Riding after eating

Bodshi

Bodshi

Well-Known Member
Apr 23, 2009
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Rafi gets fed at 5.30 ish and today I finished work late and got to the yard about 7.45 pm, intending to do some work in the school - walking only. However he looked so content with his stable rug on, munching on his hay and I thought that as he would have been munching ever since eating his tea earlier, it wouldn't really be fair to drag him into the school and make him work.

Got him out to do his feet anyway, had a lovely cuddle and then untied him expecting him to return gratefully to his box, but instead he turned towards the school, obviously expecting an outing and seemed quite reluctant to go back in his box. So I ended up feeling a bit mean for not going in the school with him (was too late by this stage for even doing groundwork as I have to poo pick the school (dog poo!) before I can go in there.

What do others do? Do you ride after your horse has eaten? I was always told wait an hour after their meal, but I'm not sure whether it's ok to have a haynet in between or whether it should be an hour with no food at all. I should know really :unsure:
 
If Lily has been out I will bring in and ride straight away even though she has probably been eating grass the entire time she has been out, and never had any reluctance or problems (or no different to times when she hasn't been eating anyway!). So based on that I would ride after feeding hay etc but possibly not if she just had a big heavy bucket feed (haven't had to worry about that yet as she is still a porker!)
 
I would always wait an hour after feeding hard feed, but have always thought that hay was OK to ride after. It's really sweet that your horse wanted to work. Poo picking dog poo sounds horrible - especially if this isn't your dog?
 
Riding after hay is absolutely fine, it's bucket feeds (unless purely fibre) that are the problem & that's largely due to the starch getting pushed to the wrong part of the gut. In the wild a horse doesn't have the luxury of saying to a predator "come back in an hour, I can't run away at the moment because I've been eating!"
 
I aways used to feed after ridig but now have been bringing both ponies in so Littles can have his bucket feed. Joy just gets 1/2 stubbs scoop of Dengie Good Doer and Pink Powder and has this whilost I faff about getting them both groomed and Joy tacked up (takes about 20 mins). Then I lead them both back to the field (2.5 mins walk from the yard) and then ride.

I have no problems with this and it is just a fibre feed and no different from riding her straight off the field after she's been munching grass.
 
carthorse said:
Riding after hay is absolutely fine, it's bucket feeds (unless purely fibre) that are the problem & that's largely due to the starch getting pushed to the wrong part of the gut. In the wild a horse doesn't have the luxury of saying to a predator "come back in an hour, I can't run away at the moment because I've been eating!"
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Totally agree.

I don't care how much forage he has eaten it's only the hard feed which I would wait an hour before or after feeding.
 
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