Re: sweet potato ok for horses?

["Susan Garlinghouse" <suendavid@worldnet.att.net>]

As treats (meaning less than 10% of the diet), sweet potatoes and such are
okay, and my horses think they're being abused if they don't get melon (or
at least the rinds) on a regular basis.  However, especially with "hard"
veggies, like sweet potato, pumpkin, etc, not a bad idea to cut it into
small enough chunks so there's no chance of choking---horses do silly things
sometimes and when they start gobbling down treats in anticipation of
getting the next one, sometimes the treats zig when they're supposed to zag.
I know, carrots and apples are hard veggies and few people cut them up, but
it's still not a bad idea.  For that matter, we had a horse in the VTH over
the summer with a chunk of apple stuck in his esophagus and lemme tell ya,
that was one sorry boy.

One treat I would avoid is persimmon.  Probably not a problem in small
quantities, but there have been cases reported in JAVMA of colic/impaction
problems due to the mucousy consistency.  Better safe than sorry.  Might
also be a good idea to stay away from the cole crop family, like broccoli,
cabbage, brussel sprouts, etc---a tiny bit probably wouldn't hurt, but can
cause some gas in other related species, so again, better safe than sorry.

Hope this helps. :-)

susan g
----- Original Message -----
From: a hurley <juno501@yahoo.com>
To: <ridecamp@endurance.net>
Sent: Tuesday, September 26, 2000 4:49 PM
Subject: RC: sweet potato ok for horses?


> Does anyone know of a site (or can one of the
> nutrition experts or vets comment) about what fruits
> and vegetables are ok for horses?  For example  - are
> uncooked sweet potatos, melons ok? I have fed
> watermelon to the horses for years as they love it but
> am now curious about other fruits and vegetables. This
> would be as a treat, not as a major component of the
> diet.
>
> stasia
>
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