I know the feeling of wanting to “spoil” your horse with the occasional tasty treat, but you might feed your horse something that could make him seriously ill or even die. Food that is safe for humans to eat doesn’t mean it’s safe for horses to eat. We break down what horses should not eat.

What should horses not eat includes chocolate, caffeine, meat, tomatoes, rhubarb, stone fruits, cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, potatoes, persimmons, dairy, bread, bran mashes, lawn clippings, acorns, compost, garlic, onions, dog food, and cat food. There are also many flowers that are toxic to horses listed below.

Those are most of the foods out there that are bad for a horse’s health. 

Don’t get me wrong, your horse isn’t going to die from eating most of these foods occasionally but these are foods that you should keep away from your horse because they are unhealthy for horses, especially over the long term. 

Garlic, for example, is found in some feeds, but the quantities are well measured because too much garlic is very bad for a horse’s health.

Large Quantities of Fruit

Feeding your horse an apple or banana occasionally isn’t going to cause any serious health issues. The problem occurs when the horse gets too much fruit during a single occasion like when they find an apple tree or get a bucket of overripe fruit thrown into their feed.

Too much fruit can cause colic and might lead to founder.

Cattle Feed

Drugs like Rumencin are commonly added to cattle feed, this can be deadly for a horse. I would advise buying feed from mills that specialize in making only horse feeds to avoid any of these drugs getting caught up in the feed.

Human Foods That Your Horse Should Not Eat

Toxic Human Food:

What I mean by “toxic” is that these foods are bad for your horses health, if your horse eats a large amount of some of these foods it could die very quickly. It’s also important to note that regular consumption of these human foods even in small doses may result in death due to health complications further down the line.

Remember that a horse naturally eats mostly grass and there is a huge difference between grass and the following human foods.

Caffeine

Coffee, tea, and cola contain the stimulant caffeine which can cause an irregular heart rhythm. Caffeine increases the heart rate and can cause dehydration.

It’s a good idea to keep your horse away from these drinks as they simply don’t need them! What I mean is that horses get all of their required water from grass, so there isn’t an actual need for anything else.

Chocolate

Horses are sensitive to the chemical, Theobromine, in chocolate. Large amounts of cocoa can kill a horse. Chocolate can cause colic, metabolic derangements, seizures, and internal bleeding in horses.

Meat

Horses should not eat meat. They are herbivores. Their digestive systems are not designed to process meat and we don’t know what the long-term side effects could be. 

I know of people who feed their horse meat on occasion and it did not harm them as far as anyone knows. The problem is that meat is VERY different from grass and other healthy forage which horses naturally eat. The long-term health defects of letting a horse eat meat are unknown.

Garlic and Onions

These are part of the Allium family. Garlic, onions, scallions, leeks, shallots, and chives, contain the chemical N-propyl disulfide which can destroy red blood cells and result in anemia.

As I mentioned before, garlic is used as a horse supplement but the key is using it in very small doses.

The same goes for onions, scallions, leeks, shallots, and chives. What might be okay in small doses isn’t worth it when there are so many other plants out there which horses can eat instead.

Tomatoes

The tomato is a member of the toxic Solanaceae plant family. The leafy green portions contain atropine, which can cause colic by slowing gut function. 

Hyoscyamine is the most abundant alkaloid found in tomatoes. Ingesting it will decrease saliva production and intestinal motility, which can lead to constipation or diarrhea depending on how your horses body processes these chemicals!

Well-known members of this plant family include chili peppers as well any other tomato-related veggies like eggplant and therefore should also be avoided.

Rhubarb

Rhubarb leaves can damage the digestive and urinary systems which can then lead to kidney failure. This is caused by calcium oxalates which are found in the leaves.

Fruit Seeds and Pits (Stone Fruits)

Pitted fruits like cherries, peaches nectarines, and apricots are ok to feed your horse as long as you remove the pit from each piece. 

Fruit pits are major choking hazards for horses. Seeing your horse choke on something is very stressful and can turn into something very bad. 

Apples and other fruits have pits or seeds which contain cyanide compounds, which can be toxic in large quantities. You should remove the core of an apple before feeding it to your horse but if you forget don’t get overly upset about it as one apple can be broken down by a healthy horse and not cause damage.

