I am looking for opinions on letting your horse munch on the trail. I have seen anything from going bitless to encourage it, all the way to an improvised grazing muzzle over the bridle. Are there reasons to encourage or discourage? Safety, behavioral, or otherwise?
I will occasionally let my horse graze at a certain point on the trail, but only if I actually allow it. If he tries or gets grabby without me letting him graze, itās a no-go. I donāt see anything wrong with letting your horse munch on some good green grass in a pretty location under saddle as long as it doesnāt create bad behavior 
3 Likes
I always let my horse eat. He is so responsive and agreeable to anything I ask that I feel it is a fair trade-off. The only time I say no is when we are descending a steep hill. I want him to have all of his attention on his feet and descending safely vs. trying to multi-task, ha ha.
Our rides are pleasure rides, not competition in any way, so stopping for a snack now and then is no big deal to me.
SCM1959
2 Likes
Our horses are allowed to eat on trail with the command ābite.ā I want to encourage relaxation and eating during rides but donāt want my arms jerked from the sockets or to be a lawn dart if the horse decides on his own that its snack time.
2 Likes
It depends upon how far you are riding, and how long you are in the saddle. Anything over an hour, or beyond 13 miles, let the horse eat a bit, but STOP to do so. Make it clear that you are pausing to let him/her graze for a bit - 5 minutes or so. Dismount if you want - stretch your legs and give your own body a break. 5 minutes is enough to put sufficient forage in their stomach to give the stomach acid something to digest. Then when you mount up/start moving again, no more snacking until you stop again. If you allow a horse to graze as they walk, they tend to ātake advantageā and not focus on their work.
I will carry sliced apples or carrots with me and hand them to my horse from the saddle. I always make sure my horse has halted because if their feet are moving they grab with their teeth. When at a standstill they take with their lips. Big difference when your fingers are involved.:lol:
5 Likes
As a kid I had a horse that would snatch passing greenery and keep on trucking. Not break a stride. I would stop and let her graze occasionally but it never made her naughty.
Current horse is constantly poised to snatch the reins and dive into the ditch and eat. I have to ride her more alertly and have zero tolerance for unauthorized grazing. If she gets one mouthful she will keep trying and trying.
I do still halt and let her graze. It doesnāt make her worse to do this. May even make her better.
So I think it really depends on the horse. The horse should march out w t c and ignore grass until you give permission to graze. Horse should not dive into the ditch from a working trot, leap off the trail into a field, or aggravate the arthritis in your hands
Manage your horse so you can have a pleasant obedient ride.
Btw if your horse starts diving for grass, you pretty much canāt use a rope halter or sidepull except when thereās snow on the ground :).
1 Like
No. Under saddle they are under discipline and allowing āmunchingā permits distraction and that can lead to problems.
We dismount every 50-55 min. on the trail and rest. Grazing at that time is encouraged.
G.
1 Like
I saw yes, if you give your horse permission. Grazing is a good thing while riding. I have heard that many frown upon it but when youāre putting the miles on in an endurance ride or a training ride, grazing is good to keep the gut going and give a little hydration as well.
This thread makes me think of the movie, āUnbrandedā.
Just more proof that itās a Bad Idea!!! 
G.
1 Like
I have different rules for different horses and different situations. My greenie that Iām working right now, he can eat when we are stopped but heās not coordinated enough to eat while on the move. My mare that is my main ride has been competing for several seasons now- she can eat when stopped and she will ask to eat when walking if she can reach. I can tell on a ride when sheās starting to get hungry and sheās never a brat about munching on what she can reach. If itās somewhere that I donāt think is a great idea for her to eat, I just tell her no and we go along. My older mostly retired mare could happily trot down a trail and munch while never breaking her stride- sheās 24 now and done more in her life than 10 horses put together. If she wants to eat while we mosey along bareback, she gets to eat
We have a no-eating rule for horse under tack. Tacked up means concentrate on the job. When the bridle comes off, then if thereās anything edible go ahead. Horses can be very distracted by the project of eating. When they are being worked or ridden, they need their brains to be in the moment of what theyāre being asked to do.
Depends. When i did endurance, we didnāt eat on the trail because it cost you time and we were there to do well. Those who were there to just complete, theyād allow their horse to eat on trail.
Now i show cutting horses, they have a hay bag while theyāre tied at the trailer, but when i put the bridle on, no grazing allowed.
Thank you everyone! I can see how diving for snacks could get dangerous really quick. I do like the idea of a grazing break. I will have to try that on.
I once heard of a āCalvaryā method for long distance riding. I have not tried it on an Endurance ride due to time restrictions but for all-day trail riding it seems like a great method:
40 minutes of riding
10 minutes of grazing
10 minutes of walking on foot to relieve your horseās back and stretch your legs.
My horses are trained to āGrab & Goā. I allow them to grab bites of grass if we are walking but they need to eat it while we are on the move. If Iām trail riding for fun I just detach my bridle from my rope halter (I have a combination trail bridle) and let them graze for 10 minutes.
I am a sucker for my ever so cute Chestnut OTTB mare. She can grab a bite or two or three as she goes. So long as she is paying attention to me. Sometimes she works up a great big wad of grass and has āgreen goddess dressing mouth.ā But she is such a wonderful girl that I donāt mind.
Mine are trained to grab on the move when I invite them to do so. They may grab mouthfuls provided they keep marching, and stay on the trail, and listen when I say enough for now.
Of my current two one is not allowed to grab on the move because his general trail training is not far enough along to have reached that point.
So itās both yes and no for me right now.
Funny story about this:
When I was a 8, my parents took me on a trail ride in the mountains as a birthday present. Iād only been riding for a year or so (but confident enough to trot and learning to canter) but the place they chose was not a big commercial trail riding barn. They had maybe ten horses (two of which were being galloped around the field when we arrived).
Since the ride was in celebration of my birthday, I got to pick any horse I wanted (including the two whoād been exhausted to the point of being beginner safe). I picked this massive paint, because Iām a sucker for them.
I get on and he keeps trying to eat grass while everyone is getting on. But I was a stubborn child and fought with him for several minutes before he decided to LAY DOWN AND ROLL to get the pest off his back. Thankfully I had enough sense to get off once he laid down or I wouldāve been crushed. Trail leader got on my horse and I was assigned a less pushy horse and we enjoyed the trail ride.
Moral of the story: If you do let them graze, do it on your terms. Grab on the move grazing is allowed with my horse but if he stops to eat (without permission) we trot very forwardly.
This was the British āclock methodā and as with many things in the British Army was rigidly followed, or so Iām told! The American system was ālooserā in that the OIC of the column could pick an appropriate time based upon terrain but that rest periods for men and horses were provided at reasonable (usually hourly) intervals.
If the march were āforcedā (i.e., driven by some military exigency) then the strict times were not required and judgement prevailed. If you were marching to catch someone or to get someplace then that is a different circumstance than if you are marching to get away from someplace or avoid being caught. That would be a big part of the judgement question!!!
But I strongly disagree with the āgrab & goā method. IMO that takes the horseās attention away from the rider and, even if the rider gives permission to the horse to do that, that means the rider is NOT in control until they take it back. That critical moment can become an eternity when we remember that a horseās reaction time is about 40 times faster than humanās reaction time.
Folks are free to do what they want with their horses. I donāt follow the āgrab & goā method and donāt recommend it for the reasons noted. As with all things, YMMV!
G.
I taught my girl a signal. That way she knows when she can stop to graze a bit before we move on. She is still in the training, learning the ropes phase. But she doesnāt fight me over it.
