Meat-eating horses: do you have one?

Wow, a horse I know ate a chick this summer, I thought he was the only one! To be fair a yellow chick does sort of blend in to the straw...
 
An old pony of ours point blank refused to walk past the chippy unless u bought him a meat & tatty pie!! He was rescued from a garden shed where he was fed on table scraps though which I think accounted for his strange taste!!
 
Not sure what difference it is going to make.

As horse's will happily live off the grass and as meat was often too expensive/scarce for people to eat, never mind feed it to an animal that exists perfectly well without it, then it follows that the meat eating horse would fade from memory.

Plus, if we start feeding horse's meat, no doubt their poo will no longer be the innocuous substance that it is now (and good for one's roses) and therefore we'll have to pick it up as we go:cool:
 
The bit about the Man-Eater of Lucknow and about the blood-eating horses of Tibet is hardly news, now, is it? That horses can be trained to eat meat, and have been done in societies where travel happens in areas of inadequate grazing---I'm pretty sure I'd read about that as a kid already. It does not follow that this is actually good for the long-term health of the horses' digestive tract, and I'd be interested to read a proper study about that.

The main thing that strikes me from this article is that the guy seems to have a massive chip on his shoulder. How many times can the article go on about how this is sure to put people's backs up, slag off magazine editors, and make what I assume are digs in the general direction of the likes of Parelli and MR? :D

The Spooky Pony has nicked half a cheeseburger off me before, and shown an unholy interest in a ham sandwich. Does that mean he's going to become a crazed carnivore now, and eat the yard cats next? :eek:
 
Interesting, but I don't know what he is trying to suggest really. Obviously you can train all sorts of animals to do all sorts of things, and some very different cultures may have some very different ideas as to why they would 'train' horses to eat meat.

The fact that stallions can be very aggressive is not and never has been a secret. Combine an aggressive horse with some mal treatment, and who knows what you would end up with.

A collection of oddities this in my view, nothing more.
 
Reading these accounts is really interesting and makes me think that I was wrong to not believe a friend of mine when she told me that her horse ate a pigeon. She swore blind that he did but I didn't believe her!

I can only think that in these circumstances the horses may have been lacking in something in their diet?.....
 
I think that is really interesting. Certainly I think many modern approaches view horses as quite passive and simply a reflection of their upbringing while traditionally they were seen as far more complex and capable of naughiness, nastiness etc.

I've often wondered whether warhorses were really aggressive and deadly as described in fiction.

He makes a fair point about modern horsemanship being concerned with marketing and merchandising while overlooking the horses real nature I think. (and that is not a dig at NH & relates just as much to the while KP bling thing)
 
Re. aggression in horses, there's footage on YouTube of a bullfighter's horse literally tearing a strip out of a bull with its teeth. It does it when the bull is down.
I've also heard of a case (might be in that TheHorse.com link) where one particular gelding was going for the jugular of any horse in its field. Combine that with the fact that "horse ripping" attacks are often thought to be done by other horses and yep, there is plenty of evidence for aggression.
 
My old horse used to love a bacon butty :) and chicken mcoys crisps...

To be fair, my mare will eat anything i put in front of her. I dont think food stays in her mouth long enough for her to taste it... I wouldnt give her meat though as i can tell you- i was vegetarian for 15 years and the first bit of meat i ate when i changed to omnivore made me feel soo blooming ill for days and i wouldnt wish that on my equine :rolleyes:

But regarding agression- you only have to walk down a livery yard and see a horse that hasnt had a "bad start in life" try to kick you in the head or take a chunk out of your arm to know that horses can be aggressive!!!
 
One of my ponies stole a spare rib straight from the BBQ once, and my friend had half her arm in the ponies mouth trying to retrieve it - we were more worried about the bone than the meat!
 
One of my Mum's youngsters ate a sheeps afterbirth out in the field - couldn't quite swallow it whole though and gave my mum the fright of her life when she regurgitated it in the stable!

My current horse killed a hare once with a kick to it's head. I found her pawing at it but I'm not sure she would have eaten it though...
 
Well mine eat anything have been known to partake in suasage rolls bacon butties anything really, i do however know of horses attacking and trying to kill a lamb one started it all and the others joined in.

I do have a really bolshy hooligan at the moment and we do joke if he gets me off he will trample me and eat me, its a joke honest :D
 
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