Almost any fruits, and many vegetables, are safe treats for healthy horses. Apples and carrots are traditional favorites. You can safely offer your horse raisins, grapes, bananas, strawberries, cantaloupe or other melons, celery, pumpkin, and snow peas.
Most people like to feed their horses with treats such as apples. However, too much of something is poisonous, and this is true for fruits. When your horse has a belly filled with apples, it is likely to cause colic, which may further lead to founder. You should not give your horse more than two pieces of fruit.
Some people try to tempt the horses closer by feeding them apples or carrots, a food typically harmless to a horse. But wild horses cannot eat food that is not from their natural habitat, Langone said. The horses graze on grasses found in meadows, along the sandy roadsides and on lawns.
Any kind of a fruit that has a “stone” in it (or pit), like whole peaches, avocados, and cherries, can be dangerous for a horse, because they could choke on the pit. If your horse consumes any of these three things in excess, then it can lead to very bad gas and colic problems that could hurt them.
There's a way to feed an apple to a horse: Keep your hand as flat as you can, making it more of a tray, while proffering the fruit. If you drop the apple, that's preferable to maybe losing a finger, and the horse definitely will not care.
Fruit seeds and pits:
Some fruits – such as apples and apricots – have pits or seeds which contain cyanide compounds, which are toxic in extremely large quantities. Large pits can cause choke, so it's best to remove them before offering your horse fruit such as peaches or nectarines.
Fruit in Large Quantities
Many of us like to feed our horses apples as treats. But excessive amounts of fruit can become too much of a good thing. A belly full of apples or any other fruit can cause colic or other complications. 1 You probably should not feed your horse more than one or two pieces of fruit.
Bananas are a healthy source of potassium for horses and are a fruit they really enjoy eating. Bananas are a very popular food for riders to give their race horses as they give that extra boost of energy. You can feed bananas to horses with the skin still on as the whole fruit is beneficial for their health.
Because beer has its foundation in grains such as barley, these convey a flavor that horses often find attractive. Enticing a picky eater or encouraging a horse to drink are two very valuable reasons for sharing a beer with your horse, because you can add it feed or water for these purposes.
We buy a bag of apples for ourselves, and when they start to turn, they are converted to horse treats. Just remember not to feed them too often because they are full of sugar. Here are some of the vitamins and nutrients in an apple: potassium, fiber, vitamin A, and vitamin C.
Many horse owners agree that their horses prefer carrots over other treats. If you prepare them correctly and feed them only an allotted amount daily, carrots can serve as a healthy treat for most horses.
Phosphorus is required for bone structure and energy metabolism. Apples also provide all important fiber to the equine diet,” notes Mays. From healthy fruit to nutritional vegetable, the carrot makes a welcomed treat for your horse. Mays notes to also be careful to avoid choking when feeding carrots.
Sweet, crunchy carrots are the perfect treat for most horses. They're rich in vitamins and minerals and they're made up of 90% water. Given in moderation, they can be a great tool for fostering a bond with your horse, and even for use as a reward during training.
Under no circumstances should tomatoes be fed to horses, she says. They contain multiple toxins in the fruit and plant that are poisonous to horses and many other animals. Tomatoes come from the Solanaceae family, which also includes deadly nightshade and many other toxic plants.
Most horses seem to enjoy companionship and attention from their riders, but some may find being ridden uncomfortable and even scary. It is up to the individual horse to decide whether they like it. There are things you can do as a rider to help your horse feel more comfortable while being ridden.
What started out as food for race horses has become the occasional treat for everyday horses. No, eggs aren't really bad for them. Equine experts tend to agree that mixing in eggs with feed isn't a big issue, as long as the horse doesn't mind.
Apples and carrots are traditional favorites. You can safely offer your horse raisins, grapes, bananas, strawberries, cantaloupe or other melons, celery, pumpkin, and snow peas. Most horses will chew these treats before swallowing, but horses that gulp large pieces of a fruit or vegetable have a risk of choking.
There is no harm in occasionally feeding bread, but it is not the most nutritious feedstuff when used as the sole concentrate. While bread is chock full of calories, it provides few nutrients. When only bread is fed with hay, the major nutritional problem is an imbalance and/or deficiency of some minerals and vitamins.
Grapes, just like apples, are a horse's favorite fruit and safe for them to eat. Grapes provide your horse with carbohydrates, vitamins, minerals, etc.
Watermelon is not harmful to horses. In fact, it is a great treat. In some European countries, watermelon rind is a common horse treat, though it should be cut into small, easy-to-chew pieces. If large pieces of rind are given, horses may choke.
Put Apples in Your Horse's Water
If you're at a competition and your horse just isn't accepting the water you're offering to them, try cutting up and apple and putting the pieces in the water bucket. Horses love treats, so more than likely your horse will go after the bobbing apple in the water bucket.
Oranges are a safe and healthy treat for most horses, if they are fed in limited quantities and fed in small pieces. Orange peelings, seeds and flesh are all safe for healthy horses to eat as treats.
Adult horses do most of their sleeping standing up. Horses can stay on their feet for much longer periods than any other domestic animal; they can doze and still be ready to take flight in an instant. If caught lying down when a predator attacked, the time it might take to get to their feet could cost them their lives.
Offer a whole Kiwi fruit to a horse, and he will probably turn his nose up at it; offer some sliced Kiwi fruit by hand or in his feed and most horses gobble Kiwi up. As long as you wash the skin thoroughly, you do not have to peel it. The skin is an important source of fiber.