As a horse owner, you're probably a regular browser of internet pages, looking for safe treats to give your horse. And now you're wondering can horses eat honey?
And when it comes to treats, there aren’t many humans or animals who don’t adore the sweet taste of golden honey. In its natural form, this amber nectar is a very healthy alternative to sugar. This is because as well as being sweet, it also nutritionally rich and has antibacterial properties.
But when it comes to feeding it to horses, do they get the same nutritional effects as humans? Below we'll take a look at everything you need to know about horses and honey.
Can Horses Eat Honey?
The good news is that horses can enjoy all of the benefits that come with eating honey. It’s not toxic and is safe for your horse to eat.
But it's only safe if it's fed in small amounts. This is because it contains a lot of sugar so you shouldn't give it to your horse regularly, or in large portions.
Is Honey Healthy for Horses?
To find out just how healthy honey is for horses, we’ll take a look at everything you need to know about its nutrition and therapeutic properties.
Vitamins and Minerals
Honey is often labelled as a superfood and this is because it’s highly concentrated in vitamins and minerals. It's rich in nutrition as it contains vitamins A and B as well as a huge range of essential minerals including copper, zinc and iron.
Antioxidants
Honey is full of antioxidants that will help rid your horse of harmful toxins that can build up during exercise. This ultimately helps with muscle function and development. Research also shows that antioxidants may help to reduce inflammation. And on top of this, it contains calcium, protein and amino acids. All of these things together help to keep your horse at optimum function and performance levels.
Sugar
The reason you shouldn't give your horse too much honey is because of the high levels of sugar in it. One tablespoon contains 17g of sugar. This can account for up to a quarter of your horses recommended daily sugar allowance. The sugars are made up of both glucose and fructose. And this fructose/glucose mix makes honey a healthier sweetener.
Because of the high glucose and fructose levels, some performance and endurance horse owners like to give it to their horse for a quick energy boost.
Therapeutic Values
Research has shown that honey has different active ingredients that provide lots of therapeutic benefits. It’s a natural antibiotic and anti-inflammatory. Honey is also thought to be very soothing on the digestive tract too. And can help to improve a range of aspects of your horse's wellbeing including coat condition and muscle function.
To give your equine friend the full therapeutic values of honey then you must buy the most natural, raw types. This is full of all the good active ingredients such as pollen and is better for your horse.
Refined, processed honey is less healthy. It's pasteurized and lots of the beneficial things usually found in it are lost in this heat treatment.
When it comes to feeding your horse honey for therapeutic or medical reasons then you need to get advice from your vet first.
Why Would you Feed Honey to a Horse?
As you can see, honey is much more than just a sweet treat. And it can have lots of health benefits for your horse. It’s great for giving your horse a natural energy boost and it may even soothe stomach ulcers.
You can also use honey to entice a horse to eat food or medicine. Most horses find the sweet taste irresistible.
Just like in human's, honey is thought to bring relief to horses who are suffering from a cough. Try adding a bit of it to your horse's food if it's coughing as a natural remedy. But don't depend on honey for treatment. If the cough persists then you must ask an equine vet for advice.
How Much Honey Should you Feed to a Horse?
Despite all its amazing benefits, you shouldn’t feed your horse honey very often. You should keep it reserved as a special treat or for if you need to give your horse medication.
This is because of the high levels of sugar in it. Excessive amounts of sugar can make your horse obese or even cause metabolic issues such as insulin resistance.
This is why you shouldn’t feed your horse more than a teaspoon of honey at any one time. And this should only be given once or twice a week. Honey is very concentrated and you don't need to give your horse large quantities of it.
The good news is that honey preserves really well so a jar can last your horse a very long time.
Warnings About Horses Eating Honey
As we’ve mentioned, if you feed your horse too much honey then this can lead to lots of health problems due to the high sugar content. So never feed your horse more than the recommended amounts.
If your horse has any kind of metabolic issues such as laminitis or insulin resistance then always check with your vet before feeding it honey. Giving these types of horses sugar can make their symptoms worse.
You shouldn't feed honey to foals. Their digestive systems haven't developed properly yet and feeding them honey can lead to equine botulism.
Introduce Honey Slowly
Grazing animals, such as horses, browser animals and ruminants, such as sheep, all have very sensitive digestive systems. So this is why you must always introduce honey and any other new treats into your horses diet slowly. This way you can check that your horse isn't allergic to it.
And it also gives your horses digestive system time to adapt to this new food. Introducing new foods quickly can lead to colic so just give your horse a small bit of honey at first. And keep an eye out for any adverse reactions before giving your horse any more.
Can Horses Eat Honey and Banana?
Honey and banana sound like a dream treat for any horse or human. So the good news is that horses can eat them together. But of course, you should only feed them it in small portions.
The only instance when a horse can't eat honey and banana is if it has metabolic conditions. Especially horses with HYPP. Bananas are full of potassium which makes the symptoms of HYPP much worse.
Tips on Feeding Horses Honey
Honey is a versatile treat and there are lots of ways that you can feed it to your horse.
The easiest way is to add it directly to your horse's food. Make sure that you mix it well to make the whole meal very sweet. You can also serve honey spread on top of other treats such as bananas or carrots.
Honey can also be used in homemade horse treat recipes in place of sugar or molasses. And you can even feed your horse honey in the form of a premade supplement.
Honey as a Topical Treatment
As well as being a tasty treat honey can also be used as a topical treatment on the skin. Studies have shown that honey can help wounds to heal and reduce the risk of infection.
This is particularly good when it comes to treating leg wounds on horses that cant be sutured. As well as forming a protective barrier on the wound, it also provides moisture to encourage healing from the inside out. And because it’s antibacterial then it will keep infections at bay.
But you can't just use any old honey on wounds. It must be a pure, medical-grade one. Or a high strength Manuka honey.
Be sure to get advice from an expert in the equestrian medical field first before treating wounds on your horse with honey.
What About Supplementing Honey with Garlic Oil?
When it comes to feeding horses honey one way you can do it is with a honey supplement. You’ll usually find that equine honey supplements are mixed with garlic oil. This is because they complement each other very well when it comes to your horse's health.
Because honey is good for the digestive system, it will help the garlic absorb into your horses body. This garlic can improve your horses circulation and breathing. And both of them are immune-boosting so together they will help to keep your horse in optimum health.
Conclusion
As long as it’s only fed in small amounts and as an occasional treat, honey can be very beneficial for your horse's health. It’s a superfood that has lots of soothing, healing properties and it can improve equine health in many ways.
But don’t be tempted to feed your horse a lot of honey because excessive the amounts of sugar it provides will inevitably be bad for your horse's health.
So, can horses eat honey? As long as it’s fed in small amounts, yes they can.
