Strawberries make a sweet treat but can horses eat strawberries?
Horses are one of the most majestic and intelligent creatures humans have been able to domesticate since around 4000 BC. They have undoubtedly helped the advancement of humans. Many horse trainers use treats to train their horses very effectively, because big as they might be, they still love sweets like little babies. However, what you give your horse as treats has to be safe for them. Can horses eat strawberries? Yeah!
But, there are numerous things to consider before feeding your equine with strawberries!
Horse owners and trainers are very mindful and careful of what they feed their horses. Strawberries are sweet and are a perfect fruit for treats but the question ‘Are strawberries bad to horses?’ often comes in the circles of horse owners.
In this article, we are going to answer this question in a detailed manner, because we love horses and want what is best for them.
Are strawberries toxic to horses? -Can horses eat strawberries?
Before we start getting into details about whether or not strawberries are good for horses, we should answer the question, ‘do horses eat strawberries?’ and the answer is a big YES.
They love the sweet tastes.
Strawberries are the specimen of sweet, juicy fruits. They are definitely one of the favorite treats of every horse.
Horses need nutrition to be able to carry out their assigned tasks. And horse owners and trainers are using new vegetables and fruits when the horses need a change of tastes. But, we should always be careful before we go ahead and feed our horses new food because some food that is good for humans can be really bad for horses. So does strawberry suites these purposes? And the answer is Yes.
Strawberries are one of the sweetest fruits and they are favorites of humans and animals alike.
Are strawberries good for horses?
They carry vitamin C, Vitamin b9, manganese, potassium, and many more micro-nutrition. These nutritious benefits are very important for horses. But it is not the only advantage. Horses love the sweetness and juiciness of strawberries.
Strawberries make horses happy!
Sounds interesting, huh?
And strawberries are a good encouragement for your poor feeding horses.
Find out how to give treats like strawberries to horses in the research presented by Kentucky Equine Research here.
Are strawberries safe for horses? – Could strawberries affect their health?
But, beware of the number of strawberries you feed your horse. Because too much of anything can be harmful.
Waqar Zafar mentions in his research that more than 2pieces of strawberries should be fed to horses. Excessive feeding of strawberries can cause colic and exhaustion for your horse. Horses’ digestive system is different than ours and they should be fed small amounts of treats in intervals. Feeding too many treats can cause negative effects on your horse’s health like lowering protein contents of its diet, and raising starch levels, and diluting vitamins and minerals.
Keep in your mind that there are do’s and Don’t’s of Feeding Treats for your horse.
Horse breeders recommend you to feed a maximum of 2 strawberries a day. And always be careful to adequately wash and cut strawberries into pieces. You need to cut them into little pieces to prevent the horses from choking. Some stubborn and impatient horses like to gulp their treats without chewing. The fruits might contain pesticides or chemicals on the skins. So, wash them thoroughly before giving them to your horses. And remember, not just their strawberries, wash all the fruits and vegetables because the chemicals can cause severe damage.
Overconsumption of strawberries is harmful to horses.
So even though the answer to ‘is strawberry good for horses?’ is a yes, always be careful about the amount and the cleanliness of the treats you feed the horses.
Can horses eat frozen strawberries? – A snack in the hot weather!
The hot weather is not good for the horses. So, maybe you are thinking of making them comfortable and wonder if frozen fruits are good for the horses. It is okay to feed them frozen strawberries.
Read more about how to feed frozen food to your horses
Horses love it when they have something cool to munch on. And they don’t care about the texture as long as it tastes sweet. So you can chop them into little pieces and freeze them. It is really easy for you to make and your horses will enjoy treats like that in the summer.
If you are interested in digging up more about frozen treats, you better read more about freezer treats for horses.
They do eat dried figs and dates but can horses eat dried strawberries?
Dried fruits contain different kinds of nutrition. They are powerful antioxidants. You can feed your horse dried strawberries but be careful. They could choke easily on food like that.
Are strawberries bad for horses? Does strawberry have a negative effect on horses?
The answer to this question has to be elaborate. Strawberry has nutritional properties that are good for horses. And horses love strawberries so they can be used as good treats to train the horses. However, you should not treat your horses too much strawberry because that can cause health problems for the horses due to the adaptations of their digestive system.
Are strawberries OK for horses?
So, strawberries are not bad for horses as long as you are keeping a limit to the amount you feed for them.
Read more about feeding strawberries to horses.
The bottom line – Can horses have strawberries?
The horses most definitely can have strawberries. They offer some real benefits and they make horses happy. Can horses safely eat strawberries? As long as you are taking precautions to feed the strawberries by cleaning them well and cutting them into small pieces, and if you are careful about the diets and amounts, strawberries are a safe snack for horses. Strawberries will give sweet happiness to your horses and will make them happy.
Have you ever known that you cannot feed your equine with avocado?
Yeah!