# riding before or after feeding?



## Solon (May 11, 2008)

How close do you guys ride to your horse being fed? I've always tried to figure out whether it should be before or after a meal and how soon you can ride before they eat or just after they have eaten.

What do you do for evening rides, especially for those of you that work all day and get to the barn in later in the evening.


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## Sketter (Aug 26, 2009)

I work my horse make sure he gets a good cool out then I feed him. Just like us if you eat a meal then work out you get cramps ect.. if you are not feeding alot then you could feed them first.. but I would say wait till after when they are cooled out


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## ChevyPrincess (Aug 27, 2009)

At my boarding place, the horses get fed in the morning, and at night (as in Bo's paddock, there isn't much green grass). But I normally work him between 1-5 pm depending on the days. Normally I only get two and half hours or less every week day to work with him, but, i get more time on weekends. 

So in his case, he gets fed before we work, then after we work.


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## wild_spot (Jan 30, 2008)

I ride and then feed.


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## wild_spot (Jan 30, 2008)

Forgot to add. In PC handbooks there are the 'three rules of feeding', as follows:

Feed little and often.

Water before feed.

Don't feed before riding or floating.


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## RoadRider / Rios Dad (Jul 2, 2009)

I feel a horse works better on an empty stomach but having a horse off pasture you take what you get. After a morning run I like to grain my guy so as soon as I bath him I put him in the stall with his grain and let him dry off while he eats. He ends up rolling anyway:lol:


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## Scoutrider (Jun 4, 2009)

Confession: I _will_ feed and then ride occasionally, just because if I'm pressed for time my horse seems to focus on what I'm asking if his "food clock" isn't going bonkers. Then it's like 2 months worth of rides vanish from his behavior level :lol:. I do feed and then do an in-depth grooming before I tack up, plus my customary long warm up, so he does have _some_ time to digest. ALWAYS hay and water before grain. Plus, my guy gets under a quarter pound of sweet feed 2x daily, so it's almost more like giving him 2 treats before the ride :lol:.

I'm not wild about doing it often, but with limited days to ride (yay college!) and generally poor weather, I will, but with every precaution I can take. On my "summer schedule" I get to do a morning feed/hay, turnout, midafternoon ride (sometimes jostled because of heat), followed by either a hose-off or a good grooming, turnout, bring it for evening feed/hay, and a last check and hay replenishing before bed; a system I like much better.


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## Saskia (Aug 26, 2009)

I've always read and been taught to ride then feed. If not you are apparently meant to give an hour or two between rides and feeding. I will ride a horse straight out of paddock, but generally paddocks I use don't have much feed. 

I never feed the meal and then ride.


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## kitten_Val (Apr 25, 2007)

In morning I ride 1 hour after the feed the earliest. In the evening about 30 - 60 mins before (depending on how hard I worked - if a lot they take a long break before the feeding). But I think the best time to ride is about couple hours before the eve feeding. They seem to be the quietest.


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## wild_spot (Jan 30, 2008)

I forgot to say, at competitions, I will get up at about 6.30 to go feed hay, and then have my own breakfast etc. We then normally start riding around 8.30. I always try to give at least an hour with some walking to aid digestion, expecially if I will be doing fast work. I will never grain/hard feed before riding though, only hay.


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## riccil0ve (Mar 28, 2009)

On the days I work, I ride in the late evening. I come out, ride, and give grain. All horse's get their grain separate, and then I throw everyone hay.

On the days I have off, I ride in the morning. I throw out maybe a 1/4 of the usual morning hay, and while the girls eat, I sweep up, pick the paddock, and mix up their grain for the night. By the time I'm done, they've finished the hay I threw out, and then I ride.

No matter the time of day or when she eats, I ALWAYS give her adequate time to warm up and cool down. She gets a thorough grooming before and after, and at least ten minutes of a walk warm up and five minutes of a cool down. After the ride, we stretch, and by the time I'm done, she's fine to eat.


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## drafts4ever (Sep 1, 2009)

My time schedule only allows me to ride after she eats dinner. I'm working up until then so any riding is done after 6pm and she's fed at 5. There's a long warm up though and cool down.


