When your dog follows you around and chomps at the bit to eat your food scraps, you can feel pretty confident knowing it’s all safe for him to eat it.
But horses are a different ballgame. Not only are they large animals, they’re often performing or working, and have specific jobs to do. That makes their diet of utmost importance, so it isn’t as easy for you to let them eat whatever they see. But what kind of horse treats are safe, and what kind are not?
One researcher at Rutgers University has helped horse owners sort out the good from the bad, and some of it includes strange snacks. It’s fairly common knowledge that horses already like to consume odd things on the pasture – things like dandelion, thistle, raspberry/blackberry bushes and tree bark. There are other items which horses will always refuse or even go near. But it’s always good to know what treats are good, at least in small quantities. Be sure to check the study in full as there are more items than listed below.
Safe treats for horses
The study concludes that the following treats are perfectly acceptable as long as fed in limited quantities: carrots, apples, grapes, bananas, peas, green and dried beans, lettuce, celery, watermelon rinds and squash. Other non-traditional, yet still perfectly acceptable foods include bread, pasta, macaroni, potato chips, fruit juice, hot dogs, hamburgers, and most dog and cat foods.
Safe, but only in small amounts
Cabbage, broccoli, kale, Brussel sprouts, spinach, rhubarb stems (not leaves or roots), garlic and onions (large amounts could cause anemia), turnips, radishes and sunflower seeds. It’s even fine for horses to indulge in – get this – sugar candies such as jelly beans, gummy bears and peppermints.
Possible problem if eaten in large quantities
Buttercup, morning glory, pokeweed, St. Johnswort, gum-weed, avocado leaves, most bulb flowers, wilted red maple leaves, acorns and new oak leaves.
Foods that are dangerous for horses
Lilly of the Valley, larkspur, tomato or tomato plants, rhubarb leaves and roots, poison hemlock, foxglove, leafy spurge, mustards, jimsonweed, alsike clover, blue flax, sorghum (Johnson grass and Sudan grass), oleander, privet, azalea and pits of peaches, cherries and avocados.
