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.
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.
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.
Horses will generally only take bites that are small enough to chew. However, if you'd like, you can cut the carrot into smaller pieces.
Carrots are the treat we all agreed was the one horses like to eat the most. A simple carrot is a real treat for horses, providing vitamins essential to horses' health.
Feeding one to two carrots per day is recommended by the majority of horse owners. I would not feed more than 2 per day and it is helpful if you feed them at different times. Horses are used to eating small meals throughout the day and breaking up the treats will help maintain their eating schedule.
Hay or haylage – keeps your horse full and its digestive system working, particularly in the cooler months from autumn to early spring when pasture isn't available. Fruit or vegetables – these add moisture to the feed.
Generally, you can give a healthy, average-sized horse about two large carrots per day or two small handfuls of baby carrots. If your horse has a history of colic, founder, or a chronic condition like Cushing's disease, always ask your veterinarian before introducing treats to their diet.
Feeding your horse 15 large carrots at a time may create more of a meal than a treat. For an average size horse, one or two carrots is sufficient. Feeding too much of any treat can have negative effects on a balanced diet like lowering protein content, raising starch levels and diluting vitamins and minerals.
In moderation, bananas make an excellent treat for most horses. They are a great source of potassium, fiber, vitamins B6 and C, and antioxidants. Because they are high in sugar, it is recommended intake be limited to two to three bananas per week, with no more than one banana in one sitting.
Yes, horses can eat cucumbers – a welcome answer to those of you with an overabundance of cucumbers growing in your gardens. Cucumbers are a fantastic source of vitamins such as A, K, and C, as well as potassium. What's more, cucumber skin provides horses with a natural dietary fibre.
What is this? Do horses like humans? Studies have shown that horses express positive emotional reactions to some humans, and negative emotional reactions to others, indicating that horses are capable of developing a strong positive bond with a human.
A horse can eat the entire apple including peel, core and seeds. Can Horses Eat Windfall Apples? Horses can eat windfall apples in small quantities. Care should be taken to check the apple has not rotted and to feed only a couple a day.
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.
An average-size horse will eat about 20 lbs. of food a day and drink at least eight gallons of water. Because their stomachs are relatively small and their digestive systems surprisingly delicate, horses need to nibble or graze throughout the day, rather than have one or two meals a day.
Feeding Hay All the Time
Although it should not become the only feed your horses consume, it should become the staple in their diet. Hay of good quality can satisfy the needs of most horses in terms of calories and protein, as well as macro minerals.
Sometimes the schedules we keep may affect how we feed our horses, but missing the odd grain meal should not be a major concern. You will need to watch how you feed the day after the missed meal as a hungry horse may eat too fast, and this can cause digestive upsets.
Horses can eat banana peels, but not all of them will be interested in eating them, owing to their bitter taste. The peels are just as healthy for your horse as the banana itself, also containing potassium and vitamin B.
As the horse takes a while to eat through the bucket of carrots, the nearly six ounces of sugar and three ounces of soluble fiber from the carrots slowly enters his bloodstream. The high amount of water could make the horse's manure loose and provides him with a lot of calories, so he may pack on the pounds.
Cutting the carrots into thin slices will prevent a large chunk from becoming lodged in your horse's esophagus. “Carrots contain vitamin A which is needed for healthy eyes, mucus membranes, skin and hair,” states Mays. “Fortunately, fresh pastures and quality hay provide horses with most of their needed vitamin A.
More realistic would be to feed meals at 6 a.m., 1 p.m., and 6 p.m. with the possibility of a fourth meal at, say, 10 p.m. This would provide forage at no more than eight-hour intervals. Of course, barns can make hay last longer and reduce the time between meals by using hay slow feeders such as small-holed haynets.
Horses get bored easily, so they try to find something interesting to do wherever they're at. Branches are common objects horses turn to because they can also help a horse get acquainted with the environment. Another popular object horses play with are rubber balls, but they can really make any object into a toy.