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## CloudsMystique (Mar 3, 2009)

Sometimes I get to the barn in the morning when my horse is just finishing eating. I don't see any problem with riding her after she eats, because I ride bareback and because there is about a 30 minute walk to get to the real trails. She doesn't have a girth around her, making her stomach feel worse, and she's only walking for the 30 minutes that you're supposed to wait. She's never seemed to have a problem with it.


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## Solon (May 11, 2008)

Thanks everyone, sounds like there is a variety and maybe one way isn't necessarily better than the other (feed before eating or after). I think I'll try riding first then feeding and see how that goes.


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## Rod (Aug 26, 2009)

When I was a kid about 30 years ago (OK, I was in my midtwenties), I worked at a ranch. We would catch our horses at 4:00 am, feed them a gallon of grain while we saddled up and then ride out for a days work. They were only grained on the days they worked. The idea was to give them a little extra energy for the day. It seemed to work well. 

Nowdays I'll feed at 6:30 am and start riding at 8:30. That seems to work also.


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## mom2pride (May 5, 2009)

I usually ride or work before feeding. Although the hay they get usually is picked at all day. 

I miss having pastures for them to graze on thats for sure, because atleast I knew they weren't 'starving' when I took them out! Hahaha


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## HeartMyOTTB (Aug 13, 2009)

Like Drafts4Ever, my work schedule only allows for me to ride after dinner has been fed. Since it would be time and cost consuming to go home and then come back out to my barn, I usually get there right after work and just hang out while my horse digests. I give him a half an hour AT LEAST from the time I get there that way I know he has had anywhere from 45 minutes to an hour to just hang out and eat extra hay after he's had grain. Then I groom slowly, get a warm up in and work! Its a decent system I think!


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## hhadavis (May 3, 2008)

I usually ride after I feed only because they get let out in the morning to graze and evening is the only time I give them grain. I find they pay more attention to what we are doing if they dont have the added distraction of being ready to eat. They tend to be a little more hyper too if I dont feed first. I may not give them as much as normal on nights I want a short ride, only because when/if they do well I give them a handfull as a treat for a good job. I know alot of people dont agree that treating them is effective when they do a good job, but it works well for my 3. Watching their buddies getting a snack they are not getting because they decided to be buttheads (of course they are also tied up so they can stand awhile and reflect how they ended up there) is big incentive not to do it again. I dont expect perfection because they are all beginners, but I do expect them to give an effort. I think it really depend upon schedule..I work a normal mon-friday job so this works for me, now if we are going riding on the weekend (starting out in the morning), they get some grain when we get home.


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## Cougar (Jun 11, 2009)

They eat breakfast at 8amish and they just run out of hay before it's time to feed dinner. So either I feed a lot of hay or my horses are just slow at eating. I never feed grain before I ride. Cougar gets really grumpy if I do.


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## Icrazyaboutu (Jul 17, 2009)

I feed at 7 in the morning, ride anywhere from 12 to 5, then feed at 6 or 7.


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## Jessa (Mar 6, 2008)

I give a small feed before eat ride (just some chaff, and a little bit of other stuff - no minerals). I have been told by a reliable source that the horses stomach moves forward when in work, and may cause ulcers if worked on an empty stomach.

For a horse at grass, I'd say its fine to just ride with no feed prior - but my gelding has had ulcer issues in the past, and I'm not taking a chance. I also find he's happier with something in his belly.

The feed is small, so it wont weigh him down, and its mostly made up of chaff. I would not, however, be giving him a meal (hard feed) before a heavy, intense or strenious work out.. I dont want problems 
Hay is good - adlib is best, that way they always have something in their stomach that doesn't weigh them down.

I think of it like myself - I don't like going to the gym on an empty stomach, but I Dont want to be full either.


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## Clementine (Sep 24, 2009)

If you're going to ride after feeding, you need to give the horse at least an hour in its stall (or pasture) before riding. If you are riding before feeding, make sure he is COMPLETELY cool before feeding. Riding right after feeding and feeding right after riding can both very easily cause potentially life-threatening colic.


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## justsambam08 (Sep 26, 2009)

Most days I do ride after feeding since I'm unable to get out to the barn until after he's already been brought in for the night. He usually gets something like 1/2 his grain (or sometimes all of it, it really depends on how long they've been in) and he'll have started on his hay. They do throw hay before grain, but he waits to eat the grain first.