Avocado

Avocado is a fruit that horses have been known to eat. However, the toxin in avocados can cause colic, irregular heartbeat, and respiratory distress among other signs of illness when ingested by your horse. You should not feed your horse this type of plant and make sure there’s no access for grazing near avocado plants where horses graze or spend time.

Cabbage, Broccoli & Cauliflower

Once again, in small amounts, these foods won’t kill your horse but if they eat just a bit too much they will most likely build up a lot of gas in their digestive systems causing severe pain and possible long-term damage. 

There is also a choking hazard because of the leaves and stems which can cause an obstruction in your horses throat.

These three vegetables all belong to a family called Brassica oleracea, otherwise known as cruciferous vegetables! This means they contain chemicals like fructans and goitrogens (plant substances capable of interfering with thyroid gland function). What this does is causes gas and bloating, or can also lead to weight loss.

If your horse is having problems with its digestion these vegetables should be avoided until they are feeling better!

Potatoes

Horses won’t normally care much for the taste of potatoes, they might eat the stems and leaves of the potato plant which is actually the most toxic part of the plant. 

If your horse eats green or rotten potatoes, toxicosis can occur. This affects the autonomic nervous system which can lead to death. 

Potatoes, like other large whole fruits or vegetables, can become lodged in your horse’s throat and choke them to death. It’s just not worth the risk!

Persimmons

The persimmon is a fruit that horses have been known to eat, but the toxin in them can cause colic.

Do not feed your horse any seeds or fibers from this fruit as it will become stuck inside of their gastrointestinal tract which can lead to severe pain and even death.

Dairy Products

Horses should NOT be fed dairy products because they are lactose intolerant that can cause a number of symptoms to include: digestive upset, diarrhea, and even colic.

They should not be given any sour milk or cream as these are the most common dairy products that horses eat when owners offer them without knowing their harmful effects.

Bread Products

Bread and other baked products can cause blockages in the horse’s digestive system which can lead to colic.

The reason for this is that they are not able to digest the baked product and the carbohydrates in it. Bread dough can even swell up inside of your horse’s stomach, leading to fatal blockages which will cause them severe pain until death takes over.

No matter how much horses might like bread products owners should never give their horses these types of food.

Bran Mashes

Bran contains a high level of phosphorus and very little calcium, which is bad for a horse. Your horse needs twice as much calcium as phosphorus. 

Too much bran can cause a mineral imbalance and cause diarrhea.

Plants That Your Horse Should Not Eat

Highly Toxic Plants:

In this instance, my definition of “Highly Toxic” plants are plants that can cause death in a short amount of time. These are plants that can cause death even if they are eaten in small quantities. 

Be on the lookout for these plants and make sure your horse doesn’t consume any of them.

Privet

Box privet is the most dangerous for your horse. Keep your pasture clean and clear of this plant.

This is a shrub that can cause muscle weakness, ataxia (general term for lack of coordination), depression, labored breathing due to paralysis of the respiratory muscles, and death when eaten in large quantities by your horse.

Rhododendron

Rhododendron is not something a horse will typically eat unless their pasture doesn’t contain other quality grasses to forage on.

The toxins found in the rhododendron genus can cause death without medical attention. They are known as cardenolides or cardiac glycosides which obstruct the natural rhythm of the heart and result in heart arrhythmias that can lead to the death of your horse.

The highest concentrations of these compounds are found within fruit, flowers, or immature leaves. This toxicity remains even after the plant has dried out.

Ragwort

Ragwort has a bitter taste while it’s growing and horses will rarely eat it BUT once it’s dried out a bit the bitterness decreases and horses may eat it when the rest of the grass is lacking. 

Ragwort will affect a horse’s liver, pancreas, and gastrointestinal tract if eaten. 

Symptoms to watch for include:

• Loss of Appetite & Digestive Issues (such as diarrhea or colic)
• Increased Risk for Laminitis (founder)
• Kidney Failure
• Anemia

If you suspect that your horse has eaten ragwort call a veterinarian immediately to get the right treatment and care for them.

Foxglove

Horses normally won’t eat Foxglove because it’s a flowering plant and therefore bitter tasting. However, if your horse is starving they will eat anything.

