A little while ago we covered some of the strange things that horses are fed around the world, from bananas to honey, but one thing that wasn’t mentioned is chocolate.
Sadly, although we all love chocolate and may think our horses do too, chocolate is toxic if fed to horses in sufficient quantities. Chocolate contains the alkaloid theobromine, a chemical that horses, dogs, and cats are unable to efficiently metabolise. Theobromine can not only cause a positive drug test for horses engaged in competition, but also epileptic seizures, heart attacks, internal bleeding and eventually death. So that certainly puts chocolate Easter eggs off the treat list for your four legged friends!
Dogs are probably more at risk from chocolate poisoning than horses as we all know that the greedy little critters can easily sniff out and sneakily demolish things they are not meant to.
Make sure you keep your Easter treats somewhere your doggies cannot access them as less than an ounce of dark chocolate may be enough to poison a 20-kilo dog. The high level of theobromine in dark chocolate means it takes only a very small amount to poison a dog; cocoa, cooking chocolate and dark chocolate contain the highest levels, while milk chocolate and white chocolate have the lowest.
Some dogs know what's good for them (or just want what the horses have)
Bizarrely Amazon has an Easter Egg for Horses on its site (but not currently available) which is a cocoa free Easter egg made from carob, a low fat, high fibre alternative to chocolate and is supposedly safe for horses. The egg is peppermint flavoured which makes me think you might as well give your horse a polo mint
Those of you who live in the UK or have spent time there will know that horses probably account for a large slice of Nestles’ profits (the manufacturer of polo mints). My Australian horse now loves them, having taken a while to get used to them but sugar lumps are a big favourite too as he is given one every time he has his bridle put on. I figure that any horse willing to have a whole load of metal – especially a bit and bridoon – stuck in their mouth deserves a treat at the same time.
However, apples and carrots are probably the healthiest treats to give your horse this Easter along with a big hug.
Happy Easter and may your Easter be filled with with yummy things for all!
