treat | Horse Racing Free Tips

Storage A Concern When Feeding Corn On The Cob

Question: A fellow boarder was feeding her horse ears of field corn one evening. The kernels were hard and a deep golden color. I asked her if this was from this year's planting, and she said it was from an old corncrib that was on a relative's farm. Is this a safe practice?

Kentucky Equine Research responds: Feeding corn to the horse is not an issue, as it is often an ingredient in high-quality, well-formulated feeds. The concern involves where the corn was stored and for what duration it was there.

Corncribs are relics on most farms these days. Usually fashioned from wood, they were once commonplace on farms. The walls of the corncribs were typically not entire, purposely left open to allow air to circulate throughout. While ventilating the corncribs was essential for keeping the corn dry, the openness often allowed rodents and other vermin to gain access.

If ear corn becomes wet during storage in a corncrib, there is a chance that mold will develop. Unlike cattle, horses are extremely sensitive to mold. This is evident in the difference in hay that can be fed to the two species; generally cattle can tolerate more dust and mold than horses can.

If a horse consumes corn contaminated with toxins produced by Fusarium spp., it might be at risk for moldy corn poisoning, also known as equine leukoencephalomalacia. This disease progresses quickly in most animals with death occurring within a few days. Clinical signs of the disease include anorexia, lethargy, and a roster of neurological deficits: staggering, circling, head-pressing, and inability to swallow.

[Story Continues Below]

Though this is not a common disease, it is a deadly one and there have been numerous outbreaks recorded throughout the United States. Cases seem to pop up in late fall through early spring and are especially prevalent when a dry growing season is followed by a rainy fall.

While contaminated kernels might be off-colored, there is no definitive way to tell if corn is infected with the disease-causing fungus by visual inspection. Corn screenings, a by-product of corn handling and processing that contain, among other things, whole and partial kernels of corn, are another likely source of contamination.

The best way to prevent a case of moldy corn poisoning is to provide horses with a professionally formulated and manufactured concentrate that is appropriate for age and lifestyle. When fed by itself as a concentrate, corn does not supply adequate nutrients for optimal health.

The temptation to give horses treats is a great one, but I'd stick with more traditional ones: apples, carrots, or an occasional alfalfa cube.

Tasty Treat: Are Sweet Potatoes Better Than Carrots?

Question: A friend suggested feeding my horses raw sweet potatoes as treats because they have less sugar than carrots. I hadn't given much thought to this. Is she onto something here?

Kentucky Equine Research responds: Both sweet potatoes and carrots can be offered to your horses as treats. Carrots contain about 88 percent water, while sweet potatoes have about 77 percent, making sweet potatoes slightly more nutrient-dense. Both are relatively poor sources of protein because of the high water content (carrot, 0.9 percent; sweet potato, 1.6 percent; as fed).

The primary nutrient difference lies in the carbohydrate content of the two root vegetables. Although the fiber content (carrot, 2.8 percent; sweet potato, 3 percent; as fed) and the simple sugar content (carrot, 4.7 percent; sweet potato, 4.2 percent; as fed) are similar, sweet potatoes are much higher than carrots in starch (12.9 percent and 2.1 percent; as fed, respectively). Looking more closely at the type of starch in the sweet potatoes, 80 percent is rapidly digestible (enzymatic digestion), while only 11 percent is resistant starch only fermentable by microbes). Sweet potatoes provide over twice the calories that carrots do (86 and 41 calories, respectively, per 100 g), mostly because of the difference in starch content. In this context, “as fed” refers to raw vegetables and “dry matter” to dehydrated vegetables.

While dehydrated sweet potatoes have less sugar than dehydrated carrots (18 percent and 40 percent, respectively), they have similar levels when fed raw (4.2 percent and 4.7 percent, respectively), as noted previously.

Both are rich sources of beta-carotene, which is the precursor to vitamin A.

[Story Continues Below]

Despite their names, sweet potatoes and Irish potatoes are not closely related from a botanical standpoint. Sweet potatoes and yams are vines in the morning glory family, whereas Irish potatoes are in the nightshade family. Sweet potatoes do not contain the nutritional anti-factors that make raw Irish potatoes unsafe for horses to consume.

Sweet potatoes can be a tasty treat for horses either raw or cooked. Due to their relatively high starch and sugar content, they should be fed in only small amounts. Feeding large amounts carries some risk, especially when given to starch-sensitive horses. In addition to beta-carotene, sweet potatoes are a good source of vitamin C and potassium.

Is There Such A Thing As Too Many Carrots?

Many horse owners and caretakers offer their horses treats as a reward or as a sign of affection, and most horses willingly eat the more-traditional treats of apples and carrots. But is there such a thing as too many treats? Can feeding too many harm a horse's health?

Some horse owners feed up to 10 gallons (or more) of carrots to their horses with no ill effects, reporting that the carrots add weight and are a good water substitute. Kentucky Equine Research notes if the horse doesn't have metabolic issues, there is most likely no harm in feeding that quantity of carrots, but there is concern as to if the horse is obtaining all the dry matter and nutrients needed for a healthy diet.

Carrots are primarily water (85 to 90 percent), so they do assist in keeping a horse hydrated. Assuming one five-gallon bucket of carrots is a meal, the horse would be consuming just 1.5 pounds of dry matter, of which 25 percent is water-soluble carbohydrates. As the horse takes a while to eat through the bucket of carrots, the nearly six ounces of sugar and three ounces of soluble fiber from the carrots slowly enters his bloodstream.

The high amount of water could make the horse's manure loose and provides him with a lot of calories, so he may pack on the pounds. Additionally, the horse's coat may develop an orange tint as some of the beta-carotenes are absorbed as carotenes by body tissues. Carrots do not contain significant amounts of other nutrients.

Your Horse Doesn’t Want A Card This Valentine’s Day — He Wants A Box Of Cookies

Hallway Feeds in Lexington, Ky., is helping horses find love this Valentine's Day. A family-owned business for more than 50 years, Hallway is introducing a heart-shaped box of horse feed and treats — just in time not only for the holiday, but for the opening of breeding sheds around Central Kentucky.

Hallway director of sales and marketing Anthony Koch said the boxes are a fun way for horse owners to show their horses they care, and a good introduction to Hallway's brand. It's also a timely reminder of the economic impact of the upcoming breeding season on the state, where 228 stallions will meet 17,241 mares this year.

Learn more at Hallway Feeds.