Foxglove contains cardiac glycosides that can cause death to horses within 24 hours of ingestion. Symptoms include:

Colic with excessive salivation, abdominal pain, and respiratory distress may lead to cardiovascular collapse

Treatment for Foxglove poisoning includes the use of Digoxin immune FAB (ovine) serum as an antidote along with other supportive care such as the administration of activated charcoal via stomach tube & IV fluids until symptoms subside. 

If you suspect your horse has ingested foxglove call a veterinarian immediately! The treatment required could be life-saving but only available from a vet or specialized clinic at this time.

Yew

Yew is common in most pastures. The leaves and berries are just as poisonous as the plant itself. Just 500g of this can cause your horse to go into a coma-like sleep state and die. Yew contains the toxin Taxine which causes death in most cases.

Symptoms of Yew poisoning include:

Drooling, loss of appetite followed by vomiting and diarrhea within 12 hours post-ingestion leading to neurologic signs including depression, head pressing, ataxia (lack of coordination), recumbency with respiratory failure & coma before death occurs. 

There is not an effective treatment for Yew toxicity so prevention is key! Provide your horse with access to other quality grasses while making sure that none of these make it into their grazing area or pasture where they could be eaten.

Less Toxic Plants: 

When referring to these plants as “less toxic” what I mean is that your horse might not die from eating a small amount of them. Even though these are not as toxic as the previous plants mentioned, you should try your best to make sure your horse does not consume these plants as they are not healthy for the horse and can cause death if consumed in large volumes. 

Deadly Nightshade

This plant is common in the Eastern and Central US.  The leaves, flowers, and unripe fruit can cause the death of your horse if ingested.

Symptoms include:

Dilated pupils & tremors before seizuring or colicking (abdominal pain) occurs

Treatment for Deadly Nightshade toxicity includes the use of activated charcoal via stomach tube along with IV fluids to flush out toxins from the body until symptoms subside. If caught early enough horses survive after supportive care but only a veterinarian will be able to provide appropriate treatment.

Buttercups

Buttercups are often found as a weed in pastures as well as along the side of roads as they grow very quickly. The whole plant is poisonous to horses. They won’t normally eat it due to the bitter taste but if they are hungry enough or there is very little else in the pasture they may eat it.

Symptoms of buttercup poisoning include:

• Swelling of face
• Drooling
• Loss of appetite
• Colic
• Blistering of the lips
• Mouth lesions
• Convulsions
• Twitching of the skin
• Paralysis

Dangerous toxicity levels are not common seeing horses don’t like the taste of Buttercups and therefore won’t consume enough to cause extreme toxicity.

Once the plant is removed from your horses environment symptoms should start to get better. Should your horse have high levels of toxicity the treatment will vary depending on symptoms which may include medications, therapy or both.

Acorns

Acorns are loved by many horses but can cause colic, a build-up of gas in the gut) Acorns drop in the Autumn and you should collect them off the ground or maybe even prohibit grazing around those trees until they have all dropped and been collected after Autumn has passed.

The tannins found in acorns are poisonous to horses, causing gastroenteritis and kidney failure.

Acorn poisoning is a serious and often fatal disease. The only treatment that vets can offer to move things through the gut is charcoal feeds, Epsom salts, or liquid paraffin. Fluids and electrolytes are also given to help the horse with possible dehydration.

Sycamore, Maple and Other Acers

Helicopter seeds in Autumn and saplings in Spring contain hypoglycin-A that causes atypical myopathy in horses. Symptoms include:

• Muscular stiffness
• Reluctance to walk
• Muscle tremors
• Sweating
• High heart rate
• Dark urine

Your horse may appear weak and may have difficulty standing, breathing difficulties, but may still want to eat. If this happens, call your vet immediately. 

Lawn Clippings & Compost 

Sticks, twigs, and all sorts of foreign objects can get into lawn clippings. Besides the foreign objects in lawn clippings, green grass in this compact form is way too much for your horse to consume in one go. 

Another reason why lawn clippings are a bad idea for horses is there can be so many hazardous plants in the lawn. The plants that I have mentioned above are quite common in most gardens. These toxic plants can cause serious health implications.

Because fresh-cut lawn grass is so wet, it can easily become moldy before your horse eats it, this can cause problems for the lungs. 

Normally lawn grass gets treated with all sorts of chemicals to keep the bugs off or help it grow in whichever way. These chemicals can be poisonous to your horse even if the lawn was treated long ago.

