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Re: [RC] Grain At Rides - Susan Garlinghouse, DVM

That said--the main thing with grain is to keep the >individual meals
small.  I'm not even as brave as some >as SuG's advice--I've never fed more
than 3 lbs of >grain to ANY horse in a given feeding,

That's pretty close to my max, too---I'll go to a little over four pounds if
pushed, but frankly, never seen the need to.  Lots better ways to get
calories into a horse consistently and safely without piling truckloads of
grain in front of them.


and that only to one horse, ever.  But giving a pound at >a time fairly
frequently during the ride works fine.

Yup, I agree.

As to slurries--I'm a big fan of wet food at rides.  >Horses tend to be
already dehydrated, and IMO they >have to "download" a lot less saliva to
process the feed, >never mind that even what saliva they do "download" >you
are at least partially replacing by putting moisture >right back into the
gut.  Although it isn't near enough >water to make up for their water
losses, it is at least a >start.  Also, they are less apt to choke on wet
feed.

Also agreed.  I think a lot of riders don't realize that a tired horse has
decreased esophageal function, as WELL as having decreased saliva
production, AND might not be taking the time to chew adequately, and that
all adds up to higher risk of choke at a ride, regardless of the type of
feed being provided.  Trail-Rite makes a really nice mesh manger hay bag
that works really well for wetting down hay at checks---we gave out a ton of
them as participation awards at one of the research projects we did.


(Maybe SuG can share the incredible numbers again on >the amount of fluid
that has to shift in order to process >food--when there isn't fluid in the
body to spare for that

Depending on the circumstances (ie, more than 2-3 hours since the last meal
and eating more than about 4 pounds of ANY type of feed) will produce fluid
shifts up to 4-5 gallons from the plasma volume into the GI tract for
several hours.  In research ponies, the decrease in plasma volume was
between 15-24%, which is a huge amount if the animal is already fighting off
dehydration effects.


Best general plan I've seen (with variations for >individual horses) is all
the grass hay they can eat for >several days preride, during the trip to the
ride, and at >the ride.  Add beet pulp and/or Senior to that as >needed.
Remove any fat supplements or high-fat >concentrates prior to the ride and
replace those >concentrates with similar concentrates such as Senior.  >Then
add the carbs as you work, together with >whatever sloppy product works well
for that particular >horse to keep him happy to eat at every check.
Soaking hay in muck tubs at vet checks also really >helps.

That all pretty much works for me.  I'm okay with small amounts of alfalfa
here and there throughout the ride for the extra calcium.  My only addition
is that I don't like feeding grain less than four hours before the start.
By then, it isn't helping with the overall energy picture and his gas tank
should have long since been filled to the brim.

Susan G



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Replies
[RC] Grain At Rides, DVeritas
Re: [RC] Grain At Rides, Heidi Smith