Blueberries are known to be a superfood for humans. They are very rich in many vital minerals, vitamins, and nutrients. They provide a wide range of health benefits, which is why you can add them to almost any diet. However, are blueberries safe for horses to consume?
Horses are big fans of treats and fruits. Horse owners are looking for healthy, good, and highly nutritious snacks for their four-legged friends. These beautiful creatures like eating fruits such as pears, apples, and melons. Nevertheless, many horse owners are confused about whether their horses can eat blueberries, considering how good they are for humans.
Can My Horse Eat Blueberries?
Yes, your horse can eat blueberries. Blueberries are highly nutritious for humans, and horses are not excluded from this provision. Moreover, blueberries provide a wide range of benefits to help keep your horse in shape. With loads of essential minerals and vitamins they contain, they can serve as an excellent treat for your horse.
Different Ways to Feed Blueberries to Your Horse
Feeding blueberries to your horse is healthy. However, you need to know the right quantity and how to do it. Furthermore, you need to know the right way to feed your horse treats, and there are specific rules you need to follow when doing that.
For example, there is a special way of feeding fruits with seeds or pits to your horse. You have to remove all the seeds and pits from the fruits before feeding them to your horse. If the fruit is large, you need to cut it into bite sizes.
Whether it is blueberries or any other fruit/treat, you need to know how to go about the feeding process and when to stop. As such, you need to know how to ration and introduce them to the fruit. Here are some tips on how to feed blueberries to your horse.
- Before feeding your horse the blueberries, remove the stem, peel off the pit, and cut the fruits in halves. This will bring out the fruit’s natural flavor, making it more appetizing for the horse. This process will also give the fruit a better texture, making it easy for the horse to pick and eat.
- You can spice things up by mixing the blueberries with some seeds such as oats and chia. Horses like seeds, but you want to make sure you make healthy choices for them.
- Horses also like blueberry biscuits, so you can use them to pamper them. You can get it from a local store and serve it to them as treats.
- Mix the blueberries with other fruits your horse loves, such as bananas, apples, and more. Cut the fruits in bite sizes and offer them to the horse.
Blueberry is a seasonal fruit, which means you cannot get it in all seasons. However, horses might crave this delicious fruit throughout the year. Fortunately, you can preserve blueberries in your refrigerator for a situation like this. Horses love frozen treats, and your horse would ask for more when you offer them frozen blueberries.
Why You Should Feed Your Horse Blueberries
As you may already know, blueberries are very good for humans. They are highly nutritious and provide a wide range of health benefits. Fortunately, the nutritional values of blueberries do not change when you feed them to your horse.
The nutritional values of this amazing fruit are so attractive that you would want to feed your horse with blueberries every day. Blueberries are super-rich in minerals, vitamins, and antioxidants, and your horse would greatly benefit from these.
Studies have shown that blueberries contain vitamin A, vitamin B, vitamin B1, vitamin B2, and vitamin C. This fruit also contains the right amount of potassium, iron, magnesium, phosphorus, calcium, and manganese to help meet the mineral quotient of your horse.
The sufficient amounts of antioxidants in the fruits are highly beneficial for humans and horses. It contains a common antioxidant known as flavonoids, and it contributes significantly to horses’ health.
What Is the Recommended Quantity of Berries to Feed a Horse Daily?
Now that you know the nutritional value of blueberries and why your horse needs them, chances are you are wondering how many berries your horse can have a day. However, this is a tricky question. The number of blueberries a horse should consume a day depends on other things the horse eats. The recommended number of fruits to feed horses daily is two or fewer.
As a health precaution, feeding your horse too many blueberries is bad and can result in digestion issues. Nevertheless, blueberries are a lot smaller than regular types of fruits. So, there is no definite number or quantity of blueberries a horse should eat daily. However, since horses eat regular, small portions, we recommend feeding your horse about 10 to 12 blueberries daily.
You should spread the feed across the day. Avoid feeding them too often. You can use any techniques mentioned above to feed the blueberries to your horse. Vary the fruits you feed your horse and avoid giving them blueberries every day.
Benefits of Feeding Blueberries to Horses
Because of their incredible nutritional value, blueberries provide many vital health benefits to horses. They serve as delicious treats or snacks while helping to enhance the overall health and wellbeing of a horse. Here are some of the vital health benefits of blueberries.