Dog and Cat Food

Like most human foods, dog and cat food won’t cause death to your horse in a short amount of time. The problem with dog and cat food is that it contains meat products that have no health benefits for horses. 

A horse can also easily eat too much of this type of food which can cause colic. This food swells up when the horse drinks water and can cause some serious digestive problems. 

What Can Horses Eat For Treats?

Ok, so even most of the fruit and vegetables listed at the top of this article can be fed to your horse as a treat but only a bite or two. For example, one cabbage leaf won’t have any negative health defects for your horse. Rather stick to the below treats though instead of the above. 

You must always make sure to treat your horse with small pieces of fruit or veg, excluding the seeds or pits. If the pieces of treats are too big, your horse can choke. 

Having said this, the safer treats you can feed your horse still within moderation (only a bite or two) are the following: 

• Banana
• Squash 
• Carrot 
• Celery 
• Mango 
• Pear 
• Grape
• Lettuce 
• Orange 
• Plum 
• Pumpkin
• Watermelon

Don’t treat your horse every day or even every time you see them unless you only see them maybe once a week. Even if it’s once a week, make sure the horse doesn’t expect the treat from you every time they see you. 

Treating your horse too much can also cause them to get cheeky and maybe even start biting. Feeding your horse too many treats will also cause an imbalanced diet. 

Wrapping It Up

What are some things horses should not eat? What are the consequences of eating these things? What is a safe alternative for treats that can be fed to horses without negative health implications? What effect do too many treats have on your horse’s behavior, diet, and overall well-being? I hope this article has helped you understand what types of food your horse should avoid as well as how to provide them with good quality alternatives in moderation. We all want our pets to live long, happy lives so it’s important we feed them responsibly!

Can horses vomit you ask? It’s extremely important for you to know how your horse’s digestive system works. What it can and can’t do and why. Here we are going to go through why horses can’t vomit and what to do when they have consumed too much or even the wrong type of food.

Horses can’t vomit, they have a one-way entry path into their stomach. They have a cut-off valve and an angled stomach track to ensure they don’t vomit. A horse’s stomach is positioned deep within the rib cage, so abdominal muscles can’t easily squeeze it. A horse doesn’t naturally need to vomit.

Horses normally have no natural need to vomit because they are very picky about what they eat. Normally toxic vegetation is not very palatable for them and even when they do eat a few toxic plants they will manage to digest them without it turning fatal.

However, it’s still important to make sure that the chance of eating toxic plants is limited. You can learn more about toxic plants in this article.

Other reasons why horses are designed not to vomit is because the head and neck of horses are low down to the ground when they are grazing compared to the height of their stomachs. So they need to fight against gravity to make sure they retain their food.

One more big reason why horses can’t vomit is that when they are running their stomachs are pushed and pressured in a way that would normally cause a mammal to vomit but because the horse naturally needs to run to survive in the wild, it doesn’t vomit.

In rare cases, the stomach of the horse may be under so much pressure with food and gas that it breaks the seal of the cut-off valve and allows some of the food to go back up through the throat and mouth BUT in most cases, this will mean that the stomach was under so much pressure that it has most certainly ruptured and after a short moment of relief for the horse it normally dies.

Reasons Why Horses Don’t Vomit

1. Their heads and necks are always lower than their stomachs while grazing and they need to fight gravity to keep their food inside.
2. They need to retain their food while fleeing from danger. Galloping puts a lot of pressure on the stomach that would normally cause other mammals to vomit but horses always need to be able to flee from danger at any moment and vomiting would impede this survival skill.
3. Naturally, they don’t need to vomit. Horses are quite particular about what they eat, they don’t like the taste of most toxic plants and even when they do eat a small amount of toxic plants they can usually handle it.
4. Access to huge quantities of concentrated feed is not natural. Horses, like all lifeforms, are designed for the natural world and so when humans create unnatural circumstances like stockpiling concentrated feed, it conflicts with nature. Horses in nature mostly graze on low energy forage like grass and even though they can graze like this for 16 hours per day, it’s normally never too much to handle.

If Your Horse APPEARS to be Vomiting

If your horse appears to be vomiting or foaming/drooling at the mouth, it may be choking on its feed. A horse choking won’t look the same as a person choking, and it’s important that if you see these signs of choking, that you remove any feed and call your vet.

