RE: [RC] watermelon rinds, corn silk, and plum pits - Susan E. Garlinghouse, D.V.M.
JMO, but I don’t see any reason why
watermelon rinds would not be okay. I’d probably cut or break them
up into chunks, as opposed to an entire giant half circle. One of my
horses is such a pig for rinds, she would probably try to scarf down the whole
thing all at once and choke on the darn thing.
Corn silk I might be a little cautious
about, but probably wouldn’t lose any sleep over it. Plain old hay
has a lot more fiber to it than corn silk. Husks I would probably avoid
though I also wouldn’t leap to snatch them out of my horses mouth if he
grabbed a mouthful.
Stone fruit pits contain some cyanide,
which isn’t an issue munching a few off the tree. I suppose
swallowing a whole pit could conceivably be a choking hazard (specifically, an
esophageal obstruction) and I could see the rough, pointy edges causing some
abrasions to the esophagus. Keep in mind the esophagus is a soft,
collapsed tube where food doesn’t just fall down via gravity---it’s
pushed down via peristaltic waves just like ingesta/poop is pushed through the
bowel. So rough edges might be a little too scratchy for my taste.
I figure a decent rule of thumb for ‘odd’
food items is that if you wouldn’t put it down your garbage disposal, you
probably shouldn’t feed it to your horse. Nothing that would break
a blade, nothing that behaves like string.
JMO,
Susan Garlinghouse, DVM, MS
From:
ridecamp-owner@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:ridecamp-owner@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Laura Sent: Monday, July 18, 2005 4:32
PM To: ridecamp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: [RC] watermelon rinds,
corn silk, and plum pits
I've always fed my horse
watermelons: whole melons, cut up melons, the juicy sweet red insides, and the
green hard rinds. While horse camping with friends, and offering my
horses the rinds of a watermelon we had eaten, one person cautioned me that her
vet had told her not to feed her horses the rinds, the middles were OK, but not
the rinds.
Then when we were ready to
BBQ the corn for dinner I saved the husks to feed my horses. I've always
fed my horses the corn husks, the corn cobs, the corn, heck, I've even fed them
the entire corn stalk. But this same person cautioned me not to feed the
corn silk.
This led to a discussion
about plums and whether or not they should eat the pits. I've often
stopped at an old homestead while riding and while I am eating plums off the
tree so is my horse. I've wondered about the pits. But I've had
people tell me, "they just pass them in their manure".
So ..... was wondering if
any one has information on what is OK and what is not OK to feed horses, and
why.
