Trainers, Do you let your horse have grass after a

[MiniHunterHorseFan]

My mom wanted to know what trainers' opinions were on letting your horse have some grass after a training session. She likes to let her horses have some grass when she is all finished with their workout and wonders if that will teach them a bad habit. If you find your horses start to have bad manners as in wanting to snack all the time?

 

[disneyhorse]

I don't see an issue with it, but horses ARE creatures of habit so if you do this regularly you might start seeing some negative behaviors.

My horses are cooled out after a workout and then tied up in their stalls so I can feed them without them molesting me, and THEN they are untied and allowed to eat.

Andrea

 

[Indian*R*A*I*N*Dance]

Im not sure about allowing grass after excersizing but i know that you are not supose to feed grain after excersize, they can get sometype of health problem, im not really sure what it is though.

 

[disneyhorse]

Well, I'd say ANY food right after exercise is probably not the best idea... unless the horse is thoroughly cooled out.

My horses are fed and grained after their daily exercise, only because that is how I can fit everything into my busy schedule. I come home from work, work all the horses, clean stalls while they cool down, and then feed/grain everyone. I don't feed them until their chests are cool to the touch, and sometimes I do hose them down after a hard workout.

Once they have cooled out and are relaxed, then they are groomed, blanketed, and fed for the night.

Andrea

 

[horsefeather]

We always let our horses have a few bites of grass after a workout as a reward. If we are working on obstacles or jumping, we use a chain under their halters. They have learned when the chain is attached, it is work time, after working, we remove the chain and allow them a few minutes of grass. They know the difference.

Pam

 

[Sterling]

After I work my horses I like to walk and then groom my horses to cool them off. I don't let them graze while I have them on a lead line because they seem to dive for grass every chance they get I've noticed. So I pretty much keep it the same...while on leadline, no grass..... This way when we go to a show and there's some very nice green grass and I have just cleaned them up and we're ready to go into the arena, they pretty much know they're not to dive down for a mouthful. What I do however, is after our training session, a cool-out walk and a grooming, I turn them loose in a grassy corral and let them graze, munch, roll and go hog-wild.