Can Horses Eat Asparagus?

Our horses mean so much to us! Naturally, we want to give them the best nutrition possible. After all, aside from being our best friends, most of our horses are in regular work and need good food to fuel their lifestyle. With a wide variety of supplements, regimens, and options available, horse owners can quickly feel overwhelmed. While keeping their diets simple and full of grasses and legumes is great, not all vegetables can be safely fed to your horse. Asparagus is a vegetable that horse owners should avoid. It is on the ASPCA’s list of toxic plants.

Can Horses Eat Asparagus?

No, horses should not eat asparagus. Asparagus is considered by equine welfare groups and species experts to be toxic to horses. It’s hard to digest and can cause gastric upset and colic. Horse owners often want to try new vegetables because of their nutritional benefits, but not all vegetables are safe for horses. Asparagus is well known for being a very healthy vegetable for humans, containing many beneficial nutrients like the ones below, but do not feed your horse asparagus.

• Fiber: Asparagus is rich in fiber, which is great for our digestion.
• Vitamins: Asparagus has vitamin B-9, also called folate. It helps your body develop. People need it at times of growth, like during pregnancy or when they are a baby. If you don’t have enough folate, you might feel weak and tired because of folate deficiency anemia.
• Minerals: Asparagus is high in minerals like zinc, selenium, and magnesium, which are very are good for you. Zinc helps your body heal wounds and prevent sickness. Magnesium is a muscle relaxant that can help you sleep better, and selenium protects the cells in your body from damage.
• Antioxidants: Antioxidants found in asparagus help your body function more efficiently and make your heart healthy and strong.

So it’s natural that we want our horses to access all of these great health benefits. Still, horses can’t digest asparagus well, and it can make your horse ill. Always discuss dietary changes with your vet before implementing them. If you’re not sure, always err on the side of caution, and choose something else to treat your horse!

Can Horses Eat Fresh Asparagus?

Asparagus is a hard, fibrous vegetable that can be difficult for horses to digest. You might think that eating fresh asparagus provides your horse with the vitamins and minerals it needs, but a horse’s digestive system differs a lot from ours.

Can Horses Eat Cooked Asparagus?

Cooking asparagus will make the vegetable soft, but that doesn’t make it safe for our equine companions. While you might think cooking asparagus will make it easier on your horse’s digestive system, the asparagus still contains chemicals that cause allergic reactions in horses.

What Are the Risks of Feeding my Horse Asparagus?

Asparagus contains toxic properties that have not been fully identified yet. We aren’t quite sure which specific chemicals or part of the plant is bad for horses, so you can risk catastrophic illness even if you’re careful and selective about which parts to feed (stalks vs. heads, etc.). Your horse can develop allergic dermatitis, a type of allergic reaction that leads to itchy skin, open sores, and discomfort for your horse. Your horse can have itchy, red, scaling spots and be sensitive to touch and sunlight. The severity of the symptoms is directly related to the amount of allergen or toxin that came into contact with the horse, so play it safe and avoid asparagus altogether.

Another risk of feeding your horse asparagus is causing severe gastric upset. Horses cannot vomit (their bodies physiologically cannot!), so if your horse eats something that upsets its stomach, the food has to pass through the entire body. Here is where the problems begin. Asparagus is a highly fibrous vegetable that can cause intestinal blockages or gas build-up in horses and result in colic. Colic is a blanket term for abdominal pain in horses, and there are many causes. In any case, colic is considered a severe and possibly life-threatening illness. Once the asparagus has passed through your horse, he might have diarrhea.

Overall, horse owners should avoid feeding their horses asparagus and asparagus plants (especially the ferns).

Is Asparagus Toxic To Horses?

Yes, asparagus is toxic to horses. It’s listed on the ASPCA’s List of Toxic and Non-Toxic Plants. The poisonous compounds for horses are not yet fully understood, so please do not feed horses asparagus. There are many other safe and healthy options for vitamin supplements, so please consult with your vet or equine nutritionist if you feel that your horse needs something extra in his diet.

Do Horses Like Asparagus?

Like humans, horses all have different tastes, and some will like asparagus, while others won’t eat it. It depends on your horse as an individual. Most horses will likely avoid these plants, but you can never be 100% sure. This is why it’s essential that no asparagus plants grow in your horse’s field or even on the other side of a fence where your horse can easily reach it.

You never know if a curious horse will eat some of the ferns, and it might be hard to identify the source of your horse’s diet mishap if you aren’t aware of the asparagus growing nearby. Since some horses are more adventurous than others and some try to eat strange plants, always be careful and check your pastures and fence lines for potentially toxic plants.

Conclusion

In conclusion, asparagus might be an excellent choice for humans, but don’t feed it to your horse. Your horse can’t digest asparagus properly and eating it can lead to many harmful side effects. Since we haven’t identified the specific chemicals or areas of the plant that cause problems, it’s best to avoid feeding it altogether. We have many horse-safe options available on the market to address dietary concerns or nutritional deficiencies in horses, so save asparagus for us humans!

References:

Toxic and non-toxic Plant List – horse. ASPCA. (n.d.). Retrieved October 15, 2021, from https://www.aspca.org/pet-care/animal-poison-control/horse-plant-list.

Emerald Feather. ASPCA. (n.d.). Retrieved October 15, 2021, from https://www.aspca.org/pet-care/animal-poison-control/toxic-and-non-toxic-plants/emerald-feather.