feed before work

[Mark Cowdrey]

How much feed, hay and or grain do you feed before an hour or two of work after them not eating since morning?

Scenario:

I get home from work at 5:30. I want to mow hay (haul logs, drag pasture,…) for an hour or two. The horses were last fed at 7:30 AM, 1/2 bale of hay each + 1 heaped cup (dry) of beet pulp.

How long should I give them to eat hay before working them? Currently I try to give them an hour as well as give them another ration of beet pulp top dressed w 1 cup oats.

I would appreciate any feedback or critique of this system.

Thanks,

Mark

[J-L]

I don’t like to have them too full when going to work. Personally if I have to work I don’t do it well on a full stomach.
When going to a rodeo or such, I’ll drylot my saddle horses for a few hours ahead of time to ‘gant them up’ as my Dad always said. They can run better closer to empty.
Having said that, I don’t think what your doing will hurt anything.

[LStone]

Not sure about the rest of the group but I have a very similar scenario, and after feeding in the a.m. Very little (if any) hay left in the p.m. when I get home. I work them and don’t p.m. feed until about an hour after they are finished their work.

Weekends I usually work them closer to mid day so it really doesn’t effect their feeding in my opinion. I haven’t figured out how to feed and work them for a living though. I don’t figure it involves a lot of waiting around for them to finish at their own pace. I guess the pros would pack along the morning hay ration to the jobsite with them in the trailer.

Larry

[Carl Russell]

I usually like to have an hour or so between feeding and working. In your scenario, I would give them a flake of hay, and some grain when I first got home, and go take care of a few other things. In a half an hour, I’d water, then harness, and go to work.

Although I don’t like them to be FULL when working, I do like them to have some food, especially if they have gone most of the day without eating. It helps settled them down.

Then when done with work, I’d water again, and feed them for the evening. This kind of scenario is difficult to integrate into an otherwise consistent feeding program, but horses can have some flexibility, as long as you’re not overfeeding, or overworking them for these relatively short evening workouts.

Carl

[Gabe Ayers]

We like the order to be water, hay, grain and at least thirty minutes before working. If they won’t drink because they are hungry, give them a flake or two of hay and after a few minutes of eating offer them water and then put them back to eating hay and once it is all gone give them concentrates (grain).

Water is the most important thing they consume, but they won’t drink much if they are real hungry. They also learn the routine and won’t drink if they anticipate grain coming….

[Scott G]

A.M, feed grass hay as soon as I get up. That gives them at least an hour to eat before we head down the road for whatever reason. I usually don’t grain (whole oats) unless they are really putting out. If you left them in the morning with a good amount of hay to get them through lunch I wouldn’t feed until after you’re done in the evening. Horse’s guts are meant to be constantly moving. I’ll always favor grass hay spread through the day and if they’re working hard (all day) or its really cold I’ll give them some whole oats and/or beet pulp at night. Whatever you do, don’t change diet abruptly. A horse’s digestive system is one of the most ill conceived things in nature. If you even look at them wrong they can colic… My rule of thumb is to be tuned into your horses condition. Getting fat, back off. Losing condition, bump it up….
Take care,
Scott

[Gulo]

My horses are on pasture, i call them in to work and grain them then, maybe a third of a big bucket each. I let them loiter awhile, relax, (maybe half hour), harness and hitch ’em then. I don’t think it’s a science. If i am doing two sessions that day, i water them, grain them again, and probably give them some hay/fresh cut grass. Some guys mix this as a chop. I do like them to have some grass in their stomachs, some bulk. Otherwise, I find my horses with the highest food drives are constantly distracted by the sight of whatever fresh grass we may be passing. It’s a pain.

[TBigLug]

For what it’s worth, we feed oats and corn at 10:00 AM when they come in from pasture (mangers are always full of grassy hay). Once they have ate their fill and have munched on hay for 30 minutes or so we harness them up and go to work. They have free choice water and pasture when they are outside (4:00 PM until 10:00 AM). Grandpa’s done it this way for 78 years and his father did it that way before him. Never had a problem and the horses aren’t hungry while they work.

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