While your vet is on their way, you can feel the horse’s neck gently to see if there is any swelling to inform the vet upon their arrival.

The vet will assess the situation and try to get rid of any obstruction in the throat of the horse. If they feel they need to. Sometimes they will decide that it may just be a small obstruction that can clear up by itself. I would rather be on the safe side and call the vet to evaluate before waiting to see if it passes. At least ask the vet telephonically what they think.

If you can, video call your vet so that they can see and hear the horse to assess them. If you can’t video call, they can at least listen to this type of problem over a voice call to help them assess the situation.

Never Try to Induce Vomiting In a Horse

Because of how the horse’s body is designed not to vomit, you should NEVER try to induce vomiting in a horse. You will only cause major stomach spasms which could lead to death. Rather call your vet immediately if your horse has eaten too much or if it’s eaten anything toxic.

How Not Vomiting Affects Your Horse

The most obvious cause for concern here is that if your horse consumes too much feed like grain and other concentrated feeds, it may cause the stomach to rupture and result in death.

Another cause for concern is that if you see that your horse has eaten something toxic, even an excessive amount of toxic plants, there is no way of expelling those toxins straight back out of the mouth. To learn more about toxic plants, have a look at this article.

Procedure To Follow If Your Horse Ate Too Much Feed

1. Separate your horse from any food if there is any left around.
2. Call a veterinarian immediately and let them know that your horse ate too much feed.
3. While your vet is on their way to you and the horse, check how much and what type of feed they ate as best you can. Make a note of it.
4. Have fresh water available for your horse to drink.
5. Check around the ground to see if they have recently discharged any feces and how much.
6. Make sure that the horse’s hooves are cooled down to prevent inflammation. You can use cold water on rags with ice inside or if there is anybody of water available for the horse to stand in that can work as well. You can use buckets with ice and water as well. There are even hoof boots that are made for holding ice. Just avoid direct contact of the ice on the horse’s body to avoid frostbite.

What Will The Veterinarian Do For The Horse?

Once the vet arrives, they will assess the horse themselves and ask you if you know what the horse consumed and how much. After assessing the horse, they might do one or more of the following:

• Gastric lavage to flush the horse’s digestive system
• Activated charcoal to help absorb toxins in your horse’s digestive system
• Dosing with mineral oil or laxatives to help pass the extra feed
• They may administer anti-inflammatory drugs
• Administration of medical fluids

Up to 10% of horses may need surgical treatment but in most cases, the horse can be treated medicinally as per the above medical procedures.

Monitoring Your Horse After Treatment

Your vet may recommend that you keep the hooves and lower limbs of the horse cooled for 24 to 48 hours. One of the easier ways to do this will be with the use of hoof boots that are made for holding ice like the Tough 1 Ice Boot. Make sure to avoid direct contact between the ice and the horse’s body to avoid frostbite.

Monitor the digital pulse and temperature of your horse’s hooves. If the pulse or temperature increases, call your vet and give them the figures. You can also check for signs of laminitis such as lameness, soreness, and standing in an unusual way. If your horse is developing or experiencing laminitis, it may stand with the front feet stretched out in front to take the pressure off the toes and the hind feet positioned under them to support the weight that their front feet can’t.

Symptoms of Eating Too Much Feed

• Spasmodic Colic – A build-up of gas in the colon and is very painful for the horse.
• Impaction Colic – Similar to constipation is caused by dehydration, consuming too much sand and dirt, or rich, dense food
• Diarrhea – Defined as loose stools, or excessive and overly frequent defecation.
• Laminitis – This is an inflammation of the laminae of the foot.

Surely if there are wild horses out there living off pastures of grass, domestic horses can live on grass alone as well?

So can horses live on grass alone? In short, yes, all horses can live on grass alone. Healthy grass for grazing needs to be rich in nutrients to keep a horse healthy. Optimal levels of Nitrogen (N), Phosphorus (P), and Potassium (K) need to be present in the grass. Some areas don’t have enough protein available.

If you’re planning to feed your horse off grass/pasture alone, we HIGHLY recommend you read further down to know if the pasture is suitable for sustaining a healthy horse.

If you’re going out riding, jumping, and doing other fun equestrian activities, you should be feeding your horse more than just pasture grass.

These extra activities require a lot more energy than simply walking around all day grazing the open pastures and so you will need to assist your horse in receiving extra energy with concentrates listed further in this article.

