Is this dangerous?

Horses aren't designed to eat it (doesn't mean they can't) and mine does get tiny little bits now and then but I try to stick to horse treats.
I can't remember if this is correct or not but sure I read somewhere that it's prohibited in competition/racing? Again, not sure regarding why.
 
My mare likes Rasin & Biscuit Yorkie, only in moderation of course! She has a piece every now and again and shes not suffered.
 
Oh?

This is interesting... as my school of horse friends have always given horses chocolate (as a very rare treat! Not every day!). These are the type of people who also give beer, tea, coffee and cola...

Dorey loves Mars Bars. She shared one with me years ago. She has neither died, not been banned from racing, nor banned from eventing since...
 
Spooky I was thinking the same today when I was munching a minty Aero bar in front of my boy (yes please I would love a year's supply!). I didn't give him any as I know it is not good for dogs, so perhaps not horses either. Just looked it up and found this:

"Horses have been witnessed eating and drinking almost everything, but just because they will doesn't mean they should.Chocolate is a mild stimulant to humans mainly mainly due to the presence of theobromine.It is much more potent for horses, and its use in horse racing is prohibited. In sufficient amounts, the theobromine found in chocolate is toxic to animals such as horses, dogs, parrots, small rodents, and cats (kittens especially) because they are unable to metabolise the chemical effectively. If they are fed chocolate, the theobromine will remain in their bloodstream for up to 20 hours, and these animals may experience epileptic seizures, heart attacks, internal bleeding, and eventually death."

So perhaps a NO then! :(
 
_Hannah_ said:
Well ive been feeding her it the last few days so what can i do? will she be ok?
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If she hasn't keeled over by now, chances are, she'll be fine. If your worried, call the vet.
Don't feed anything unless your 100% happy it isn't harmful. No point in worrying afterwards.

The best thing to give if you want to treat, is get treats designed for horsess :)
 
We had an elderly mare who need bute every day. She refused to eat it in feed. So I checked with the vet and gave it her in a syringe mixed with drinking chocolate. The vet said it was fine 'unless you want to race her,lol'. It is a banned substance under Jockey Club rules etc because it is a stimulant and could cause a horse to perform better than it would without.
She will be absolutely fine!
 
Just because chocolate is a treat for us doesn't mean it is a treat for a horse. Its just something edible to them and at the end of the day it is not good for them. Stick to treats made for horses.
 
_Hannah_ said:
Can i feed my horse chocolate? I've heard its only bad for dogs, so horses should be alright shouldnt they?
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WHAT!... someone have a word with this girl......
Why are you feeding the horse chocolate instead of eating it yourself? Are you ill!!!??? Do you have Chocolateallergicitis:)
Bryndu
 
My pony, when I was younger, always had an Easter Egg at Easter. He'd only eat Cadbury's, though. :)

Mind you, I think he had a fairly robust digestive system for a pony, as he was also partial to bacon sarnies (he stole one by climbing into my conservatory and taking it off a chair). Previous owner once caught some people on the way back from the chippy feeding him fish and chips over the wall. When she asked them not to, they replied that they couldn't understand why as they'd been doing so every Friday for months!
 
Lol - Chocolateallergicitis!!! hehe

Our horse often have chocolate digestive biscuits as treats and have done for a while. But only on occasion, I am not talking everyday or even every week. i used to also share my Twix bars with my pony when I was a kids. In fact, if I was sat on him and he knew I was eating he would refuse to move until I gave him a bit! hehe

I would say it's unlikely to harm your horse but I wouldn't feed her anymore as she doesn't need it plus why are you wasting your chocolate on your horse?! Lol

ooh, ours do like the odd jammy dodger though.......!
 
I seem to remember a winning racehorse lost its placing after being tested and found to have been given a banned stimulant. Turned out the horse had been given half a Mars bar as a treat.

Someone at our yard fed her pony bakewell tarts and mince pies as a Christmas treat. Don't suppose they did it much good either!
 
_Hannah_ said:
cos its christmas and i was treating her
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It would quite possibly be wiser to have asked the question BEFORE you fed it and not after.

Also have to point out that pony has no idea it is Christmas, didn't hang out her stocking or look for Santa so doesn't 'need' treats with that as an excuse.

:eek::rolleyes:
 
Ladyinred said:
It would quite possibly be wiser to have asked the question BEFORE you fed it and not after.
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Quite possibly. Are there any other human foodstuffs that OP should ask about before feeding them to her horse? I know that avocado is poisonous to equines - although I believe the seed, rind and leaves are more toxic than the pulp (and eating them would probably make us ill too!).

ETA: Apparently the theobromine in chocolate is 5 times more toxic to cats than to us, and roughly 3 times more toxic to dogs, due to differences in metabolism. (Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theobromine_poisoning) The message is that chocolate is potentially poisonous to us too, if we pig out on it! Although an LD50 figure isn't quoted for horses, I imagine that giving a horse an amount of chocolate that doesn't seem large to us (e.g. half a mars bar) is unlikely to result in death or even serious illness, because of their greater bodyweight. That's not to say it's okay to do it in the first place!
 
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