the safe way to treat?????????

[Salina]

I have read that carrots, apples, etc. should be cut in order for the horse not to choke, or get them stuck in her gullet, does anyone know how exactly to cut them,???
and also, are potatoes, turnips, and mangolds, safe to feed, and if so how would you cut them???

Thanks, Salina
???

[Em 1]

You should cut everything lengthways so it doesn't lodge across the gullet. I'm not sure about potatoes and mangolds but I know the horses at our stables love parsnips and turnips. We cut them into sort of giant matchsticks or fingers and they seem to manage!

[Salina]

Gosh, that was a quick reply!!! Thanks!!! I didn't know about the parsnips though!!!

Salina

[Showjumper]

For apples, I take a bite and feed it to the horse. Or if I'm feeling mean, I use a corer to make a hole in it, and thread some baler twine through and hang it from the rafters and let Dolly figure it out hehe :D

For carrots, I just break them in half. Ditto parsnips.

[Esther.D]

I don't think potatoes are any good to feed but I'm not sure? I have a feeling that horses shouldn't have them. I think mangolds are ok but I would check and I know that parsnips and turnips and the occasional cabbage are ok - not old soggy cabbage though (yuck!). Be wary with too many things like this (particularly cabbage) if the horse is not used to them as it can make them colic. As Em1 says - everything should be sliced lengthways so the horse can't choke. If they are cut sideways into circular slices then they could get stuck in the horse's throat - I have seen one of mine with a piece of apple in his throat and it is an awful thing to have to watch a pony coughing and coughing and his eyes watering with very little you can do. He was fine as it was in fact a little bit of apple that 'went the wrong way' rather than a slice choking him but it was a scarey experience for both of us.

I have taught the shetlands to share an apple - I hold the apple and pass it around and they take one bite each until there is no apple left! Occasionally one gets greedy and tries to steal the whole thing but 99% of the time they will stand in a circle round me and share happily and don't even make faces at each other.:D

[Bebe]

I think potatoes themselves are safe but if you have any green bits on them, they're toxic so you need to be really careful about cutting any not so nice bits off before feeding them.

I cut everything lengthways, quite thinly too.

[Big Ears]

My understanding is that you should never feed potatoes to horses - can't remember where i read it but best to not take any risks.

My donkeys love melon, avocado, soft fruits, but not greens....

[Billybo]

My highlands eat most of the above but also love... bananas!

Mags

[artemis]

I am fairly sure that the green bit on the skin of potatoes is toxic, but I don't know in what quantities.

[sallym]

This made me curious so I did a bit of Googling. According to Michegan Agricultural College, raw potatoes are OK and you can feed up to 15lbs a day. Not sure I would do this! The Australian Government advises against avocados as they are bad for the heart and lungs.

Mine like apples, carrots, turnips, parsnips, pears and occasionally I give her a whole swede which keeps her busy for a while.

I have a friend who PEELS her horse's carrots!

Best wishes

SallyM

[Salina]

Potatoes are actually supposed to be good for horses/ponies that are gone in the wind.

[sallym]

Thanks Salina! I do remember being told that feeding potato peel was good for something but I couldn't remember what.

[Wally]

I was always taught that tatties were bad for horses, but I know several folk of the "old school" who feed both raw and boiled tatties to their horses. Fodder beet, (mangolds) turnips, parnsips and soaked whole barley with no ill effcts at all.

Hákon and Iacs LOVE banana skins, thier old owner fed them, they get the odd one or two with no ill effect.....so far!;) ;)

Green bits are not good to man nor beast on tatties so best avioded for all.

Like anyhthing, it's okay once the digestive flora are used to it. so a little at a time. No good giving horses tatties if they have never had them before, they'll just get belly ache.