Instructions
Lay wheat straw for bedding. Leave the straw in the horse's stall and it will chew on it as it feels necessary. You can also offer hay, a less harmful food source, to your horse in the pasture for added fiber.
Blend wheat straw with another source of food. Some wheat straw can be beneficial to help keep horses from chewing on wood. Mixing wheat straw with other types of feed such as alfalfa, chaff, oats or hay also lowers the chances of causing colic in the horse.
Prevent your horse from eating too much wheat straw. If your horse is eating all of the bedding by morning, then you may need to minimize the amount of straw being placed in the stall and increase the amount of hay in the pasture. You can also spread citronella or eucalyptus oil on the wheat straw to help prevent the horse from eating it.
Offer other foods to your horse. Offer grass hay along with horse nuts, pasture grass and cubes of alfalfa for your horse to chew on. Your horse may feel less of a need to chew on wheat straw if it is satisfied from previous meals. The horse may chew on the straw when it is bored, as well. You can place the horse out into the pasture a little earlier in the morning or bring the horse into the stall a little later in the evening to help reduce boredom.
How to Feed Wheat Straw to Horses
Wheat straw is usually used for a horse's bedding. Sometimes an animal will nibble on it anyway, but it is not recommended that you feed wheat straw as a meal. If a horse eats too much of the straw, it can lead to colic. Colic causes the horse pain and distress, and may even kill it. Wheat straw does offer fiber to the horse, but it can do more harm than good if the animal eats too much of it.