Horses eating bread?

F

flump

Well-Known Member
Joined
24 April 2010
Messages
1,328
Location
the yard
Visit site
Saw on another thread and someone suggested carrotts instead... Is bread bad for them then, my old comp horse loves a bit of whit baguette?!!!
 
I was always taught then you shouldnt feed horses bread because the way their intestines are built and literally 'squashed' in means that the bread swells and can easily cause compaction colic. It also contains a lot of starch which if fed in high quantities can cause excess acidity etc :)

feel free to correct me if im wrong :)
 
A friend of mine fed her cob a piece of a bun and its a good job i was in stable next door with my pony coz he got it stuck in his throat and dropped to the floor, very frightening experience, consequently I dont feed mine bread unless its crumbled up into tiny pieces or wet to a soggy mush.
 
Not 'bad' in the way it will cause a lot of problems, but not entirely nutritionally healthy either.
It is however very fattening...as awful as it sounds, bread's the best thing that puts weight on one of my lads, not that I'd advise it to anyone as it's really personal choice.

I can think of healthier, much more utilised things to feed out of choice. :)
 
Last edited:
I was always taught it swells up inside them and causes colic, but I know a lot of people who do feed it with no problems- a lot of people say stale bread is ok, or a small amount.
A friend of mine feeds her broodmares stale bread she gets from a local bakery in the winter as a treat while they're living out and has never had a problem, and my youngster was on a yard for a while where they occasionally got a bit of bread as a treat- again no problems, and one of the horses was particularly prone to colic.
I have since given mine a very small amount of bread occasionally, but would never feed fresh bread or more than a small handful of it just in case.
 
Years ago we used to feed stale bread to the ponies but it was always well soaked with water beforehand so that it had already swollen up before they ate it. Never had a problem
 
I was actually recommended to feed small quantities of it by my vet for my aged mare to help with her weight, used to give 2-3 slices in each feed crumbled up small and it never caused any issues but definitely did help with keeping the weight on.:)
 
Disadvantage is the high sugar content, so would not give to horse that puts on weight too easily and would avoid for lami prone horses.

Every now and then as treat should be fine, but the bread needs to be completely dried out; it’s the fresh bread that usually causes the colic / discomfort.
 
Gosh, no!! In fact a massive 'no, no' in my book. Far too much starch and v hard to digest. There are plenty of feeds designed for horses. Why would you feed something other that risks colic?! :confused:
 
I definately wouldn't. Yeast, sugar, starch, Its perfect for feeding the baddies in your horse's gut, which could spell colic or laminitis. In very very small amounts as a very very rare titbit then fine, but I can think of far more suitable ways to put weight on a horse.
 
As with everything, coomon sense applies. For 2 years my horse had his daily Cavalesse drops in a slice of bread and a previous horse had his daily joint tablets in a marmalade sandwich.
 
A girl I knew fed her two a lot of bread. She had two on a patch of land that she ran as a kind of local rescue for rabbits, grumpy cockrels, ferrets etc. The locals loved her and would always leave bags of veg peelings and bits and bobs at the gate. The local baker dropped off the left over bread every night and I was soon used to seeing her ex racer (who I was sharing) wandering around with a french stick hanging out of his mouth! Nothing bad ever came of it but I wouldn't do it for mine, I daren't!
 
Naturally said:
I definately wouldn't. Yeast, sugar, starch, Its perfect for feeding the baddies in your horse's gut, which could spell colic or laminitis. In very very small amounts as a very very rare titbit then fine, but I can think of far more suitable ways to put weight on a horse.
Click to expand...
Really? Because I know a lot of people who feed their horses that every day - yea sacc/brewers yeast = yeast, starch in pretty much every hard feed as well as molasses = sugar.
 
It would appear I'm in the minority but we feed my OHs horses bread whenever we pop up the field to see them when I visit. The mares love it and the foals learn to like it once they see their mums gallopping around like loons trying to catch the 'frisbees' we're chucking! Even the old mare (she was 16 when we got her) who didn't like it when she first came to us loves it now.

I've tried it with my three at home (one of which would eat literally anything if her precious grass ran out) and they're not interested at all.

Perhaps I'm a bad person but I'm kinda of the opinion that if they'll eat it, it can't be that bad for them. Horses aren't stupid as a rule, mine don't like it so I won't force them to eat it but the Scottish gee gee's go mad for it so I'm happy for them to crack on!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top