What Human Foods Can a Horse Eat?

Hay is for horses, of course, but so is breakfast cereal. When it comes to feeding your horse a well-balanced diet, grains and grasses are the main staples for their daily meals, but certain types of human food can be safe for your horse to eat as special treats, or even as a nutritional supplement for regular feedings.

  1. Sweet Treats

    • Horses are meant to eat roughage, such as grass stalks, and consume about 1 to 2 percent of their body weight in roughage each day. But some horses, especially miniature horses, have a sweet tooth and are drawn to sugary foods such as apples, peppermint candies and breakfast cereal. Too much sugar can be dangerous and unhealthy for your horse, especially if the horse is sensitive to high sugar levels, so only treat your horse occasionally with human food such as a few tablespoons of low-sugar applesauce or baby food carrots. Sweeter spices also may be your horse's preference for a treat. Anise, a licorice-like spice, is a sweet spice that some horses crave.

    Nutritional Supplements

    • Some human food can be added slowly to a horse's diet in combination with the horse's daily staple of grains and grass. Chunks of butternut squash, zucchini or iceberg lettuce, pitted cherries, citrus fruit rinds, green beans and chamomile flower buds all can be added into piles of hay or fed to the horse by the handful. These foods all rank low on the glycemic index, so they will not disrupt a horse's blood sugar balance. Still, these items should not make up the majority of your horse's diet. Some owners even avoid feeding their horses treats because it may lead to the horse developing bad behaviors, such as biting.

    Oils and Powders

    • Small amounts of whole food powders such as beet root can be sprinkled over food pellets for a boost of nutrition for your horse. Oils such as corn and soybean oil can be mixed in moderation with feed to promote energy in the horse and give shine in the horse's mane and coat.

    Human Foods to Avoid

    • Although there are many safe human foods to feed your horse, there are a few notable substances that can sicken or kill the horse. Horses are unable to regurgitate any substance, poisonous or not, so it's extremely important to know and watch what you feed your horse. Chocolate, coffee beans or any kind of caffeinated substance can increase your horse's heart rate dangerously. Avocados contain persin, which puts horses at risk for avocado poisoning. Black walnuts and any part of the black walnut tree are particularly poisonous for horses. A comprehensive list of human foods that might affect your horse can be found on the Humane Society's website.