Can you feed Pumpkin to Horses??

Tinsel Trouble

Tinsel Trouble

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a bit of an odd one....

My horse's guts work a bit too quickly, and his hind gut doesn't absorb all the water it should. After many years of vet checks, investigations and various feeding regimes we have come to a happy medium where by he has mostly normal poos all winter (with unlimited hay), but we suffer a touch of diarrhoea in the summer with all the grass that comes through- it's only water rather than an acidic muck though (incase people think it's scouring...)

I have recently found out that in dogs Pumpkin improves intestinal health and the fibre content is so high that it absorbs water and can stop diarrhoea.

Will this translate into horses? Who would you recommend I speak to about this?

TT
 
Tinsel Trouble said:
a bit of an odd one....

My horse's guts work a bit too quickly, and his hind gut doesn't absorb all the water it should. After many years of vet checks, investigations and various feeding regimes we have come to a happy medium where by he has mostly normal poos all winter (with unlimited hay), but we suffer a touch of diarrhoea in the summer with all the grass that comes through- it's only water rather than an acidic muck though (incase people think it's scouring...)

I have recently found out that in dogs Pumpkin improves intestinal health and the fibre content is so high that it absorbs water and can stop diarrhoea.

Will this translate into horses? Who would you recommend I speak to about this?

TT
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Hmmmm . . . I can't be at all scientific about this, but Kali devoured a very large marrow (just took a chomp out of one I happened to be holding in my hands and then kept eating) and they're from the same family. I did check that it wasn't poisonous (after he'd eaten it - eek!), but it had no ill effects. I have no idea, though, whether pumpkin/squash will absorb water/stop diarrhoea.

P
 
I'm pretty sure it's ok for horses and that the seeds can be used to reduce worm burden..can't remember where I read that. I tried it last year on my friends' and they all loved it. It's lower sugar than carrot too. By the way..they're really easy to grow if you want to have your own supply.
 
sorry no idea abut the pumpkin neaver hear that is is bad for them though, what about charcoal supplement this helps to bind them up and absorbs some of the water?? worth a thought
 
You can try ;)

Mine, who eat anything and everything (they can eat plums and spit out the stones, enjoy oranges, banana, celery...) treated pumpkin as though it was the work of the devil... It was thoroughly sniffed, and then it was pawed, thrown around and rolled on. Not one nibble was eaten :D
 
Thank you all! I haven't had much success in growing pumpkins in my veggie patch, it seems to be far too popular with the slugs and snails! I'll give it another go though!

Thank you for the idea about the charcoal- he does very well condition-wise, in the summer so I don't want to feed him daily. I now take the view that so long as he's not in any discomfort, and he's kept clean, he can enjoy the summers in the field!

Now I need to source some pumpkin to see if this might work! do you think I could feed him the skin, as well as the flesh?
 
Tinsel Trouble said:
Thank you all! I haven't had much success in growing pumpkins in my veggie patch, it seems to be far too popular with the slugs and snails! I'll give it another go though!

Thank you for the idea about the charcoal- he does very well condition-wise, in the summer so I don't want to feed him daily. I now take the view that so long as he's not in any discomfort, and he's kept clean, he can enjoy the summers in the field!

Now I need to source some pumpkin to see if this might work! do you think I could feed him the skin, as well as the flesh?
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Skin and all .. :)

I grew some really good eating ones last year from seeds I'd saved from one I bought from the supermarket .. Tried previously with purchased seeds and only got one pumpkin which tasted disgusting .. I e saved more seeds for this year so I'll try again.. I use a frame for them to climb on as I grow the smaller sweet ones.
 
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a quick look on the net says potato skins and pumpkin is poisonous to horses so best not feed to be safe, but pumpkin seeds are nutritious. i would say the poison is in the skin so avoid to be sure
 
In the winter he has sugar beet, top spec and unlimited hay which is perfect for him, it's just the summer I wanted to see if I could help him along a bit. I have tried various products to absorb water and neutralise acid and slow his guts down a little- the only thing that works is spending his free time munching on copious amounts of hay. He gets though a round bale in 10 days- that works out as the equivalent of two huge nets a night.
 
surely just a small sleeve of hay a day with the grass with help keep him harder, you wouldnt want to bung him up in case he gets colic. is it really runny or is it the wet after the poo, which to me is a good thing shows there is lots of moisture in the gut which is necessary
 
excellent article!! Thank you very much, that is exactly what I was looking for!

tried just a slice of hay a day, it's not enough. The vets agree with my method of unlimited hay throughout the winter, unfortunately his hay needs to be soaked and prefers the grass in the summer over the hay.

The whole poo is wet and cakes his back legs, it's not just that wetness afterwards. I don't mind there being moisture in the gut I just wish it didn't cake his back end and attract the flies!
 
You're welcome.. I'm going to see if my friend will let me have a small corner of her field to grow some this year as I've a very small garden. :)
 
Please see the below copied from a website regarding stomach ulcers (also pasted below):

I feel the following are absolutely necessary to heal and maintain the stomach and hind gut:

I feed this twice a day in a bucket:

1/4 cup pumpkin seeds/powder (heals everything including stomach)

1/4 cup dried cabbage (L-Glutamine heals the stomach),

1/4 cup Oat Flour/Fiber (heals hind gut; see below),

1 oz. Probiotics (aids digestion, I use Fast Track)

1/2 cup ground Flax seeds

1 cup of Rice Bran

I mix them with:

1 cup soybean pellets (high protein, low sugar)

2 cup of Alfalfa/Bermuda hay pellets

Foods with vitamins for all horses, if you desire:

A few carrots (Vit. A), 2 Tablespoons Brewer's Yeast (Vit. B) this really helps with calming, Orange peel powder (Vit. C), Green Tea powder (L-Theanine helps with calming)



I do not feed any grains. These are hard on the horse's stomach and extremely difficult to digest.

http://www.lunatunesfreestyles.com/horse_ulcers.htm
 
Yas.. Thank you for that post. I've forwarded it to my friend who has a horse whose had a series of health issues and can't be ridden .. Very interesting .
 
TrasaM said:
Yas.. Thank you for that post. I've forwarded it to my friend who has a horse whose had a series of health issues and can't be ridden .. Very interesting .
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I thought it was very interesting too. The other interesting website is this one that advocates the feeding of salt daily to counteract too much pottassium - I recommended that to a friend who has spent literally £000s over an 18 month period via the vet for investigations on her horse due to extreme sensitivity and 2 weeks on salt and it was back to normal
http://www.calmhealthyhorses.com/

I would also suggest you friend joins the facebook Turmeric user group and has a good read of the files on that group. Some amazing results for allsorts of complaints from sarcoids to COPD and arthritis - brilliant stuff.
 
Thanks Yas&C..will do.
I'm exploring the turmeric route for myself at the moment. I started two weeks ago. I've got psoriasis which had been getting worse so thought it was worth experimenting. Within days my skin had calmed down and is scaling less. I stopped for 3 days and it flared up again. Now after just two days I can feel an improvement. I'm also less stiff in the mornings and despite having quite a tough riding lesson on Saturday when I'd not ridden for more than a week I have far less muscle stiffness. After years of potions and lotions which never worked fully can it be as simple as taking one tsp of spice a day! Makes one wonder what else has been overlooked with regards to natural medicines. :)
 
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