These rather handsome ginger ears would like to bring you a simple but really important message: when you’re out and about on your travels in the countryside, please don’t feed a horse that doesn’t belong to you!
He’d like to tell you why, with a little help from his able human assistant…
Please Don’t Feed Other People’s Horses!
Yes we’re irresistible, and yes we sometimes do a great job of looking sad and hungry, but after a tragic increase in horse and pony deaths over the past year, I thought it might be timely to share some information as to why us horses and other animals just can’t process the ‘snacks’ that you often want to share with us, no matter how kind and well-meaning you are.
Horses can’t be sick!
Did you know that horses and ponies can’t be sick? Our digestive system is designed to eat food little and often, which we get from grazing. A horse’s stomach can’t stretch like yours, so if we eat too much in one go our stomachs can quite literally explode.
When you humans start to feel sick your stomachs violently contract and send the food back up – but horses don’t have the capacity to do this. So if we’re fed unsuitable food, or even if our diets are changed suddenly, we get colic, just like small babies do.
Unlike babies, however, we can’t scream our heads off and tuck our knees up. Instead, we try to alleviate the pain of the colic by rolling aggressively. The gas quickly builds up from the fermentation of the foods and we can get blockages, which in turn can cause our bowels to twist.
We then require very dangerous (and expensive) surgery to save us … and can suffer a very distressing and painful death if the situation isn’t caught in time.
Horses need to graze their own food!
You’d think it would be fine to pick or cut grass and feed it to horses, wouldn’t you? Horses eat grass, right?! But eating grass that has been pulled or cut by somebody else can be dangerous for us, even it’s from our own field. Here’s why.
When we graze normally for ourselves, this action stimulates our bodies to produce acids that help break down the grass on its way to our stomachs. Eating grass that’s fed to us means that this vital step is missed out, which can cause us problems.
Feeding grass cuttings to horses can be fatal. Have you ever put your hand inside the grass box when you’re mowing and felt how warm the cuttings are? That’s because the grass has already started to ferment and give off gases. If you ate that grass it would cause you to burp – but did you ever hear a horse burp?! Nope. Again, we can’t. Those fermenting gases trapped inside can cause us to become very sick or even die.
The other danger with feeding us cut grass is that the cuttings could ball together and we could then choke on them. A bit like you taking a large bite of cake and swallowing it without chewing.
Finally, picking grass from the verge can have other problems. How do you know that the grass hasn’t either been sprayed to kill off weeds, or has poisonous plants mixed in it? Or worse – for you as well! – that other animals haven’t relieved themselves on it?!
I’m not fat, I’m fluffy. Well, maybe…
Another point to bear in mind is that many horses are on special or restricted diets. Obesity isn’t just a problem linked to humans, you know!
A lot of well-meaning people feed us and think, “Oh it’ll be ok… it’s only a bit of apple… or a slice of carrot…” The problem is that the previous 10 walkers might also have given us food too. Some of us have very carefully controlled diets; we even have to have our hay allowances weighed to see how much we’re eating!
You might sometimes see horses with Hannibal Lecter style masks on. Don’t worry, they ARE still able to eat and drink with these on! However, it does mean that what they can eat and the amount is restricted. They’re not cruel, it’s simply a way of managing the horse so he or she can still stay out in the field.
Horses bite!
One last point, from a safety point of view – HORSES HAVE VERY BIG TEETH!
We might not mean to hurt you, but we might sometimes bite through the soft bit that’s holding out the carrot… your finger!
Also, giving us treats from your hand can make us very nippy and bossy. Giving treats can often set off fights between groups of horses … leading to more expensive vet bills!
Please Don’t Feed Other People’s Horses!
The overall message is PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE don’t feed ANYTHING to horses – or other animals – that you don’t own. You genuinely could cause the animal’s death.
All horses will have someone to look after them. If you’re concerned about a welfare case, try to find someone locally to ask about who owns the animals. Remember that there may well be a medical reason for the horse to be kept in a small grass-free area, or to seemingly have no food.
Please share this message and information with your friends. If we can save the life of even one horse, it will have been worth it.
Thank you!
