[ad_1]
It’s impossible to imagine human civilization without the horse. Domesticated from wild horses about 6000 years ago on the steppes around the Black and Caspian Seas, the horse has been used to wage wars, hunt other animals, carry loads, pull carriages, and just for the pleasure of riding. and keep them as pets. In some places it must be said that they are also food for humans. The horse is a rather strict herbivore and we know that in the world of the Macbeth when Ross confirms that the king’s horses are eating each other. But what kind of “herbs” does the horse eat? Are they different for a horse that lives in the wild than for a horse that is a pet? Read on to find out.
What foods do horses eat?
horses eat grass, hay and other types of roughage. But before we examine this, something needs to be said about the horse’s digestive system, which can be surprisingly fragile. Everything that enters a horse’s gastrointestinal tract has to go one way, namely down, over and finally out. Because of the cardiac sphincter that closes off their esophagus and the angle at which the esophagus connects to their stomach, horses are unable to vomit and are subject to a condition called asphyxiation. Choking is not like food that goes down the wrong pipe for humans, because the horse can still breathe, but the food is trapped in the esophagus. Since the horse can’t vomit it, it’s not going anywhere. Choking is a medical emergency, one of many involving the horse’s digestive system.
Another thing to know is that the horse’s stomach is small for the animal’s size and empties when it is about two-thirds full, even if the food has not been fully digested. Therefore, it is ideal for a horse to graze all day rather than being fed one or two large meals. The horse also doesn’t have a gallbladder, so his system secretes bile all the time.
A horse’s digestive system needs a way to break down the cellulose in grass, but unlike a cow, it only has one stomach. The vegetable fibers that horses eat are broken down in their cecum, unlike a multi-chambered stomach. The cecum is the first part of their large intestine. Also called the water gut, it uses microbes to break down plant fibers. Once broken down, the food can be passed on to the rest of the colon, but the horse is still not free from home. The animal’s colon can be 25 feet long and has so many twists and turns that the horse is also subject to potentially deadly types of colic. That’s why it’s so important for a horse owner to monitor the horse’s diet and properly feed it with the right food.
Forages that are part of a horse’s diet include:
- Grasses such as bent grass, bluestem, brome, fescue and Kentucky bluegrass
- green hay
- Clover
- Lucerne
- Butterfly beans
- Vetches
- Yfoil
- Oats
- Maize
- Barley
- Wheat
- Bran
- Flaxseed, which must be cooked before being offered to the horse
- Fruits like apples
- Root vegetables such as carrots and turnips
Horses should also have plenty of fresh, clean water and a lick.
What do horses eat as pets versus in the wild?
A well cared for horse can have a varied diet that includes oats, wheat, bran and even molasses and cod liver oil, although it only needs some roughage, especially hay, plenty of water and a lick. However, a horse that is doing a lot of work or a horse that is growing, pregnant or lactating may require additional vitamins and minerals. Some owners give the horse extra sugar beets, but they should be soaked for at least half a day before feeding to the horse, as dry sugar beets can swell and cause another potentially fatal digestive problem. Some people feed their horses a commercial grain mix consisting of oats, corn, barley and other foods, along with hay. The best hay is still green, dry but not too dry. It is made from grasses and legumes and has stems, leaves and seed heads that are not yet fully open.
Horses living in the wild do not eat hay, which must be prepared by humans. A true wild horse, such as the endangered Przewalski wild horse, is also a strict herbivore, spending much of its day foraging where it lives. Mongolia. In addition to grass, he also eats beans, asters, clover, peas, vetch and cat grass. During the colder months, it eats the bark, twigs and fruits of trees and shrubs such as willows, apples, pears, pines, roses and alders. If there is snow on the ground, the horse will scrape it off to look for hidden grasses such as brome.
Wild horses such as the mustangs found in the western part of the United States also eat grasses such as Indian rice grass, wheat grass, and other perennial grasses. They also eat flowers such as sunflowers, coneflowers, and thistles, as well as the branches of maples, willows, sage, and junipers. Some will even eat soil, probably because of the minerals.
How do horses hunt prey?
As herbivores, horses don’t hunt prey, but when they nibble on grass, they inevitably pick up insects and small arthropods like spiders.
Which animals eat horses?
Even though they are large animals — a Shire horse can stand 1.7 feet high at the shoulder and weigh nearly 2,700 pounds — horses are prey animals. They descended from a creature that was no bigger than a small dog and weighed 12 pounds. Modern horses are still subject to predation by cougars, wolves, bears and coyotes. People also hunt and eat horses or even breed them for their meat, especially in Europe and Asia. Wild horses such as zebras are hunted by lions, cheetahs, leopards, hyenas and African wild dogs.
Next one: 8 birds with yellow boxes
[ad_2]
Source link