Some Dumb Q's for those who keep horses out 24/7

I think it is more important to do do more warm up in winter than summer than to worry about what they have eaten. I usually tack up and go though not fast work straight away.

Jane
 
Business said:
I actually asked my vet who specializes in horses (the whole practice does).....he said an hour between eating anything and working....anything included hard food, hay and grass.
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My vets also specialise in horses so there :p

Have you asked them why??? It's just that I did and none of them can answer me....
 
i work on the principle that by the time ive had several cups of tea & a couple of roll ups & faffed around much time has past - shes 21 & still alive - so i reckon we are ok:)
competition days - bath madly the day before [ coloured - but more white than colour - sadly] & borrow a stable for the nightime - i have competyed staight offf the field but it involved getting up at 5.30 on a sun - so far too much effort for me:rolleyes:
 
Roughly half an hour. By the time I've got her into the stable, faffed about, lost my brushes, retrieved them from D1, remembered where the tack room key is, gone back to find my hat, put my gloves on, etc. etc. etc., then actually it's more like forty-five minutes plus :D
 
MrsMozart said:
Roughly half an hour. By the time I've got her into the stable, faffed about, lost my brushes, retrieved them from D1, remembered where the tack room key is, gone back to find my hat, put my gloves on, etc. etc. etc., then actually it's more like forty-five minutes plus :D
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LOL yep - sounds very familiar that some days....
 
I think it depends on what they mean by "working" - for example racing, hunting, x country is very different from slow hacking or some schooling where you spend the first part in walk when warming up.

If it was that bad that horse ran after eating grass then what would happen in the field - sometimes they fancy a play or run about straight after eating grass and then they stop and eat again and they seem fine.


Business said:
I actually asked my vet who specializes in horses (the whole practice does).....he said an hour between eating anything and working....anything included hard food, hay and grass.
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tallyho! said:
My vets also specialise in horses so there :p

Have you asked them why??? It's just that I did and none of them can answer me....
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I didn't ask why. I just figured we all abide by the hour after hard feed rule and knowing both the event yard and the racing yard I worked on didn't work horses straight after having hay I wondered if it applied to grazing too. (Seamed it may as hay is dried grass.) So I asked my vet. I didn't ask why because I just assumed it was due to the complex nature of equine digestion and an increased risk of colic if you work them too soon after food.
 
SO1 said:
I think it depends on what they mean by "working" - for example racing, hunting, x country is very different from slow hacking or some schooling where you spend the first part in walk when warming up.
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Yes, a steady hack is way different to interval training.

SO1 said:
If it was that bad that horse ran after eating grass then what would happen in the field - sometimes they fancy a play or run about straight after eating grass and then they stop and eat again and they seem fine.
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But when they do run in the field it never seams to be for hours...more like a funny five mins. then back to chilling. That's just my experience of mine though.
 
Funny your vet says that as my vet (horse specialist) has been heard to say that even after a hard feed an hour is a ridiculous time to wait!

Even vets don't agree it would seem!
 
I think a lot of it's because of old thoughts on the matter and these have been passed down through the years to people. At the end of the day, a horse is a flight animal designed to graze and be able to run (at high speed for a sustained period) should a predator attack. Just because they are domesticated does not change this BUT WE have changed what they eat and I think if you're going to give them a large cereal-based feed then it's probably common sense that you wouldn't immediately then drag them away afterwards and expect them to gallop or do strenuous work for a sustained period as cereal feeds are no the same as the grass that nature intended the horse to eat.

In winter I will often have mucked out my horse whilst he's eating and tack up pretty quickly afterwards and then go out. I do not wait any time for him to digest food as my hack will start with a bit of walking first anyway and then progress from there. i certainly don't see any reason to wait for a certain amount of time before riding if you are just hacking or doing schooling of some sorts.
 
MagicMelon said:
I'd hope nobody would jump on a horse and immediately do fast / hard work in the first 15 mins anyway! 10 mins of that should be warming up for example.

I keep mine out, I dont give them any time as such from the grass - only as long as it takes to groom and tack up (prob 10/15 mins).
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Same here, I get her in, flick with brush, tack and go. And the first 15 minutes we take things easy.
 
When I ride mine he does not run for hours either, so maybe it depends on what activity you are planning to do. Though endurance horses are often fed a small hard feed mid way during a race at the vet stops and they are running for hours.

Business said:
Yes, a steady hack is way different to interval training.



But when they do run in the field it never seams to be for hours...more like a funny five mins. then back to chilling. That's just my experience of mine though.
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I always thought it was an hour after a hard feed for hard work because otherwise the exercise took the blood from the non essential organs to use in the muscles. This meant that the half digested food could move through the digestive system causing colic. :confused:

But I ride after about half an hour after bringing in... because it takes me ages to get ready :)
 
By the time I've brought my horse in from the field, groomed her, tacked her up, put on my helmet, gloves, and reflectives, at least 30 minutes have passed anyway. And I'm a happy hacker. So I just jump on and ride. Or school, but when I school, I warm up before doing more strenuous work.

If you're the average amateur rider, I wouldn't worry to be honest. Grazing is different from wolfing down a huge bucket of hard feed.
 
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