Feeding on the Trail

habit of being there saving you lots of leg work.
When you stop to make camp be sure that the area is rich with feed or the horses will head out looking for better feed. Making your camp near the trail you came in on will allow you to stop horses with the devious intention of heading back home. If grasses are wet with rain or heavy dew then horses will not need to drink free water but in most cases you need to camp where water is available. Make sure the water is accessible as many streams have steep banks.
Unless feed has been sparse the night before we do not let horses feed as we ride because it is bothersome to other horses and our progress. Similarly if you let horses drink at every puddle they soon learn the game and demand to stop at every puddle for a drink. Drinking a couple of times during the day is enough.
Colic is a serious problem for trail riders due to trailering stress and feed changes on the trail. Never feed dry hay in the trailer over longer trips when free water is not available. Horses can lose up to 15 litres of body water in an hour in a hot trailer. If we are hauling several hours it is safer to feed and water when you arrive than to feed dry hay during the journey. We always let the horses water after long trips before they eat turning thirsty horses out to dry pasture especially if it is an abrupt change in the type of grasses from the norm may also create colic.
Riders often worry about weeds on the trail but we have found that horses are very good at choosing not to eat toxic plants. The problem comes when good grass is not available and they resort to eating plants they would normally avoid whether in a pasture or on the trail.