However, I do give him an extra twenty or thirty minutes from the time I get there to digest (gives me time to talk to other boarders) and then I usually take fifteen or twenty minutes grooming, depending on how bratty he's being. So he does get at least fourty minutes of digest time, and then we just work on his walking/trotting/avoiding the arena gate, if I saddle him up at all.


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## equineeventer3390 (Mar 27, 2009)

I either ride then feed or if I feed first i wait at least 2 hours before riding.


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## smrobs (Jul 30, 2008)

There are still a lot of ranch hands and feedlot cowboys around here that do just exactly like Rod posted with no ill effects.

My horses have access to feed 24/7 so it doesn't really matter. I think the big thing with not riding right after feeding was probably for horses who get fed only set meals each day and tend to eat until they are stuffed full. At any given time, horses on 24/7 feed are never stuffed full and therefore don't have that problem. I think a full horse + hard work can equal colic pretty quickly (though I may be wrong). Also, after a ride, my horses are turned right back out and generally go get a drink then go back to munching. Been doing this for years and have yet to have a problem with founder or colic (other than sand colic in a mule one time years ago).


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## arabchica (Jul 5, 2009)

on compettitive trail rides I always got up at 4:30 to feed and road out at 6:30 to 7 about two hours to digest thier breakfast then a lite snack at the lunch stop and on the trail again till dinner


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## Lovespottedhorses (Feb 13, 2017)

I saw your post from 2009 because I was trying to research this subject today. I work from 9 - 5, Monday through Friday like a lot of other horse owners. I need to start training a couple of horses, but I'm wondering the best feed/train method to avoid any possible colic issues. I don't get home until 5:30. Should I throw a small amount of hay, like 1/2 a flake, then wait a 1/2 hour before training? There's no hard riding involved at this point in time. Mostly learning the bit, neck reining, etc.


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## Lovespottedhorses (Feb 13, 2017)

*Feeding and Training*



Rod said:


> When I was a kid about 30 years ago (OK, I was in my midtwenties), I worked at a ranch. We would catch our horses at 4:00 am, feed them a gallon of grain while we saddled up and then ride out for a days work. They were only grained on the days they worked. The idea was to give them a little extra energy for the day. It seemed to work well.
> 
> Nowdays I'll feed at 6:30 am and start riding at 8:30. That seems to work also.



I know your post was from 2009, but I was researching this subject today and hoped I could ask for more information. I work from 9-5 as a lot of horse owners do. I need to start working a couple of young horses. Nothing strenuous at this time, just teaching the basics like neck reining, etc. Should I throw just a small amount of hay, maybe 1/2 a flake, before training then feed the balance after? I don't usually get home until 5:30.


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## Woodhaven (Jan 21, 2014)

If I come home from work and want to ride, I don't like to ride the horse that hasn't had anything to eat since the am feeding, so I give a small amount of hay just so they know that they have had something to eat and wait a bit while doing barn work etc then ride and feed the regular feed after riding.
If the horse is out on pasture I bring him in and leave in the stall while I do barn chores then ride after they have been in the barn for about 1/2 hr. with no feed.
This system has worked for me for over 55 yrs, never had a problem with a horse doing things this way.


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## ThoroughbredBug (Jan 18, 2017)

I normally try to ride then feed. If I get there and the B/O is just starting to feed my guy has probably eaten some of his grass hay before I groom and tack him, so he munches for about 10 minutes (pulling tiny mouthfulls out of a slow feed hay net) before I take him out and get him ready. Obviously I warm up for another 10 minutes after getting ready, so he has about 25 minutes between munching and any canter work or jumps to digest about a pound of fluffy grass hay. 

IDEALLY he eats after I ride, and the idea behind that is that is that when I stop the workout I would cool out for about 10 minutes. Then I would go untack him, putting stuff away as I go, then groom him and pick his feet. Then if it's going to be really chilly, or rainy, I toss his blanket on and do that up. I double check that some of his little issues right now are good (primarily checking and medicating a small puncture wound on his hip, and hosing dirt off his hoof to check on a crack). All of that adds another 20-30 minutes to my cool out time. So once he goes into the stall it's been 30-40 minutes since he stopped hard work, and 20-30 since he stopped going around in the arena. He gets to munch his dinner hay while I get breakfast soaking, and wet down his grain for the night. So he waits another 5/10 minutes until his grain is ready to feed, so a total of about 45 minutes from work till he eats anything concentrated (and even then he's only on about 5oz of grain).

