Eating on the trail

[Serigraph]

I took my greenie out for his first solo trail ride yesterday. I meant for the ride to be short, and relaxing and not ask much of anything. He kept snagging the trees along the way though.

We will just trail ride for pleasure, but still he doesn't have to snack and go every few steps.

Do you all have munchers on the trail? My other horse who learned to trail ride from being a show horse, doesn't even think about it.

Fortunately I think it will be easy to break and I corrected him on the way back and he was getting it.

[ponygrl25]

It's one thing to let them stop and eat on the trail when you want them to, but I wouldn't let him grab tree branches. That can be very dangerous for you both. I have seen people almost knocked off of their horses when the horse snagged a branch at head height and pulled it right into the riders face and kept walking. A friend of mine actually got a piece of a twig rammed into her eye:eek: that caused serious damage and now she always rides in sunglasses (and doesn't let her horse eat leaves). The horse also is not paying attention to you when he is doing this which isn't safe, especially with a greenie. Not to mention that some leaves can be toxic to horses. Every horse most likely does this at some point, I know all of my ponies try it:mad:, but I wouldn't encourage it at all. It is different if you are training your horse to stop and graze on longer rides or for competition. This not a good habit, but it sounds like you can stop it with a little work. Good luck with your greenie!!:cool::cool:

[katarine]

train for it. For me, a verbal 'go ahead' and a push on the crest just ahead of the mane=EAT all you want. If they don't get that, no eat.

Just train for it. Letting them do it willy nilly=distracted horses with clumsy feet and poor attention to detail.

YMMV :)

[Shadow14]

From the time the bit goes in my horse's mouth until it is removed he does not eat, nothing, drink yes but no snatching at food regardless if it is put right in his face as plowing through tall corn.
He gets nothing. He won't starve to death, he eats all day long, he can forgo eating for a few hours.
I bump him with the spurs if he snatches something with a stern NO

[chicamuxen1]

riding a horse for hours and not letting them eat forage is a recipe for ulcers. I do teach my horses the word "Eat", keeping it simple, and after stopping I tell them eat and jiggle the reins to teach a lowering of the head. I also hate grabbing a branches and i want a horse to eat when told to, not just jerk and grab.

I know a lot about ulcers unfortunately and so does my credit card. If you ride for long at all and/or ride at faster than a walk then you want forage going into the stomach to suppress the splashing stomach liquid (acid) into the lower stomach, protecting the upper areas of the lining from the acid. Also, saliva generated when chewing has a buffering effect and most forages also do. so train them to eat grasses/clovers/etc and pull up briefly, eat and go on. Horses also relax when they lower their heads so it's a settling effect.

Bonnie S.

[Guilherme]

When we go out for a longer ride we dismount and walk for a few minutes every hour or so (following the Cavalry practice of a bygone era). Part of that is also a "rest" time. If graze is available we allow the horses to graze.

IMO allowing the horse to grab food whenever is a poor practice. As noted it shifts control of the project to the horse and distracts them from their job. This can have some unfortunate consequeces for horse and rider.

If the rider wants to allow the horse to eat and keeps control of the situation then that might not be so bad, assuming the rider has the skill and experience to know when to say "yes" and when to say "no." For green riders this is a dicey business and I'd recommend they not do it at all until they get some experience (and not just on the trail, but in controlling their horse under difficult circumstances).

G.

[JollyBadger]

When I am riding, I don't allow my horse to "enjoy the buffet." If I start to let him get into the habit of eating as he goes, his focus begins to shift from putting his feet where they need to go, and he ends up tripping over things simply for lack of paying attention.

We will occasionally stop along the trail (in my "home park," there are some nice, open, grassy fields that are perfect) so he can graze for a while and take a break. Otherwise, the "buffet" is off-limits.

[Serigraph]

We don't trail ride as our main discipline. I'd like to do more, but don't have the access.

This was his first ride thru the woods out alone. When he did try to snag a branch, it was right in his face. We had to go right up against a tree line and then a very narrow path in heavy woods. Out where there is a little more space, he didn't go out of his way or anything. But none the less, I told him no and he got it. No biggie.

It was more a question of some who do it naturally and some who don't even think about munching like my TB.

[Auventera Two]

Trail horses are often ridden for hours at a time and that's a lot of time for a horse's stomach to be empty. Horses are grazers and their digestive tract is meant to process food almost constantly. I encourage my horses to eat on trail! Trust me......you DON'T want ulcers! :eek: :no: As Bonnie said - me and my credit card know this all too well. The first time you dump 1500 bucks on gastrogard, you'll be sorry you didn't let your horse eat on the trail.