How to Know if Your Grass/Pasture is Big and Healthy Enough for Your Horse to Live off

Check Size:

Generally, if you have a pasture between 2 and 4 acres large it will suffice for 1 horse grazing daily. If it’s less than 2 acres, you will have to maintain the pasture through extra watering, fertilizing, etc. (You can measure your pasture size with Google Earth, just follow the link to measure your pasture size.

Soil Test:

All the forage including the grass is feeding off the soil underneath it. Soil can be very different from one farm to the next and we advise having your soil tested by a local analytical laboratory.

They will test the nutrient levels of your soil and also give you a pH figure which are the two most important aspects of “healthy soil” After they provide the results they should also give you recommendations on which types of fertilizers to use or how much Agricultural lime you should apply if your soil is too acidic.

Check The pH level:

Similar to checking the pH of a pool. The optimal pH number is 7, anything higher than 7 is considered basic, and a pH lower than 7 is considered acidic. For your horse to live off this grass alone it needs to be around 6 to 7 pH. If the soil is too acidic like 5 or below, it will stunt or even stop the growth of healthy grass.

Acidic soils don’t contain enough nutrients. Agricultural lime also called “aglime” is basic in nature. You will need to add the appropriate amount of lime to the soil to balance off the pH to around 7. You will get these figures from your soil testing facility.

4. Nitrogen (N), Phosphorus (P), and Potassium (K)

These are the three main nutrients, which at the right level, make for healthy grass for grazing. Your grass needs just the right amount of each one of these nutrients to be able to grow and reproduce.

Here we provide a more detailed description of each of these three main nutrients and the optimal target of nine different nutrients in your pasture.

4.1 Nitrogen (N)

If there is sufficient Nitrogen (N) in your grass it will be dark green, full and bushy. If the grass is pale/light green or maybe even yellow and growing slowly, then it’s usually due to a lack of Nitrogen (N)

Adding too much Nitrogen (N) to your grass in one dose can be bad. It’s best to apply the total recommended amount over two or three applications. Ask your supplier for detailed instructions for the application of their product and how to spread it out.

4.2 Phosphorus (P)

Phosphorus (P) needs to be at the right level to assist with great root development. If the grass and other forage don’t have well-rooted systems, they will not get enough nutrients from the soil.

4.3 Potassium (K)

Potassium (K) is related to the hardiness of the grass and other forage. If your grass lacks potassium, it might not survive the winter conditions. It also might die off due to a lack of disease resistance. Slow growth is another sign of potassium deficiency.

What Are the Optimum Nutrient Targets For Pastures?

• Carbon (C) – What is its optimum level?
• Nitrogen (N) – What is its optimum level?
• Phosphorus (P) – What is its optimum level?
• Potassium (K) – What is its optimum level?
• Sulphur (S) – What is its optimum level?
• Cation Exchange Capacity (CEC)
• Calcium to Magnesium Ratio (Ca:Mg) – What is it meant to be?
• Magnesium to Potassium Ratio (Mg:K) – What is it meant to be?
• Trace Elements – What are they meant to be?

Common Plants in Grass That Are Toxic to Your Horse (With Pictures)

There are also toxic weeds and plants within some pastures. Here are the most common toxic weeds and plants found in pastures amongst the grass:

Ragwort

Ragwort has a bitter taste while it’s growing and horses will rarely eat it BUT once it’s dried out a bit, the bitterness decreases, and horses may eat it when the rest of the grass is lacking.

Ragwort contains toxins that will result in liver failure or even death. Consumption of only a few pounds over the horse’s lifetime can result in death.

Use herbicides or manual control in order to uproot, remove, and burn. Spray there when they are at the rosette stage, don’t wait for the stem to appear. Mowing and cutting ragwort will make it grow back more quickly.

Foxglove

Horses normally won’t eat Foxglove, but if it’s dried up in grass, it can be eaten without hesitation. Just 100g of this stuff dried up in hay could prove fatal.

Symptoms of foxglove poisoning include contracted pupils, convulsions, breathing difficulties, and death after only a few hours.

Deadly Nightshade

Contrary to the name, Deadly Nightshade is not normally deadly but may cause unconsciousness, dilation of the pupils, and convulsions. Also known as Atropa belladonna, commonly known as Belladonna.

