Do carrots make your horse ‘spooky’ and ‘hyper’?

SavingGrace

SavingGrace

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My youngster has been nothing short of a prized twit this week and the only thing that is different is that I started feeding carrots again after a year of not feeding them…

I had issues when she was getting carrots before but a friend on the yard sort of convinced me that it is ‘all in my head’ so I thought ‘ok lets give them another bash’ and now a week down the line and she is spooking and jumping around left right and centre…

So I am really just wondering if anyone else on here has the same problems with their horses? (she is a rising 5yr old Section D x)
 
Yes they can make horses silly. My mare could eat oats, competition mix etc without being silly, but if I feed her more than a couple of carrots a day, she is a complete jackoffasaur.
 
they don't seem to make a difference to any of mine. although saying that if they have made my lot fizzy then i dread to think what they'd be like without them, they are so laid back on them i think i'd need a vet to check they are still alive if i stop the carrots! :D
 
I haven't noticed a difference in my horse re feeding carrots, but if you do notice a difference in your horse, maybe it's worth paying attention to.
 
They are full of sugar - even out of bounds for humans on a low carb diet !!

Gi of Carrots = 49

Gi of Rolled oats = 42

GI of Apples = 38

GI is a measure of the effects of carbohydrates on blood sugar levels

They have also been found to have high levels of female hormone in - my vet told me not to feed to my mare when we put her on regumate
 
As ever it all depends on the horse. Captain is very intolerant of cereal and oil, it sends him totally hyper. But he has loads of carrots and apples a day with absolutely no effect at all. Horses are able to have a lot of them. Captain gets a lot because he does not go out for TO between end of September and end of April.Also Cappy is a fussy eater and he is "tempted" by the carrots/apples etc.

So if your youngster is out on new grass and also getting carrots maybe too much.

These explain the succulents and their effects etc.
http://www.horseandhound.co.uk/horsecare/1370/40220.html
http://www.horseandhound.co.uk/horsecare/article.php?aid=58358

Fany well not a lot makes her excited ( except her damned BF) she gets a small treat of a mixture of carrots/apples/swede/turnip/parsnip when she has been good.

FDC
 
as well as being high in sugar (like someone above said) they are also contain eostragen.....for this reason my hormonal mare doesnt get them! i stick to bananas as they contain magnesium as this has the opposite effect hence why this is the main component in many calmers.
 
HA! This has made me giggle a bit - we got down to the yard this morning to find two piles of poo in the hay and a patch of wee. Turns out a horse must have escaped from its stable and had a mooch about - a WHOLE bag of my carrots has been eaten by whoever got out. If carrots do make whoever ate them at all spooky/silly someone is in for an interesting ride... :D
 
clairew said:
HA! This has made me giggle a bit - we got down to the yard this morning to find two piles of poo in the hay and a patch of wee. Turns out a horse must have escaped from its stable and had a mooch about - a WHOLE bag of my carrots has been eaten by whoever got out. If carrots do make whoever ate them at all spooky/silly someone is in for an interesting ride... :D
Click to expand...

Lol this made me chuckle!!


Dont seem to make the slightest difference to my TB mare.
She has about 1.5 carrots a day in her breakfast.
 
Can't say its makes any difference to mine but did notice all the horses were unusually spooky coming from the field on a couple of days last week. I put it down to change of weather as they were back to normal shortly after.
 
Definitely not the spring grass I had her on and off carrots a few times the first year I had her and the difference was noticible... Was really just pondering if anyone had the same issues :) The mare thing does make sense though as she is quite mareish! I will try her with bananas :)
 
Hollysmum said:
My youngster has been nothing short of a prized twit this week and the only thing that is different is that I started feeding carrots again after a year of not feeding them…

I had issues when she was getting carrots before but a friend on the yard sort of convinced me that it is ‘all in my head’ so I thought ‘ok lets give them another bash’ and now a week down the line and she is spooking and jumping around left right and centre…

So I am really just wondering if anyone else on here has the same problems with their horses? (she is a rising 5yr old Section D x)
Click to expand...

I have heard of this, my vet told me that people shoudln't feed carrots, its the only treat my horse can have so he has a couple
 
elsazzo said:
as well as being high in sugar (like someone above said) they are also contain eostragen.....for this reason my hormonal mare doesnt get them! i stick to bananas as they contain magnesium as this has the opposite effect hence why this is the main component in many calmers.
Click to expand...

That'll be why my mare refuses to eat Bananas:-)

.... my vet actually said that some carrot farmers have been known to grow boobs or moobs) due to the eostragen levels they use !!! :-0
 
I think it depends entierly on the horse, I've never had touble with feeding carrots, and find it interesting that you do!

I have an old book that talks about feeding regiemes for plough horses or heavies in 'real' work (ie pulling heavy loads). The feed/diet was Xkgs of hay/silage, oats and 15-20kg of carrots a day!
 
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As illustrated with the stats above, lb for lb carrots have more energy than rolled oats!! So yes, for a sharp horse it can make a difference.

My bouncy retired one is only allowed the odd one here or there, and my cushingoid who MUST be kept on a super low sugar diet is only allowed an inch of one per day to have her pill hidden in it.
 
I don't feed carrots too much sugar for my horse. Then I do try to keep the diet as natural for a horse as possible, my theory is that this should lead to less gastric problems and behavioural problems.

As I've done this for many years it seems to work.
 
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