But you don't let them just rip the reins out of your hand. You train them that when you tell them its ok, then its ok to stop and grab some mouth fulls.

I never let my horse go more than 30-45 minutes without grabbing at least 4 or 5 big mouthfulls of grass.

My endurance horse can eat at a trot. I give her some rein, and she swings her head down, grabs a big mouthfull and keeps trotting. I also trained her to turn her head around and take a carrot when I tap on the right side of her shoulder. She can do that while walking or slow trotting and never misses a beat.

Not only from a stomach standpoint - but I also think that it keeps the horses mind more fresh and interested. You can sure as heck burn out a trail horse just like you can burn out an arena horse.

[pines4equines]

I'm afraid I let my horse eat on the trail. He can not rip the reins out of my hands but can snag stuff along the trail. But we're not doing any competition nor do we go faster than a walk.

I'm just too tired to do anything more these days.

[lizathenag]

I let my boy have a bite when we stop and I let him. As an OTTB I am thrilled that he is relaxed enough. I don't let him graze as we go though.

[gypsymare]

My mare is absolutely not allowed to root the reins from my hands at anytime. So I can ride along on a loose rein but not so long that she can reach her head down to the grass. She will test it softly on occasion but when she meets the rein will not press the issue. So if I am inclined to let her eat on the move I give her enough rein to do so but demand that she maintain her foward tempo. Or stop, loop the rein and tell her to "go ahead". I don't allow her to grab at trees.

[rmh]

A narrow tree lined trail is a smörgåsbord for my horse. When leaves are touching me from both sides it is hard to keep him from snatching bites of leaves. If I can I don't let him eat when he wants to to. But if I am stopped he can graze. It helps with keeping him there. He ground ties pretty well, something to munch on helps.

[Shadow14]

. He ground ties pretty well, something to munch on helps.

Ground tying and munching don't go together. When I drop a rein I don't want my boy dropping his head and start grazing. He would step on the reins and all horses graze and walk at the same time.
I want him to stand perfectly still, head held normal with a rein hanging on the ground, NO EATING.
If I am going a distance from him I slip on a hobble which I always carry and again no eating.
Eating leads to trouble.
Horses that are stalled over night in the winter don't eat all night, they run out long before dawn and just sleep or stand and wait. They can go without eating for a few hours easily. I see hundreds at the market saturday or at church sunday and they are not eating.

[Sithly]

I encourage my horses to eat on trail! Trust me......you DON'T want ulcers! :eek: :no: As Bonnie said - me and my credit card know this all too well. The first time you dump 1500 bucks on gastrogard, you'll be sorry you didn't let your horse eat on the trail.

Not trying to pick on you, A2, but I remember you talking about letting your horse eat on the trail long before your ulcer fiasco.

I don't think eating on the trail is going to prevent ulcers. It didn't in your case. *shrug*

Anyway, I have a grazing cue for my horse, both on the ground and from the saddle. He's allowed to eat only when I give the cue.

[tabula rashah]

riding a horse for hours and not letting them eat forage is a recipe for ulcers. I do teach my horses the word "Eat", keeping it simple, and after stopping I tell them eat and jiggle the reins to teach a lowering of the head. I also hate grabbing a branches and i want a horse to eat when told to, not just jerk and grab.

I know a lot about ulcers unfortunately and so does my credit card. If you ride for long at all and/or ride at faster than a walk then you want forage going into the stomach to suppress the splashing stomach liquid (acid) into the lower stomach, protecting the upper areas of the lining from the acid. Also, saliva generated when chewing has a buffering effect and most forages also do. so train them to eat grasses/clovers/etc and pull up briefly, eat and go on. Horses also relax when they lower their heads so it's a settling effect.

Bonnie S.

agreed

my horses are allowed to eat (grass, not grabbing random bushes) when they are on a loose rein and as long they keep moving. They all learned it relatively fast and do fairly well with an occassional reminder. We also usually do a stop for lunch and allow them to graze.

[Auventera Two]

Not trying to pick on you, A2, but I remember you talking about letting your horse eat on the trail long before your ulcer fiasco.

I don't think eating on the trail is going to prevent ulcers. It didn't in your case. *shrug*

Anyway, I have a grazing cue for my horse, both on the ground and from the saddle. He's allowed to eat only when I give the cue.

You're right. But knowing that my horse is ulcer prone, I won't let her go hours without food now, that would be a disaster.

[Beverley]

I don't let mine browse while riding- but I haven't gotten after my gelding as much as I should- he knows better with me but with others he will get away with murder!

