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Choke: Was Nutrition of Carrots?



Susan,
    I've heard some stories of riders having a problem with horses choking
on carrots during a race.  A lot of riders I know are afraid to feed carrots
during a race for this reason.
    Do carrots presnt more of a risk of choke, and--if so--is it better to
break them up into small pieces or feed them whole so the horse can break
them up himself?
    Thanks for sharing your knowledge!
    Dabney Finch
----- Original Message -----
From: Susan Garlinghouse <suendavid@worldnet.att.net>
To: Kristene Smuts <Ksmuts@sarcc.co.za>; <ridecamp@endurance.net>
Sent: Tuesday, September 04, 2001 7:29 PM
Subject: RC: Re: Nutrition of Carrots?


> >
> > Does anybody know what nutritional value carrots have?  I know they
> contain lots of good things, but in terms of feeding it to our horses, do
> they actually contribute anything nutritionally?  Or are they there just
as
>
> Yup, they actually have some nutritional value.  On a dryweight basis (ie,
> after you've sucked all the water out), they have the same energy content
as
> grain.  Allowing for the 75-80% water content, 7-8 pounds of fresh carrots
> provides the same energy as a pound of grain, plus a gallon of water.
Plus,
> they're a great source of carotene, the precursor to retinol/vitamin A, a
> nifty antioxidant and substrate required for things like tendons and
> ligaments such.  And, while some horses on a ride won't eat hay or grain
or
> beet pulp out on the trail, it's a pretty rare (or suck) horse that won't
> munch carrots on the trail.  As Truman described, pretty nifty way to keep
> the mail moving.  And horses will never learn any trick faster than
turning
> their head around to grab a carrot from the saddle (Karen Chaton's horse
> Weaver can reach back to the fanny pack to help himself when no one's
> watching.<g>)
>
> So, yup, plenty of real nutrition there.  Have at it.
>
> Susan G
>
>
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