Enhanced Immune System
One of the major benefits blueberries offer is an enhanced immune system. They contain a lot of helpful nutrition that boosts the immune system of horses. Blueberries are a natural source of antioxidants, and they contain a high amount of flavonoids.
Flavonoids help protect against different types of infection and pathogens in horses, making them healthier and stronger. These antioxidants also boost the ability of horses to fight pathogens, thanks to their positive effect on their connective tissues.
Anti-Inflammatory Properties
Blueberries also have some anti-inflammatory functions that make them stand out from other types of fruits. This fruit’s nutritional content might help reduce your horse’s inflammatory issues and prevent them from arising. It also helps to prevent and cure some bowel infections.
Healthy Digestive System
Another renowned benefit of this fruit is a healthy digestive system. Blueberries help enhance the overall health of horses, including their digestive system. If your horse has issues with diarrhea or indigestion, you should give them blueberries.
Better Eyesight
The eyes of horses also benefit from these tasty fruits. Blueberries play a crucial role in enhancing the vision and eyesight of a horse. They serve as antioxidants for the horse’s retina and protect their eyes.
These fruits also do a great job of enhancing blood flow around the equine’s eyes. In addition to improving a horse’s eyesight, blueberries also come in handy in treating eye problems and conditions.
Other Fruits Horses Can Eat
Besides blueberries, horses eat a wide range of other fruits. Horses love eating fruits, and you can always serve them as treats. You should always feed your equine friends different fruits occasionally, as it provides them with the various nutrients they need.
Feeding them only one type of fruit every day might result in a lack of some vital nutrients. However, how do you know which fruits to feed your horse? Here are the different types of fruits that are safe for your horse to consume.
- Apples: You should always feed apples to your horses. Horses love apples, and this fruit provides many great health benefits. Apples are very healthy, and they contain many essential minerals and vitamins. They can also help reduce the chances of heart problems and obesity. The dietary fiber in apples can also help enhance your horse’s digestive health.
- Bananas: Horses also eat bananas. Bananas are also a great source of nutrients for horses. Racing horses also benefit from bananas, and it keeps them strong and energized before a race. It is also good to feed your equine bananas with the peel. Bananas can also help prevent and treat gastric issues like ulcers.
- Apricots: Apricots are also healthy and safe for horses to consume. However, before you feed this fruit to your horse, you should remove the stone in it. Apricots are a great source of antioxidants, vitamin A, vitamin B, and vitamin C. It also provides benefits such as protection against bacterial diseases and illnesses.
- Oranges: Yes, horses can eat oranges. However, you should peel off the skin of the orange and cut it in bite sizes before feeding it to your horse. This fruit provides a lot of vitamin C, which is highly beneficial to horses.
- Cherries: Horses also eat cherries. Cherries contain plenty of vitamin A, and C. Do not feed your horse with the stems and pit. Remove the stem, pit, and cut the cherries before feeding them to your horse.
- Grapes: Grapes serve as bite-sized treats for horses. Grapes are loaded with probiotics and prebiotics. As such, this fruit has antioxidant, antibacterial, anti-cancer, and anti-inflammatory properties.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Are blueberries good for horses?
Blueberries are good and safe for horses to consume. They have an impressive nutritional content and provide a wide range of health benefits for horses. They help fight infections, promote digestion, enhance eyesight, and more.
Are blueberries poisonous to horses?
No, blueberries are not poisonous to horses. Blueberries will provide your horse with a wide range of nutrients and enhance its overall health.
Can I feed my blueberries to my horse every day?
No, it is recommended that you feed blueberries to your horse every other day. You should mix up the fruits and feed your horse with different fruits on different days.
Can I mix blueberries with my horse’s food?
Yes, you can mix blueberries and other fruits with your horse’s food. This is a great way to give them a treat without encouraging habitual patterns.
Conclusion
Blueberries are great for horses. You can serve it to your horse as a treat, snacks, or mix it with their feed. These fruits contain many essential minerals, vitamins, and antioxidants that horses need.
They provide many health benefits, including enhancing the overall health of horses. However, you should feed them in moderation, as it is not ideal to feed them too many blueberries.