I will let them graze, mounted or not, with bit in mouth, when I tell them it's okay. Like on an all day cattle drive last week when we stopped every couple of hours. If I'm on a trail ride where we're planning to stop along the way, I'll put the hobbles on, remove the bridle, and let him graze while we are eating.

[amdfarm]

There's a reason I nicknamed my horse "snack cake" when trail riding. He's quick and does it when I least expect it. He uprooted an entire cornstalk on a ride once and happily carried this 5' long + stalk in his mouth whapping the horse next to us in the face until I could turn his head and grab it from him. He did get in trouble for that and was not allowed to snack for the remainder of that ride. He won't do it if I stay on top of it the entire ride, but I trail ride to relax, chat w/ friends, enjoy the scenery and so forth, not stop him from doing what comes naturally when he sees an open field or a big oak tree w/ leaves hanging in his face. He's food motivated and will do anything for food. And after 17 years together, I'm not going to change anything.

[prudence]

Since horses are grazers (unlike us) that do best eating continually, this keeps the intestines continually active and the horse is much less likely to colic. On an endurance ride, one of the criteria to continue is a good score on "gut sounds." You want noise there! If your horse can grab some chow on the trail, he will be more likely to have them, and have less chance of colicking.

BUT - the OP is a pleasure rider and I can understand training a pleasure horse not to grab at straws every chance he gets. When I was little, I rode a pony with a wire attached from the saddle to the bridle so he couldn't chomp down. Most horses catch on not to do it; when you are little and not strong sometimes you need help.

[Sithly]

You're right. But knowing that my horse is ulcer prone, I won't let her go hours without food now, that would be a disaster.

Understood. :yes:

[rmh]

Ground tying and munching don't go together. When I drop a rein I don't want my boy dropping his head and start grazing. He would step on the reins and all horses graze and walk at the same time.
I want him to stand perfectly still, head held normal with a rein hanging on the ground, NO EATING.
If I am going a distance from him I slip on a hobble which I always carry and again no eating.
Eating leads to trouble.
Horses that are stalled over night in the winter don't eat all night, they run out long before dawn and just sleep or stand and wait. They can go without eating for a few hours easily. I see hundreds at the market saturday or at church sunday and they are not eating.


To each his own. Mine has been taught to give to pressure. If he steps on his rein he drops his head to relieve the pressure and figures out which foot needs to move to get free. I don't want a robot. I want a horse who can think his way put of a bad spot and I am willing to give him some freedom to do that.

[Shadow14]

To each his own. Mine has been taught to give to pressure. If he steps on his rein he drops his head to relieve the pressure and figures out which foot needs to move to get free. I don't want a robot. I want a horse who can think his way put of a bad spot and I am willing to give him some freedom to do that.

Good for you. Would you also put a halter on the horse, say a 20 foot rope and then attach one end to the halter and the other end to a stake in the ground or the tongue of the trailer and then go away for a few hours and trust your guy to not get in trouble staked out like that?? I have many times.
As for robot?? I don't like that any more then Brain Dead. My horses just because they are well trained are not robots, they are thinking animals who know what is expected.
Eating on trail on command is like telling your husband that he can not look at a beautiful woman walking down the street until you give the command to do so.. Right, as if he will wait for your OK.
Horse's either eat on trail, or they don't. If the mind is on eating they will always be looking to grab a snack.
My guys are tough enough to go without eating on a ride and yes I ran endurance for years and the only time they ate is at vet checks, no where else, never grazing on trail, never grabbing at leaves. Water yes, food no. If I want to graze a horse I slip the bit and put on my ever present neck rope,
NO BIT and then he may gaze.
Once the bit goes in nothing but water ever passes his lips.
I have ridden with lots of people with horses that only eat when told. those same horses are grabbing at corn stalks, leaves or anything else they can snatch.
My guys brain is working more in 6 months then most people expect their horses to work in a lifetime.

[pines4equines]

A2 said: "Boy, you'd love to live in my house then I AM usually the one pointing out the women to my husband. Why should I care if he looks at women??? It's a free country and he can look at and oogle over anybody he wants. "

My deal with my man is he can't look unless the "melons" are so exposed with such "low cutted shirted-ness" for all the world to see then by all means, he is allowed to look. I will even point them out and say "it's a melon day at the feed store." I'm so sick of over exposed butts, boobs and bellies that I encourage the looking as that's what the exposure seems to want and encourage.

[Shadow14]

Girls beleive it or not I will not NOT let my wife see me ugolling??? another woman. I think it is disrespectful to her:D so I look out of the corner of my eye.:lol:

Now Jamica on a topless beach it gets really tough:lol::lol:

Is this another thread that really went downhill

[Shadow14]

" I'm so sick of over exposed butts, boobs and bellies .