In terms of show mornings, he usually gets breakfast (no grain, just some flakes of hay, and a few tablespoons of hay pellets with his allergy meds in water to soak them) at 4:30 or 5 am, so most of it is eaten by the time I get my **** together and am ready to load him (I RARELY show and can be very dysfunctional). He gets the rest on the trailer on the way over to the show grounds (I don't usually stay at the grounds overnight), and while I'm grooming and saddling him. Then hay goes away, he gets walked to the lunging area, boots go on, and he wanders around on the lunge for 10 mins or so with a lap of trot or two, then I bridle him, get myself up on him, and go over to the riding area to do more of a trot/canter(+jump if applicable) warmup and to look at any patterns or courses. By the time I'm cantering or jumping it's usually 6:45 or so, assuming I'm in an early class. So that's over an hour and a half, maybe around 2.


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## charrorider (Sep 23, 2012)

My horses have access to pasture/hay 24/7. When I bring them in to saddle, I drop a book of alfalfa/grass mix in front of them. I go for rides that are between 3-4 hours, and at this time of the year there isn't any grass where I ride. So I like them to have plenty roughage in their bellies. If you've ever run after eating, you know it doesn't feel that good. So for the first 40 mins, my horses just walk. I've read that trotting or running on an empty stomach can cause ulcers in a horse, caused by digestive acid splashing in the stomach above where there is protective lining.


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## Foxhunter (Feb 5, 2012)

I think a lot depends on the sort of work a horse is doing and how much hard feed he is getting. 
When people say 'feed' I think grain and not hay. 

I would feed at least an hour before working them, the hunters and racehorses were on three or four feeds a day early morning, lunch, tea and evening feeds. 

I would say it is unsafe to give hard feed before working a horse hard as it could cause them to twist a gut. I know if I have stuffed my belly I do not want to go out and do hard work. 

It use to be said that if you had a meal you should wait an hour before swimming. Now it is deemed unnecessary, but as my father was a life saver I know he pulled more people out the water early afternoon than any other time.


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## PoptartShop (Jul 25, 2010)

The horses get fed morning & night, around 6/7am & 6/7 at night.
In-between obviously they have access to hay.

I ride before feed at night. Never after.


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## Zexious (Aug 2, 2013)

Horses where I board Gator get fed in the morning, the evening, and also get a lunch. 
I really have no preference between riding before or after--but I do try to avoid riding too close to feeding time (regardless as to whether it's before or after!) because that just seems a little mean 
#zombiethread!


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## Hackamore (Mar 28, 2014)

A well trained horse performs whenever it’s required. It’s not the horses decision to make it’s the riders. 

If I know I might work a horse hard on a given day I might purposely fuel him up before we head out. Other than that they ride at my command.


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## Smilie (Oct 4, 2010)

It is not as to whether a horse rides out on command, but the health effects, if a horse is ridden on an empty stomach, thus exacerbates the sloshing of HCL in his stomach
If a horse is fed a high grain meal, and then just ridden out, digestive activity is partly diverted to that work, also not good
If you follow the principle of never leaving a horse with an empty gut for extended periods, using slow feeder hay nets, grazing muzzles, whatever, then when you feed and ride is no big deal
Feed horses like they were designed to eat, and many other things become minor.It is not the amount of feed, but how it is consumed. Horses were designed to eat also most constantly, but not highly concentrated feeds, standing in one place, but rather medium quality forage (nutritionally speaking, not condition ), while covering ground.
Slow feeder hay nets help to mimic these conditions to some extent
When I show a horse, I hang a slow feeder haynet over night
I get up at 5AM, fill water, hay net and feed some beet pulp, clean stall, ect. I then have my own breakfast, then go and warm up my horse, before the arena is harrowed. 
I then put horse back in the stall, tied, next to haynet and water bucket, while I get ready.
Shortly before my first class, I warm that horse up again
When I trail ride, I again get up in the wee hours, take horses down to water, hang hay nets and feed some grain.
By that time, hubby has fire going, coffee made, and after having that first coffee, I make breakfast
By the time camp is cleaned up, horses are ready to go.
If not in base camp, I again get up early, water horses at the river, then leg picket them while we have breakfast


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