Can horses have dairy?

[Feival]

I should know this but i dont. My non horsey girlfriend suggested giving buzz rice pudding with his meds in which i haven't done

 

[impresario08]

Some people carry meds in yogurt so I can imagine it's ok short-term

 

[BlackRider]

I generally steer away from this, if you are struggling to get meds down him, you could try apple sauce.

 

[Hexx]

We had a pony at the riding school who loved a pint of milk. He would slurp it from a feedscoop!

 

[JillA]

I used to feed mine surplus goats milk and it gave them lovely shiny coats. But the fat in goats milk is more digestible - I gather horses once they cease suckling can no longer absorb the fat in cows milk. I don't think it does them any harm, just not a lot of good either

 

[windand rain]

wont hurt to try short term but avoid sugar long term

 

[paddy555]

I used to feed mine surplus goats milk and it gave them lovely shiny coats. But the fat in goats milk is more digestible - I gather horses once they cease suckling can no longer absorb the fat in cows milk. I don't think it does them any harm, just not a lot of good either

mine used to have the surplus goat's milk as well. They adored it, gallons of it. I used to ride my arab through a dairy farm with a polish owner who was mad about arabs. On the occasions he was carrying a bucket of milk he used to give it to the horse who came to no harm.
If he likes a small quantity of rice pudding and it does the job I would go for it.

 

[Casey76]

I used to feed mine surplus goats milk and it gave them lovely shiny coats. But the fat in goats milk is more digestible - I gather horses once they cease suckling can no longer absorb the fat in cows milk. I don't think it does them any harm, just not a lot of good either

As with most adult mammals, adult horses stop producing lactase, the enzyme required to digest lactose, the sugar in milk.

As with humans who are lactose intolerant, feeding dairy to adult horses can lead to significant gastric distress because they can't digest it properly.

 

[Sukistokes2]

my sisters pony used to go mad for the left over goats milk, he came to no harm, died of cushings at some silly old age. If it works short term I would have no issues , just to get his meds down.