[WhattaTroublemaker]

We have four good size apple trees in the pasture Trouble has been moved into. They're just starting to ripen and drop. I was wondering if him eating the drops could affect his health in any other way than the fermented ones intoxicating him :lol: he doesn't eat them off the tree, only when they drop. Would the sugar be enough to be a concern for founder? Should I start picking them up? He's a bit sore on his left front and we're working to find the cause so I'm looking into every option.

 

[mertastic]

I honestly do not how much apple trees drop, but if he gets enough then he could get cyanide poisoning. But he would have to eat ALOT of them. For humans, we couldn't even touch that kind of poisoning (I forgot how many seeds we would have to ingest but it was an ungodly number..) and we don't weigh anywhere close to our horses! Unless your horse is prone to founder then I wouldn't worry about it. Apples have about 19 grams in them, don't know how much grass has but I know on sunny days they produce a lot of it.

 

[loosie]

Yes, if he is eating a fair bit of fruit, apples are generally very high in sugar, so can induce IR/laminitis. Not advisable to feed them or any sugary/starchy treats to laminitics.

 

[Acadianartist]

I live up the road from some people who basically have part of their pasture in an apple orchard. They pick up the apples daily. It's a pain in the rear end and they are considering cutting all the trees down.

I wouldn't let my horse have free access to apples. If there are hunters in your area, they might be willing to come pick them up for deer apples.

 

[walkinthewalk]

My first set of Keeper Horses had free access to apple trees in the pasture.

We didn't pick them all up but did pick up the better ones on the ground and off the trees, as we made applesauce, apple pies, Apple jam------

That was "in the old days" when people were still closer to living off the land and would not think of cutting a fruit tree down, unless it was crab apple, which my horses wouldn't eat

My first set of Keeper Horses didn't have metabolic issues either -- lived on a hundred acres with beef cattle, ate home grown oats and CORN and never got sick or fat.

Im not saying horses aren't predisposed to insulin issues but there was a lot less of it before lands got stripped of nutrients, before pesticides were the norm, and before Monsanto and their GMO's were an everyday way of life

If I had apple trees on this property, I'd leave them be. I'd let Rusty have the pleasure of stealing a few, and pick up the rest, with the hope of salvaging some for homemade applesauce.

anyone who hasn't eaten home made applesauce has no clue what they're missing. It doesn't take long to boil the apples down and leaves a delicious aroma wafting thru the house

 

[carshon]

We had a mare colic from too many apples. The neighbors had a tree and was just tossing large buckets of apples over the fence into my pasture (we did not know this) My mare coliced mildly and we had to tell the neighbor a few apples are fine but buckets full are not.

 

[walkinthewalk]

We had a mare colic from too many apples. The neighbors had a tree and was just tossing large buckets of apples over the fence into my pasture (we did not know this) My mare coliced mildly and we had to tell the neighbor a few apples are fine but buckets full are not.

I would really take offense to that ---- in a big way:x

We used to leave the mushy ones for the horses, which were a long way from bucketfuls because we (no make that ME kept the apples picked up every few days. Between me, mom, grandma, and the neighbor those apples didn't go to waste.

When I was a kid, I would take a sack, ride my mare back to the best tree of the few trees we had, stand on her barefoot & bareback and pick apples as far up the tree as I could reach -- a lot more fun than lugging a ladder back on the tractor

Ya know, I had long since forgotten about that one piece of pre-teen enjoyment--- thank you all for unwittingly reminding me of what was one of the best times of my life

 

[natisha]

I would really take offense to that ---- in a big way:x

We used to leave the mushy ones for the horses, which were a long way from bucketfuls because we (no make that ME kept the apples picked up every few days. Between me, mom, grandma, and the neighbor those apples didn't go to waste.

When I was a kid, I would take a sack, ride my mare back to the best tree of the few trees we had, stand on her barefoot & bareback and pick apples as far up the tree as I could reach -- a lot more fun than lugging a ladder back on the tractor

Ya know, I had long since forgotten about that one piece of pre-teen enjoyment--- thank you all for unwittingly reminding me of what was one of the best times of my life

I used to steal apples while horseback. It was great fun riding through the orchards & picking out the best ones.
Horses physically can't take an apple from the tree but soon learned when we held our arms out an apple was coming. That made a great emergency brake a few times too.
We never stood on our horses because we were kids who were stealing so had to make a quick get away at times. Such fun.

 

[jaydee]

WE had a horse get colicy years ago from eating too many apples so I'm cautious about it now
I wouldn't waste them - collect them, let the horse have a few for treats and cook and freeze the rest to make pies, sauces, jams if you can't eat them or process them fast enough

 

[Kaifyre]

I'm super anal about anything my parrot eats, since so much can kill her, but I'm not hesitant to let her eat apples, even the seeds. For an Eclectus parrot weighing approximately 330 grams (typical of the species) the bird would have to ingest approximately 670 apple seeds, depending on the size of the seed and the potency of the seed's core, to show any signs of cyanide poisoning. The seeds would also all have to be ingested fairly quickly, as the natural stomach acids and the bacteria in the bird's crop would quickly begin to nullify the effects. Being as the average apple contains between 15-20 seeds, that's a TON of apples. Probably literally. And the phrase "eat like a bird" is not around for nothing. Akasha can absolutely destroy an apple in less than a minute ... but if you want her to actually EAT it? That single apple can keep her full all day and there would still be some left over.
So yeah ... if a 300 gram parrot has to inhale nearly 700 apple seeds to be poisoned, I think your horse will be fine as far as cyanide poisoning goes. ; )

-- Kai

 

[Smilie]

Yes, if he is eating a fair bit of fruit, apples are generally very high in sugar, so can induce IR/laminitis. Not advisable to feed them or any sugary/starchy treats to laminitics.

