Riding Horses off Grass

[Cheko]

I notice that a lot of people bring their horse/pony in from grass, tack up and ride straight away. If a horse/pony is grass kept and you want to ride, the animal should be kept off the grass for at least an hour. When you first bring a horse in from the field, its belly is full of grass and enlarged. This inhibits efficient use of the diaphram, heart and lungs which are all necessary for the horse to function efficiently. Causing a horse to become broken winded could be caused by riding straight from grass as can a number of other conditions. So, please think carefully before bringing your horse in and riding straight off grass.:mad:

[cvb]

hmm - not sure what I am about to start BUT

a horse which is grazing in any kind of natural way will be 'trickle feeding' and as such will not have its stomach permanently full.

When you have a horse living near to you, you can watch them and see what kind of eating behaviour they have.

Our two in Scotland - one wanders about a lot, and tends to keep grass fit easily. The other is like a hoover and covers at lot less miles. But both have significant periods of time when they are not eating at all.

[intouch]

If our horses/ponies are not at grass, they have ad lib hay, even at a show. Sure we don't ride for at least an hour after a hard feed, but they have never shown any ill effects.

[myEllie]

Yeah, I don't think you have to worry about anything with grass or hay, just hard feed like grain. At a show, most horses stand in their stalls or at their trailers eating hay for most of the day. They are tacked up and ridden right away without any problems.

[Dizzy]

I normally ride first thing on a morning, my horse is usually to peel off the floor as she's fast asleep, and some mornings its not an easy job.

I don't think horses that are out 24/7 gorge themselves, there is no need. Grazing is natural to horses, and its said that chewing releases relaxing endorphins (hormones I think). I know if I stabled my horse with nothing to eat for an hour she'd be tense and unhappy. We're normally hacking out within half an hour of her being brought in, we normally walk for the first 10 - 15 minutes.

Hard feeds are different, I agree that at least an hour should given before any form of ridden or inhand exercise.

Lesley

[chev]

As cvb said, horses are trickle feeders and as such do not gorge themselves on their natural food, grass. They feed in a different way to animals like dogs, who in the wild will fill their stomachs and then rest for a while. A grazing horse is constantly on the move while feeding and would never find itself in the position of having an enlarged belly.

Hard feed is a different matter; it is concentrated and more difficult to digest, which means, as others have said, that a horse should not be worked immediately after a hard feed.

More damaging to a horse is depriving him of food; the horse is not designed to go for long periods of time without eating. Doing this can result in digestive upset, stress, and even colic. No horse should be deliberately starved before riding for these reasons.

More importantly, the horse should be properly warmed up before riding. Gentle stretching, walking and even a good grooming will warm up muscles before working. Riding out without warming up has far more impact on the heart and circulatory system than feeding hay or grass before a ride.

[Lucy J]

yeah, by the time I bring my horse in from grass and tack up that takes about 20 minutes and we do slow work for 15 miuntes or so. If I ride out 1st thing I only give her a handful of breakfast and give her her full feed when she returns and cools down.