Feeding windfall cooking apples - yay or neigh (scuse the pun).

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Lunchbox legend

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I know this has been asked before but the thread only had a few replies and didn't really help.

Can a horse eat cooking apples and if so:
  1. How many (e.g. 1 per week or 1 every other day or 1 per day)?
  2. Are they ok when they've just fallen or should I leave them for a while before offering them?
  3. What are the effects of a horse eating too many?
Thanks in advance :)
 
1. Yes. If he likes them. I would slice them up and give one in feed each day. If he doesn't like them he will leave them :)

2. They are fine as windfalls. If a horse found them on the floor he'd eat them, so no reason why he can't be fed them.

3. The squits. Colic.

I have several apple trees in my pastures, the horses pick up a few apples now and then but they don't gorge on them, I tried them in feed, one will eat some, the other throws them out. I don't pick them up, mainly the apples are eaten by birds, deer and whatever else is passing by.
 
yep, as Enfys says. I feed them chopped into suitable pieces as treats.
We have lots of crab apple trees and the horses would spend all day hoovering the windfalls up given the opportunity - I fence them off or rake up and then dish them out in a more measured way! Last year was a mega harvest but this year was quite modest.

The cookers on the tree next door were really heavy fruiting though so still lots of yummy apples to last for the next few months.
 
Ours eat the windfalls every day, when they were first allowed access to this track a few weeks ago there was too many so I did kick a load under fence out of the way(weren't good enough to bother picking up) as there would've been about 40 apples between 3 horses! Now I leave them to it as there's probably only a couple a day each falling & it keeps them entertained grotting about for them!
 
My summer turnout is in an orchard. Today was their first day on the winter turnout so up until now they have had free access to apples (they are all cookers). They love them and will team up to pull them off the tree too. If we have high wind or an early apple fall I take them off the field sooner, if there are, say 10 or less apples fallen they just eat them up, any more that is when I take them off or go and pick them up before they go out. Now they are on winter turnout I leave the apples on the tree and collect a bucket full of windfalls every week for them to have in their stables. I usually give 3-4 apples each mixed in with the hay. I leave them whole. I usually get enough apples for several months for both them and ourselves.
 
We have cooker and eating apple windfalls, Ted, the bonkers carthorse, sifts through the chopped apple in his tea and chucks the cooker slices out. All the others eat them.

I wouldn't let horses gorge on windfalls, knowing my luck there would be problems.
 
Lunchbox legend said:
Thanks for that :) . I'll see whether she likes them and then start off with just a little bit to make sure they don't have any adverse effects.
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Goodluck lunchbox
 
Yes, but only in moderation and cut small. If a horse eats too many it will just lead to loose stools and mild colicy symptoms, but how many is too many is a mystery to me, I woud have thought if a horse got loose in an orchard and was 'hoovering them up off the floor quantity.'
 
My horse shakes the trees to get apples to fall off. He will grab a small branch, pull it back and then let go so the apples drop to the floor! He will do this for hours! We don't have many cookers, but he has gorged on other apples. Touch wood no side effects (other than no cross me as I have no apples)
 
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