Endurance.Net Ridecamp Archives

I have heard the rule of thumb is no large grain meals within 8 hours of
a ride. This comes out of KER research and was presented at the AERC convention
in Lexingtion some number of years ago. Of course with the premixed high
fat, high fiber commerical feeds available today, you are probably okay with
a couple hours. I think it really gets back to the horse and learning what
is best for your horse. We may be making this too difficult. I try to lay
out grass hay, alfalfa hay, and my feed which is a commerical high fat/high
fiber mix and let them eat what they want. If there is fresh grass around
I will tell you they won't touch any of the stuff I brought and will stick
their nose in the grass - but of course grass is the perfect food for a horse.

The mare I used to ride would eat her way through a 100 on alfalfa and grass
- but she really perfered the alfalfa on ride day -  hay, grass if there
was any around and cracked corn and rolled oats and never got a grade of
less than B+ on gut sounds the whole time I rode her. 

I'm not a big fan of realy super wet slurries, sloppy mashes or whatever
you want to call them. It sounds good in theory but I'm not so sure in practice.
The amount of water you can get in a horse this way is about as much as they
would get by sticking their nose in a water bucket for 10 seconds. I'd rather
have them drink then eat then drink ... than try to give it to them all in
one step. Let the horse choose when to eat and when to drink.   At least
for me the jury is still out on this one. 

Truman


DVeritas@xxxxxxx wrote:
> I need some input as to whether or not you feed grain
> while at rides.  I know some who feed no grain, even on hundreds.  I know
> others who feed grain darnnear free choice.
>      Each horse I have campaigned, has been slightly different, particularly
> in how they each processed the enviromental stimulation at ridecamps, which
> can affect certain horses' drinking and eating habits.
>      Normally, I don't grain, i.e., soaked beet pulp, whole oats, 3way, strategy,
> the night before the start of a fifty or a hundred.
>      I had a vet tell me that that ration would not process well the next
> morning, and could actually affect gut motility negatively.
>      So, anyway, I's wonderin' if everyone grains the night before, or if
> it might be better to give them their gruel, their slurry, their slop, whatever
> at the first vet check?
>      Thanks for the feedback,
>         Frank
>