horses and what they eat. carrots? i know but

[madeleine1]

so basically i know vaguelly what my horse can and cant eat as treats but wonted a bit more detail.

so i know carrots are ok but do they have any limits. my horse doesnt get fat whatever she eats and she doesnt loose weight either. i know im blessed. so if i feed her 3 or 4 carrots a day which i dont but if i did would there be any problems. she currently gets about one carrot a day

then can i ask the same for
apples
pears
sweed
brussles

and i know the next list probally shouldnt be fed to them but whats a safe treat for a 560kg horse.

bread
polos
chocolate
fizzy drinks (i know for chocolate and fizzy drinks its a no no but im asking for this as ive seen them fed to ponies in the past and wanted to know how harmful

sorry about being long winded but its been bugging me for a while and i want to know what effect things have on a horse
thank you in advance

 

[deicinmerlyn]

so basically i know vaguelly what my horse can and cant eat as treats but wonted a bit more detail.

so i know carrots are ok but do they have any limits. my horse doesnt get fat whatever she eats and she doesnt loose weight either. i know im blessed. so if i feed her 3 or 4 carrots a day which i dont but if i did would there be any problems. she currently gets about one carrot a day

then can i ask the same for
apples
pears
sweed
brussles

and i know the next list probally shouldnt be fed to them but whats a safe treat for a 560kg horse.

bread
polos
chocolate
fizzy drinks (i know for chocolate and fizzy drinks its a no no but im asking for this as ive seen them fed to ponies in the past and wanted to know how harmful

sorry about being long winded but its been bugging me for a while and i want to know what effect things have on a horse
thank you in advance

A few carrots a day are fine, same with your next list except I wouldnt give brussel sprouts. A whole swede maybe once a week - no more than one pear/one apple a day.

The next list....none of them except the Polos as an occasional treat.

It is not necessary or good for your horse to feed junk.

 

[Ali27]

I can't feed my mare carrots as they send her loopy! She gets the odd apple, polo or horsey treat.

 

[katherine1975]

A few carrots a day are fine, same with your next list except I wouldnt give brussel sprouts. A whole swede maybe once a week - no more than one pear/one apple a day.

The next list....none of them except the Polos as an occasional treat.

It is not necessary or good for your horse to feed junk.

Please could you tell me why they can't have more swedes than one a week, I was feeding my mare one a night. We give our horses any vegetable peelings (except for potato) they get cabbage, cauliflower, brussel sprouts, parsnips. Very occasionally they get polos.

I have been buying a bag of Badminton High Fibre Complete Nuggets and they are great to feed as small treats.

 

[lhotse]

Cabbage, cauliflower and sprouts can all cause gas to build up in the horse's stomach and lead to colic. Think how you feel after eating them!!! They should never be fed. Parsnips are fine.

 

[madeleine1]

see this is stuff people need to share more often. i never no whats right and wrong.

so a typical week she would get carrots most days. half a sweed in total but spread out over the week and maybe an apple. but in summer when shes out in the field and there apples in my garden i might give her 3 or 4 a day. i think this maybe alot but i cant think its causing any harm. she usually manages to steel a sandwhich once a week which is why i put them on there.

thanks for the heads up about the brussels.

 

[wellsat]

I rang one of the feed advice lines when the snow came as my 17.2WB was struggling to keep the weight on. As well as recommending some feeds the man recommended as many carrots as I wanted to feed. He was having 10-15 a day at one point. I've cut them back to 1 a day as they sent him wappy but they certainly put the weight on him and he's beautifully glossy.

 

[mygypsycobrocks]

My horse LOVES swede! I use it in winter when he is in & bored maybe once or twice a week as a treat, I use an apple corer to core a hole in the middle & tie it up in the middle of his stable from the rafters so it's like a boredom breaker. He LOVES it!

 

[madeleine1]

My horse LOVES swede! I use it in winter when he is in & bored maybe once or twice a week as a treat, I use an apple corer to core a hole in the middle & tie it up in the middle of his stable from the rafters so it's like a boredom breaker. He LOVES it!

i mite do this is i have time

 

[Smile_and_Wave]

chocolte isnt very good for them, neither are potatoes infact i think they are poisionous, my mre loves raspberries nd when she was pregnnt we gave her raspberry leaf tea as its meant to help loosen the perineal muscles and aids contractions, she also loved having a raspberry dinner

 

[katherine1975]

In the summer I pick blackberries and feed them to the horses and they like raspberries too.

 

[amage]

On a purely practical note any horse that will be competeing should NEVER be fed chocolate or fizzy drinks as the caffeine they contain will result in a failed drugs test. Carrots are fine to feed and certainly 2/3 a day will be fine. Apples are ok too but be careful don't overdo it. Polos are fine in small amounts. Apply common sense really. A little bit as a treat every now and then is ok but horses are herbivores and should not be fed things containing animal fats/costituents such as bread etc

 

[easterntrainer]

I agree Amage.Don't give fed chocolate or fizzy drinks. Also caffeine can cause to damage her heart valves, which cause to heart attack in long term. I recommend these
Jarusalem artichokes, apples (red), parsley, dried mulberries, melon, carrots. If your horse need some extra energy you can add some mulberry molasses to her hard feed during the winter times.
Meanwhile don't give excessive green things for example if you give brussel don't add parsley...
definitely the horse's personaly is substantial

 

[Bessieboo]

What about bananas guys? The only reason I ask is that my mare once stole one from the top of my grooming box and ate it skin and all!

