Bananas?

I was just wondering if it is okay to feed a horse a piece of banana. My filly will not eat apples or carrots, and I have been doing research and found people paying horses prefer banana's over other fruit, but some also says not to feed, as any fruit upsets their digestive system...

I am wanting to find a treat that Breeze likes, so when I am training her (trick training, to bow, and smile, etc, etc...) I can use something that motivates her.

So is it okay to feed her banana if she likes it? I won't be feeding it to her often, just when I trick train her, and even then not all the time. I won't be going out there all the time with a banana, and feeding her it every time she comes to the gate. She won't get it unless we are training.

Bananas are good. We had a horse at the barn that loved to eat Bananas. It was so funny to watch him eat them. But like any treat, use in moderation and only on occasion :).

My horse LOVES them, but she rarely gets them. They're safe to feed horses.

Bananas are yummy ^^ but you could also just use hay stretcher, a little less messy :)

Okay, I brought a banana cut up out there and Breeze actually ate a peice... But when I tried to feed her another peice she wouldn't take it, so I gave the rest to the other horses (it was a small banana, only cut into 4-5 peices) She would not take apple, or carrots, but she liked the banana, so once in a while, that will be a good treat for her. But since she doesn't like to take to much, it will not work for training.

Have you tried hay stretcher pellets? My horses would jump through the moon for them xD

Breezy, my horses get alfalfa cubes for treats. I'll pry them apart to make thin wafers. They love them. A bag lasts a long time. Perhaps the ripeness of the banana had something to do with it.

I hope you mean pellets? Alfalfa pellets are great!! Cubes are seriously dangerous to feed to a horse dry, even in small bits. They absorb water and inflate - have you ever seen how big one cube gets when soaked? It's very easy for a horse to choke on dry cubes - they need to be thoroughly soaked before being fed. Always.

Banana's are actually very good for a horse's gut. We had an old broodie on our property for a while, belonging to my coach, who suffered from mild stomach ulcers. Feeding a couple of over ripe bananas a day and she was much happier - cheaper than ulcer treatments for a horse just living out its days in a paddock ;)

I give alfalfa cubes to my horse as a treat as well- I found out how much he liked them when someone lent me their Amazing Graze treat dispenser, which is designed to be used with hay cubes. He'd rather chase that thing around getting one cube here and there than eat his (easily accessible) hay or grain. I don't have the treat dispenser anymore, so I just give them to him by hand now.

They don't need to be soaked- though you certainly can for horses with poor teeth, those prone to choke, or to get your horse to consume more water. I've yet to see any cubed hay product recommend soaking as the only/proper feeding method on the bag

ETA- And on the original topic, I tried giving my horse a banana before (after I first read that it was OK to give to horses), but he didn't care for it. I have hung up a banana flavored treat in his stall, which he seemed to enjoy, though!