This, and on ahorse already sore footed, sure would worry about added sugar!

 

[Smilie]

Yes, our work horses in Ontario, lived in pastures with apple trees, they were also turned into the corn field , after harvest.
They worked hard, which is probably what prevented them from foundering worse then they did
I have learned to feed all my horse now, as if they could become metabolic.
Apples have lots of sugar, so why would you be careful as to what grass you turned your horse out onto, and for how long, and then let them eat apples free choice?
I don't think IR is related to pesticides , GMO products or pesticides. Fact remains that we now have enriched pastures, meant for cattle, or horses work way less then in the good ole days and, metabolic horses now are kept going, passing on their IR predisposition, rather then culled> Horses that had to be dry lotted, needed special hoof care, could not stand up to work, simply were removed form the gene pool
We haev more obese horses now, just like people, with type 2 diabetes more wide spread and affecting younger populations.

 

[Kaifyre]

I agree Smilie, a lot of horses today that are bred regularly would not have been allowed anywhere near the gene pool "back in the day". And horses in general are mostly pets now, instead of working tools, and therefore don't get the exercise they require.

-- Kai

 

[loosie]

So yeah ... if a 300 gram parrot has to inhale nearly 700 apple seeds to be poisoned, I think your horse will be fine as far as cyanide poisoning goes. ; )

-- Kai

Cyanide poisoning isn't the issue Kai, but sugar content is a big one ;-)

You have an Eclectus parrot?? I am often surprised to hear how many native Australian parrots are kept as pets in other countries.

 

[horseluvr2524]

@loosie my mother has a galah/rose-breasted cockatoo. They are HIGHLY popular here in the USA as they adapt to captivity very well and are much less likely to develop neurotic issues that other parrots do. They are also hard to get a hold of since Australia stopped exporting them from what I understand, but local breeders have been growing the population. The average cost for one here is $1500 to $2000. I could buy a nice horse for that! :lol: They are also considered a major pest in Australia?

I also kept several budgerigars at one point, and then had a cockatiel who was given to me who I then passed on to a breeder. Now my only personal bird is a peach faced lovebird from Africa.

Sorry about all the OT! I love birds, they are my 2nd favorite animal :wink:

I know a lady in Ohio whose Zorse and occasionally a horse or two had full access to four apple trees. I believe they were crab apples or otherwise just some very small type. Horses never got sick and I only saw them munch on them occasionally. Most of the time they were out and about grazing on the grass.

 

[WhattaTroublemaker]

I made applesauce today! They're still quite green right now, and there's not too many drops but I plan on picking most of them.

 

[loosie]

Yeah, Galahs are gorgeous birds, who along with white cockatoos & corellas, are prolific across Australia & do a lot of damage to crops, so considered a pest to farmers. Yeah, parrots are incredibly intelligent birds who are gregarious, usually mate for life & form strong social attachments. They are some of the reasons for their 'stable vices'. I would never keep just one, or keep them fully/mostly caged personally.

 

[Yogiwick]

I honestly don't care about all the overthinking stuff (the seeds are poisonous etc). Whatever. Also whatever with the sugar for a healthy horse (THOUGH where he has an undiagnosed lameness better safe than sorry, so yes I would do something about that, though he's young so I wouldn't think that's the problem).

But my thoughts are simply go eat a bunch of apples and tell me how your stomach feels, then ask the question again, would you want that for your horse?

He's not used to it and apt to pig out, and simply put a bunch of apples do NOT make your stomach feel good. So take an animal where stomach pain is a HUGE issue...

 

[Kaifyre]

@loosie Yeah by the time I posted the conversation had moved beyond the cyanide poisoning but I was just mentioning that information since it had been brought up earlier in the conversation. I agree that sugar content would be more problematic than cyanide poisoning for horses. ; )
I love my birdie! I actually wanted a husky lol but landlord said no dogs. He never specifically said no birds though ... that was nearly 3 years ago now and Akasha is my child. She's been harnessed trained so she's my copilot and goes everywhere I do (even to work occasionally - she loves to sit in the depot and chat with all the trainmen) but when we're at home she flies around the house all day long. I've even brought her out to the barn on several occasions and she loves to sit on Dreams's back and preen his mane lol! They're definitely not the right pets for everyone, but if you're willing to put the effort into training and caring for them they're the best.

 

[Acadianartist]

I made applesauce today! They're still quite green right now, and there's not too many drops but I plan on picking most of them.

You could freeze it and use it when you need to give meds to your horse! Worked wonders when Harley wouldn't take his meds. They LOVE applesauce! In small quantities of course, but a couple of tablespoons was often enough to hide the offending meds.