I don't feed before riding. My mare lives out so I bring her in and normally get on her about 3/4 hr later. We walk for a good 15-20 mins before trotting so she will have had an hour before exerting herself anyway.

If I'm driving her, she has at least an hour in before putting her to. If I'm having a lesson, she is in an hour before I get on her, then has 15 mins walking before the instructor arrives.

I always walk the last 15-20 mins of a hack and feed her when I get home as long as she isn't blowing.

I know people who bring their horse in from the field 20 minutes before the start of their lesson. They then tie it up with a haynet whilst grooming it and get on it when the instructor gets there. Then they wonder why it doesn't go well

 

[MerryMaker]

[ QUOTE ]
A completely empty stomach is not normal for horses and can actually cause problems with acid splashing in the stomach during exercise. A <u>small</u> fibre based feed before exercise is beneficial to horses that have, or may be prone to ulcers.

Equally, after exercise, as long as your horse is not still blowing or fatigued, a <u>small</u> feed is fine

[/ QUOTE ]

Here here. A lot of competition horses are fed cereals which produces acid, and then ridden on an empty stomach on a diet with little or no forage and people wonder why we get ulcers, errrr... yeah not rocket science!

 

[AmyMay]

To be clear though - are we talking hard feed only here though??

I'm more than happy for my horse to be munching hay - just not hard feed prior to riding.

Like all things, there's usually a common sense reason why things are recommended.

So for instance, you should not swim immediately after eating - why? Because it is very easy to cramp and drown, because a large part of your body is using it's energy do digest your food.

You wouldn't go exercising yourself (in the gym or by running) after eating a large meal - again because of what is going on in your body through digesting your food.

The amount of energy taken up with a horse digesting hard feed follows the same principle. And is why some (if not many) horses can develop colic if fed too soon after exercise (or exercised too soon after being given hard feed).

Whilst it's not necessarily correct to draw an analogy between a horse and a person - it only takes a little common sense to understand that some of the principles of food and exercise are the same.