The question of whether you should feed a horse before exercise is one that iscommonly asked. Most of us were told over and over again by our parents not to swim for 30minutes after eating or we would get a muscle cramp, so we generally tend to think thateating before exercise is not a wise thing to do. But is this the case for horses? Theanswer is yes and no...

Empty Stomach Or Full Stomach Before Exercise?
The horse is a monogastric and a continuous grazer, so logic says that a horse’s stomachshould never be empty. Having a full stomach is important for the horse as it stops gastricacids from the lower part of the stomach splashing around and irritating the upper sectionsof the gastrointestinal tract. This acid splash that occurs in horses exercised on an emptystomach is thought to contribute to the development of gastric ulcers.

Therefore, if a horse is stabled without constant access to forage, or if it has been morethan 2 hours since the horse last grazed or fed, you should feed your horse before exercise.A small feed will protect a horse from gastric ulcers in 2 ways. Chewing the feed willstimulate saliva production and saliva acts as a buffer in the stomach. And the feed willfill up the stomach and prevent gastric acids from splashing around.

What Should You Feed Before Exercise?
What you feed before exercise is very important. You should only feed forage beforeexercising your horse and preferably long stem for age like hay. Hay requires a lot ofchewing and will stimulate plenty of saliva production which provides good bufferingprotection for the stomach. While any forage that forms parts of your horse’s everyday dietis acceptable, if you are concerned about gastric ulcers in your horses, alfalfa (lucerne)hay has been shown to be helpful when it comes to preventing or resolving ulcers, so ifalfalfa hay is available and is fed as part of your horse’s normal diet, this would make agood choice for a pre‐ride or exercise feed.

How Much Hay Should Be Fed?
While you don’t want to give your horse a very large feed of hay before exercise you do needto feed enough to provide some fill in the stomach. Depending on when your horse was lastfed, you should feed between 200 – 300 g/100 kg (0.2 – 0.3 lb/100 lb) of bodyweight, usingthe larger meal size if your horse hasn’t been fed for 5 or more hours and the smaller mealsize if it has been 5 hours or less since your horse’s last meal.

What Should Not Be Fed Before Exercise?
Never feed grain within 4 to 5 hours of a ride or exercise, and that includes anyfeed that is high in starches or sugar. The starches and sugars in these feeds are absorbedfrom the small intestine largely as glucose, which triggers the release of insulin from thehorse’s pancreas. Blood glucose and insulin levels following a grain feed generally peak at2 to 3 hours following a meal and return to normal within 4 to 5 hours. Insulin is a hormonethat instructs the horse’s muscles and organs to store away glucose. So if there is insulinin a horse’s blood when exercise starts, the horse isn’t able to mobilise glucose stores toburn and fuel the muscles during work (because insulin is there telling the muscles to storeall the glucose away).

The horse’s ability to burn fat as an energy source is also reduced when insulin is present.The result of feeding a grain or high starch and sugar feed too close to when the horse isexercised is the horse that will run out of muscle energy supplies and fatigue quickly. This concept is particularly important for high intensity exercise where a horse’s glucosesupplies are burnt up very quickly. In endurance type activities, large grain meals shouldnot be fed within 4 to 5 hours prior to the start of exercise, however smaller grain mealsmay be fed during exercise to top up muscle glycogen stores and prolong the time tofatigue.

In Summary ...
Horses are constant feeders so they should, in theory, always have a full stomach. Feeding asmall meal of hay just before exercise, particularly if it has been 2 or more hours since ahorse’s last feed, will stimulate saliva production and provide fill in the stomach toprotect the stomach from gastric ulcers.

In contrast, grain or any feed high in starches or sugars should not be fed within 4 to 5hours of exercise as these feeds trigger an insulin response which then stops a horse frommobilising the muscle glycogen and fat stores it needs to fuel muscles during exercise. Andthis will result in your horse tiring quickly.

Dr. Nerida Richards (PhD) is Australia's foremost expert in Horse Nutrition. This article iscourtesy of FeedXL DIY Diet Planner forHorses.

See more horse-feeding articles in The Feed Room.

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