Can Horses Eat Plums?

If you have a healthy horse and you ask can horses eat plums? the answer is yes. But there are some horses that should never eat plums at all. So, before you offer a horse a plum as a treat, you need to know that horses suffering from certain diseases should avoid plums, and we will take a closer look at the reasons why.

Plums, Can Horses Eat Plums?

The flesh of the plum is fine for the horse to eat, but the pit or pip of the plum, the hard seed in the middle should not be consumed as it contains a toxic substance, cyanide that can be fatal to a horse. So can horses eat plums, yes, but they should be pitted first. Also, the leaf of the plum tree contains cyanogenic compounds. A horse should be kept in a field where no access to these trees is available, as horses will eat any green leaves that they can reach, often leading to toxicity. If you are going to feed plums to the horse, pick the plums and cut them into small slices making sure that all the pips have been removed, and then feed them to your horse as a treat.

Horses and Fruit

Horses love fruit, particularly apples, and if they are under a fruit tree, they will often keep eating the fruit, because they can. Horses have a complex digestive system and have to eat a certain amount of grasses and alfalfa hay and without it, their system won’t be able to properly digest foods.

Unlimited supplies of any type of fruit will cause the horse to have a bloated abdomen and will give the horse colic if the horse becomes bloated it is a good idea to consult your veterinarian for advice. Sometimes this condition can be caused by a sudden growth of grass in the spring, leading the horse to eat constantly. When bloating continually occurs, the horse will require a protein supplement to get him back to normal again. Bloat is a sign of too much of the wrong type of feed. So if a horse has bloat don’t feed it any fruit at all.

Horse Treats

Horses seem to be attracted to sweet things, and traditionally like to eat a sugar cube. This is not so good for them and the choice should be switched to healthier snacks like carrots apples, and some pitted plums as horses like the sweetness of all these fruits and certain vegetables. Unfortunately, horses will eat most things as they don’t really know what is good for them and what isn’t. So can horses eat plums, is good to know, as when you are going to visit the horse, take a small zip lock bag with about 4 pitted plums in it, to give the horse a favorite treat. The horse is a herbivore, and as stated has a complex digestive system requiring a lot of forage and constant eating to keep them nourished, but never offer the horse any meat or any chocolate. If you have a new pony at home and have never owned a horse before there is quite a wide range of foods that horses should never have. You can get a list of these foods from your vet. If you are giving your horse fruit never give it fruit with a pip or pit in it as many pips contain cyanide.

Many weeds are also toxic to horses, so before you put him in his new paddock identify what you have growing in there, as you may need to remove the weeds before you let the horse in.

Horses are Heavy

Because your horse eats and eats, he may become overweight, so it is important to exercise him every day. If you are riding regularly or competitively this should not be a problem, but sometimes horses can become stubborn and decide they don’t or won’t move. This is where the plums come in.

Can Horses Eat Plums?

If you are going out on a 5-mile ride, cut your plums up before you leave home, discarding all the pips and just carrying the fruit. When you get halfway, stop for water, hopefully, there is a horse trough or somewhere to drink, especially in hot weather horses need to drink a lot of water. Then feed the plums to the horse as a treat, and head back towards home. He will get used to this routine and will learn to become cooperative, especially when he knows that the plums are part of it. Horses mostly love daily exercise, and without it, they get very out of condition, a bit as people do.

Racing Horses

If you have a racehorse the routine for feeding is very strict. Training mostly takes place in the early morning, and the feed contains lots of supplements. However, there is still room for a treat of either carrots or plums. Check with the trainer, but they are usually allowed some fruit, so once again you can chop up the plums and take them down to the stables. Many people who own a racehorse like to visit them regularly, and after a while the horse gets to know you. and will look forward to his pitted plums. If you go to the track he should definitely have a treat whether he wins or not, and some never win, but you can keep up his morale with the pitted plum treats. You will become very fond of your horse and will want him to have a happy life, when a racehorse retires, make sure he has somewhere to live.

Can Horses Eat Plums as a Treat?

We have established that horses can eat pitted plums, but not too many at one time, as they have very delicate digestive systems requiring forage

( grass, hay, or fodder), as their main diet. Most horses live from 24 to 30 years of age, so in that time will consume a lot of hay and need intensive exercise. Keep your horse healthy by studying the dietary guidelines for herbivores, and asking your vet for best practice advice.