You mind your own business:D That is the only thing this old guy has left.
To look but not touch. It sucks to be old.

[Auventera Two]

Nawwww, doesn't bother me at all. I think I'm the worst instigator....."Oooh hon look at that! :eek:" :lol:

[rmh]

Good for you. Would you also put a halter on the horse, say a 20 foot rope and then attach one end to the halter and the other end to a stake in the ground or the tongue of the trailer and then go away for a few hours and trust your guy to not get in trouble staked out like that?? I have many times.
.

I have no reason to tie my horse to a bumper. However he can be tied to a stake and have no problems. Just because you have a problem with a horse that eats on the trail doesn't mean others do. If they decide that is okay then that is their business not yours. I, for the most part, am happy with my horses trail behavior. He carries me through some very hard going. If I have lunch he can have something. He worked a lot harder than I did. You do what makes you happy and I will do what makes me happy.

[rmh]

I do agree there are way too many midriffs and rear ends being exposed today:eek:.

[ride2endure]

Bringing along what I hope will be my distance horse, I want to ensure that he'll eat on the trail to take care of himself as we add on the miles. I try to stop at least once an hour while riding and let him graze for about 10 minutes - at least right now, while we're still putting a base on him. I figure, anything I can do to prevent ulcers is worth it, no matter how minimal the effort is.

Huck likes to munch as he goes down the trail, but typically he only starts to nibble on passing tree leaves when we're getting close to that hour mark or if we're doing a long stretch of walking and he's getting bored. I allow him to graze on passing leaves and grass ONLY if he continues to move forward and/or if the tree he's selected is small and not going to swing back and hit me. He's not allowed to munch on tall branches - and if he tries, he gets a reminder of a stern "No" and his head redirected elsewhere.

I had the same philosophy with my old show horse. He could graze as long as he kept moving. If it got to the point where he would try to nibble every couple of feet, I told him "No" and made him keep going. He got the hint pretty quickly.

Danielle

[Shadow14]

If I have lunch he can have something. He worked a lot harder than I did. You do what makes you happy and I will do what makes me happy.

I must have really offened you with my no eating on the trail ?? Stopping and eating lunch is totally another matter and at this point the saddles are pulled , the bridles are pulled and the horses are staked out. This is a long way from grabbing snacks along the trail while being ridden.

Again I am sorry I have offended you.

[rmh]

I am not offended. I just think it is a personal issue. I don't like when he tries to est uninvited. Most the time he respects the end of the rein. The hard times are when the trails are so narrow he can eat with out moving his head and the giddy up command isn't appropriate. Didn't mean to seem terse. At lunch the bit comes out and the saddle is loosened. Many times there isn't a good place to put the saddle and areas aren't large enough to stake therefore the ground tying which he does pretty well. Sorry I took the topic past where it started.

[twofatponies]

I don't allow grazing while riding except at a specific rest break, and then I either dismount and we all rest, or I push on my mare's crest as a signal she can graze. I am very consistent about it and she doesn't try to eat while we are underway. I hate when horses are constantly diving for grass, pulling on the reins! We might ride at most 3 hours, usually less, and on a shorter ride we won't generally stop, but on the longer rides we usually stop where there's a nice view or we want to take some pictures, and then we let the horses eat for a few minutes while we chat and adjust our jackets and so forth. If I'm riding a horse that is naughty about it, I ban grazing altogether for a while, until they stop trying.

I have ridden some horses that were very well trained to eat as they walked without interrupting their stride, and as it was a long all-day ride and that seemed to be what they had been taught, I didn't interfere. None of them missed a step, just taking a mouthful or two from the verge of the trail when it wouldn't interrupt the way we were going, or grazing when we stopped to open gates, etc. That was fine, too - they weren't ripping the reins out of our hands trying to eat, like naughty ponies.

[rmh]

I have some friends whose horses will stop dead in the trail and munch. That drives me crazy. I have been limiting my riding time with them.:mad:

[monicabee]

I was videotaping a friend's young horse for sale and he obviously felt we were cutting unfairly into his grazing time. He could trot and snatch grass - it looked like a good way to develop the topline! He looks pretty good in the video as a result.

"Endurance horse!" she said.

If it was a major habit leading to rooting the reins away, it would annoy me. the occasional opportunistic chomp isn't something I'd worry about too much. You can always shape that into a trained behavior by adding a cue, as another poster said they have, and then allowing it only when you cue.

I am a little disappointed though - I thought this was going to be a thread about trail goodies for people!