Is it Ok to Feed a Horse Before Riding?

Are horses able to eat before they go for a ride?

Yes, it’s ok to feed your horse a small amount of forage before you go riding. It will help prevent gastric ulcers and will also help them feel more relaxed before you get started.

The Humane Society advises that you wait an hour or so after a horse has eaten before you start riding them. This is because the horse’s body diverts blood away from their digestive organs during exercise, which slows down their digestion and can increase the risk of colic.

Avoid feeding grain within 4 to 5 hours before a horse rides or exercises as it will cause blood glucose levels to rise rapidly. This will inhibit the mobilisation of muscle glycogen and fat stores that your horse needs to fuel their muscles during exercise. This will make them tired much faster.

Feed a small meal of hay just before you begin exercising to stimulate saliva production in your horse’s stomach and to provide fill in the stomach so that it doesn’t have any room for gastric acids to splash around (read our post Avoiding Gastric Ulcers). The hay will also protect your horse from developing gastric ulcers because it will act as a buffer in the stomach by raising the pH of the stomach acid.

Don’t forget to give your horse a little cool water after a ride and to syringe or feed salt when they sweat. If you ride your horse in a trailer, allow him to walk for a long time before you start riding. This will allow him to recoup the energy that he expended during the journey, and it will also help with any muscle fatigue he may have.

Be sure to weigh your horse before you ride, as this will help determine the appropriate size of feed that your horse should receive. You can do this by taking a weight tape that you place moderately tight on their withers and girth area.

Depending on their age, weight and size, the recommended weight for a horse should be between 200g to 400g of hay per 100kg of their total bodyweight. Generally, you should not feed more than this amount as it will cause your horse to become sluggish and they won’t have the energy to do anything else.

Your horse’s diet should be mainly grass or hay and some grains are fine as long as they don’t contain a high sugar or starch content. The higher the sugar or starch content in your horse’s hay or grass, the more likely they are to have a poor digestion and be overweight.

You should also consider the quality of your horse’s hay as this will have a bearing on how well they can digest it. If you have a hard-working, high-performance horse, it’s probably best to use hay that has been shredded and soaked in warm water before feeding it to your horse.

It is also a good idea to feed your horse a small amount of grass hay en route or at their destination as this will help them to relax and recoup the energy they expended during your journey.