Buttercups

Buttercups or Ranunculus are poisonous to horses if they are eaten fresh and in large amounts. Unlike the before-mentioned weeds, buttercups are harmless after drying in the hay.

Acorns

Acorns are loved by many horses but can cause colic, a build-up of gas in the gut) Acorns drop in the Autumn and you should collect them off the ground or maybe even prohibit grazing around those trees until they have all dropped and been collected after Autumn has passed.

Yew

Yew is common in most pastures. The leaves and berries are just as poisonous as the plant itself, so make sure that none of these make it to your grazing area.
Just 500g of this can cause your horse to go into a coma-like sleep state and die.

Privet

Box privet is the most dangerous for your horse. Keep your pasture clean and clear of this.

Rhododendron

Consumption of a small amount of Rhododendron can cause death by failure of the respiratory system.

Sycamore, maple, and other acers

Helicopter seeds in Autumn and saplings in Spring contain hypoglycin-A which causes atypical myopathy in horses. Symptoms include muscular stiffness, reluctance to walk, muscle tremors, sweating, depression, high heart rate, and dark urine (reddish in color). Your horse may appear weak and may have difficulty standing, and breathing difficulties, but may still want to eat. If this happens, call your vet immediately.

Basic Guidelines for Feeding Your Horse

Roughage usually grass should be the bulk of the horses’ diet

For most non-competitive horses, roughage from the pasture or hay will be sufficient. Even if you do supplement your horses’ diet with concentrate, it should not be anywhere near the volume of grass feed. A horse should eat around 1 to 2% of its own body weight in roughage every day.

Horses normally walk around the pasture slowly nibbling away on the grass while slowly digesting it. Horses that spend a lot of their time in the stable should have access to hay for most of the day to replicate natural grazing.

This roughage constantly moving through their systems will be best for their natural digestive systems.

Grain and Other Concentrates Should be Fed in Small Amounts

If you need to feed your horse extra concentrates like grain, make sure to spread out the total dose over 2 or 3 meals during the day. This will ensure the proper absorption of the grain. It’s much better for the digestive system because it’s a more natural way to consume food.

• The amount of food your horse needs depends on the size of your horse and on how much energy your horse needs to exert on an average day.
• If your horse does get to graze on pasture, how healthy is that pasture? If your pasture is lacking in the ways mentioned earlier in this article, you will need to supplement the diet with additional hay.
• The health of the pasture is very dependent on the season you are in. In winter you may need to supplement more, and in summer you might not need to supplement the diet at all.
• With all supplements and concentrates, always start off with small measurements and increase if required.
• As your horse ages and does different things, you should adjust the diet of the horse accordingly. It doesn’t remain the same throughout its whole life.

Any Change in the Amount or Type of Feed Must be Changed Gradually

A sudden increase or decrease in the amount or type of food you feed your horse can have very bad implications like colic or founder.

If you increase or decrease the amount of food or change the type of food, you can change 20 to 25% of the food with the new amount or type every day. Over six to seven days you will have a 100% food change in size or type.

Measure Your Concentrates Accurately and Regularly

A mature horse generally consumes 2-2.5% of its body weight in feed each day (on a dry matter, DM, basis). eg, a 1,000-pound (454-kg) horse-fed hay plus grain concentrate (feeds that are about 90% DM) should consume about 20-25 pounds (9.1-11.3 kg) of feed daily.

For gastrointestinal health, horses need to eat about 1% of their body weight in hay or pasture grasses and legumes daily (10 pounds, or 4.5 kg, of DM intake for a 1,000-pound, or 454-kg, horse).

Depending on the type of feed you are using, it can have massive weight differences. Weigh your feed with a kitchen or postal scale if you don’t have a feed scale yet. Make sure it’s the right amount for your horses.

Follow a Regular Feeding Schedule

Horses thrive on routine. They have internal clocks that are very accurate. A drastic change in feeding times or intervals can trigger a colic episode in some cases. It’s better not to take the chance and change schedules slowly if necessary.

Don’t Feed Your Horse Shortly Before or After Exercise

It’s best to have at least one hour pass before riding your horse and even two to three hours if you’ll be running and jumping

After a strenuous workout, make sure your horse has cooled down and slowed breathing before feeding, around 30 to 60 minutes afterward.