In an effort to making working my horse a priority, I'm trying to figure out how to do an o'dark-thirty session in the mornings before my day goes to and I only want to pass out when I get home from work.  My guy is HANGRY in the mornings so I need to feed him something or he'll probably end up eating me for breakfast.  He is used to getting hay and grain at 6:30AM then my Mom turns him out at 11:00AM with more hay.  He is not turned out on grass because he would blow up.  I've always been super worried to feed and ride to avoid the "c" word.  I'm up at 5:30, need time to feed the other critters and need to be back in the house by 7:00-7:15 to get ready for work.  Suggestions about feeding and workout plan welcomed!  The struggle is real!  Thanks!!

Eating before you ride them being bad is supposed to be a myth, but if you were to feed heavy amounts of something I would assume it would cause upset. If you have the ability to use a slow feed hay net, like hay chix, and just stuff it full at night he should have something in his gut. They're better off if they have a little something at least in their gut when you ride, preferbly forage. So thats the route I would go if you can. When I pack mine at night with 3-4 good flakes they have a little left in the am. Or you could just give him some hay while you're getting him ready to ride. This is what I do so I'm not riding them in a fasted state. Even just 1/2 flake is better than nothing. I let them them cool out about 20 minutes after I get off & give them the rest of their breakfast 

Keep them eating at the exact same times no matter what. If you get up at 3AM and ride, but normally feed at 6, feed at 6. Only issue is if the horse is ulcer prone. If they are, they can have acid sloshing around in there when you ride. But you can easily eliminate this if you leave forage in front of them 24/7 which is what horses were meant to have anyway. 

Start putting hay in a slow feed net and then give grain after your horse is cooled out.  I grain my horses once a day and put have in a hay box with a slow feeder net. On evenings I know that I am going to ride I always make sure there is plenty of hay out the night before (I go once a day to feed). This way my mare has a full belly and I just give grain afterwards.