what fruit and veg is safe to give my horse as a treat? what does YOUR horse like best?

Question

thanks for all the suggestions, does anybody elses horse dislike mints? mine pulls funny faces at them, then spits them out. shes the first horse iv met that hates mints. i love her little quirks!!!

Answer 1

Horses can, and do, eat many different fruits. You know about apples, of course, but your horse might enjoy an occasional piece of some other kind of fruit. Most horses love pears, peaches, apricots, plums, melon, and watermelon - even watermelon rinds. Some horses enjoy bananas, some like mangoes, most horses enjoy raisins. I've seen horses eat figs, and you've probably heard the (true) stories about desert-raised Arabian horses living on a diet of camel's milk and dates. Some horses love fresh coconut. Grapes are popular, too. I can remember visiting wineries as a child, and watching as the horses pulling the wagons full of grapes were offered - and obviously enjoyed - bunches of fresh grapes. Some horses adore citrus fruits, especially grapefruit and oranges.

Some fruits aren't good for horses - you shouldn't feed horses persimmons or rhubarb. Some fruits aren't good if fed in huge quantities, so be moderate with your horses' treats. You can safely feed apples and peaches, for example, but if your horse's pasture shares a fence with an orchard, don't give your horse access to a lot of apple, cherry, or peach windfalls. The seeds contain a tiny amount of cyanide, and too many of those seeds can kill a horse.

Answer 2

Carrots are one of the healthiest things you can give your horse.

I try not to give ones that are too thick... they're harder to chew and if your horse has problems choking a bit on things you'll get horse boogers blown all over you.

Dried apples can be used for convenience instead of cut apples in a pinch. A lot of people also use Nicker Snax, which are made from oats and molasses. I prefer to feed fresh, but you can see the Snax in the link below.

We did have a horse that liked mint leaves. We'd just wind a couple around a carrot.

Like people, some horses are picky and others will eat just about anything.

Answer 3

Well like most horse people I have given my guys apples and carrots mostly, If I am trying to get some sort of powdered meds down...the molasses comes out.
Lately though I have found that my horses love the sugar beets. It has been beet harvesting time all fall and some of the beets that got left behind during harvest end up in my back yard...strange how some things happen like that. Anyway I fed them one beet a day, they chew a way on it now and then and by supper time it is usually gone. Next morning, another beet shows up in the pasture.

Answer 4

Bananas
Grapes
Green Beans
Sweet Potato
Broccoli
Green Beans
Lettuce
Celery
Peas
Beet Greens
Raisins
Mango
Pears
Papaya
Peas
Sunflower Seeds
Flax Seed Grounds
Chafed Alfalfa
Beet Pulp
Sugar Cubes
Pepperments
are all safe for horses that have no illnesses.Make sure to introduce the new food gradually in small amounts increasing the amount over a period of several days or weeks.
Mix up a hot mash on a cold winter evening, your horse will love you.

Answer 5

If its just fruits and veggies, they are safe. Most horses love apples. Carrots are a common treat also. Not a lot of people think about this, but my horses love things like watermelon, celery, ears of corn (but don't feed them many at a time, no more than three b/c you don't want them to get sick from it), and a piece of bread always makes a nice treat!

Answer 6

Carrots and apples are the favorite to horses. They can eat the whole thing and they love them! Horses also like a type of nutritional cookie made just for there type.You can find them in horse shops!

Answer 7

Apples, carrots and corn are common favorites among the horses in my family.

My horse LOVES peppermint candies (over fruit). Of cuorse I only give them in moderation. :-)

EDIT: ajmommy, SORRY about the thumbs down! I totally meant for it to be a thumbs up. Sorry!! I wish there was a way to fix it when you accidently push the wrong one!

Answer 8

My horses like apples and carrots. My 5 year old gelding doesn't like very many veggies, but he does like carrots. But I usually just give him a couple treats a day. I usually get my horse's treats at TSC (Tractor Supply Co.).

Answer 9

My horse likes carrots and apples like most horses, but one thing he likes that is kinda odd is strawberries...he just gobbles them up. He also likes oatmeal cookies and butterscotch, but hates anything mint. I'm gonna try bananas and peaches too.

Answer 10

my old mare loved peaches. we had a peach tree and every time id ride her by it, we'd stop and grab some. oh and i have a welsh that likes skittles, found that out by accident one day, i had a bag of skittles i had taken with me to the barn, set them down to halter a horse, and turn around and their all over the floor and he's eatin them up! but i dont give those to him that much. lol and my gelding loves sunflower seeds. but other than those, they like the norm, apples, carrots, peppermints, although not every horse likes those.