 

[holmedown]

What about bananas guys? The only reason I ask is that my mare once stole one from the top of my grooming box and ate it skin and all!

bananas are the "marmite" of the horse world - they either love them or hate them !
Fresh - some eat the middle AND the skin some just the middle - and some will run a mile if they see one.

I get dried slices (health food shop) and pop in some of the feeds or have a few in my pocket if I go round the fields - of course they h ave to be in a separate pocket from the mint treats as those that love the mint ones can obviously smell the banana on them and wont touch them.

 

[Siam Jack]

I'm confused about the carrots folks?...
my feb issue of Horse&Rider states that carrots are 85% water so its fine to feed them (obviously not by the bagful!) my 2 have about 3 or 4 carrots in their coarse mix twice a day, and I have'nt noticed them going any more loopy than they already are!!!

 

[Ella19]

There is a debate on carrots and their glycemic index. In other words carrots have sugar in them but we're not sure how much. This may account for some horses who have alot going loopy on them! They have many benifits though!

 

[hattie2525]

My mum is a primary school teacher so my horse gets all the leftover fruit that the school gets from the government (lucky boy!), but someone told me that I shouldn't feed him too many pears as the pips are toxic. Any ideas about that one?

On a different nore he also ADORES blackberries and will carefully pull them off the bushes himself when out hacking, much the the disgust of people who are picking them as both he and I can get the really juicy ones right at the top. I often don't hack him in a noseband just so it dosen't interfere with his blackberry picking skills!

 

[sam72431]

My horses seem to go off swede if they have them too often, i cant remember the last time i bought them one! I normally just feed some badminton herbal treats when i turn out and catch etc, one of my horses love banana the other one hates it but loves blackberries (there is a blackberry hedge along the edge of the field) he manages to get them off himself. I dont really feed veg regularly they may get some carrots or apples in there dinner occasionally but i just buy them when i remember. On the subject of treats though how often would you feed a likit? I used to give them one big one once a week, but havent given them one in ages as one hasnt got a stable (long story) and i stupidly feel bad her not having one when he does! Also what about the horslyx?

 

[woodlandswow]

i have seen bread being fed??!! advice??!!
my guy also goes to any lengths to get a bannana!! he looovvvveees them!

 

[amage]

On a different nore he also ADORES blackberries and will carefully pull them off the bushes himself when out hacking, much the the disgust of people who are picking them as both he and I can get the really juicy ones right at the top. I often don't hack him in a noseband just so it dosen't interfere with his blackberry picking skills!

Ooh my mare Dolly loves them too. When she was newly pregnant in 09 and still in work I used to bring her hacking and sit chatting to friends while she picked herself blackberries. She'd go home with a pink foamy mouth or on one occasion when horseflies were out a pink foamy chest too from nipping at the flies.

 

[CatStew]

My horse LOVES swede! I use it in winter when he is in & bored maybe once or twice a week as a treat, I use an apple corer to core a hole in the middle & tie it up in the middle of his stable from the rafters so it's like a boredom breaker. He LOVES it!

I was talking about this to OH a few days ago! I was wondering how to make a hole in the middle and OH (who has no common sense btw) suggested using an electric drill... I could just imagine bits of swede stuck to my kitchen walls! An apple corer is a good idea though would certainly make it more interesting then eating it out of a bucket on the floor!

On another note, what about feeding whole, freshly used tea bags to horses? Reason I ask is my mare ate one once after I took the tea bag out of a cuppa that I'd just made and put it on the ledge of her stable and she helped herself to it! Whenever I make myself a cup of tea now she nudges me for it

 

[emm0r]

mine love dates !! sweeeet and stickyyy they spit the stones out its quite funny to watch

 

[Sealine]

Personally I wouldn't feed bread although I know those that do. It's like glue in our digestive system and I assume it would be the same in a horse therefore a colic risk.

My horse likes to share a nectarine or a peach in the summer. I remove the stone first though. A friend has an allotment and they give me the carrot tops (the green leafy bit) and my horse loves them.

 

[Pixiedust91]

On a different nore he also ADORES blackberries and will carefully pull them off the bushes himself when out hacking, much the the disgust of people who are picking them as both he and I can get the really juicy ones right at the top. I often don't hack him in a noseband just so it dosen't interfere with his blackberry picking skills!

That last part made me chuckle..What a cleaver boy

 

[AndreaB71]

My two love fresh beetroot, just beware that it can make some horses loopy! Pablo loves banana, skin and all but Welina hates it (although she will occasionally eat it just to spite Pablo).

 

[soulfull]

Micah loves

apples
bananas
pears his favourite
plums
grapes
oranges
strawberries
blackberries


cauliflower
carrots
swede
parsnip
broccoli

Old horse used to like a drink of flat coke out of the can, never did him any harm I have pic somewhere of friend standing on a step pouring into his open mouth

 

[AndySpooner]

Before feeding anything, you should ask yourself whether or not the horse would come across it in a 'natural environment', and also why you would want to feed it. If we are talking about treats, small batons of celery are what we use, as it's all water with negligible amounts of sugar. Even though it's alien to horses celery is harmless, and will not affect them adversely and the amount fed is very small.

As nearly every domestic horse is fed on feed overloaded and awash with sugar, I really wouldn't feed fruit, carrots or other root vegetables, brassicas or any type of sweets, so polo's are a big no, and sugary drinks.