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Conference noted::equitation

Title:	Equine Notes Conference
Notice:	Topics List=4, Horses 4Sale/Wanted=150, Equip 4Sale/Wanted=151
Moderator:	MTADMS::COBURNIO

Created:	Tue Feb 11 1986
Last Modified:	Thu Jun 05 1997
Last Successful Update:	Fri Jun 06 1997
Number of topics:	2080
Total number of notes:	22383

1802.0. "What do horses eat????" by KITYKT::GITA (recycled stardust) Tue Sep 14 1993 08:34

    I have a question to ask.  
    
    Background info first:
    
    A friend of mine has about 150 pounds of whole dried peas.  Don't ask
    why.  They were bought years ago and have sat in storage since then. 
    They now take an impossibly long time to cook so my friend decided to
    feed the peas to the birds.  They wouldn't touch them.
    
    Then he thought about soaking them overnight to at least soften them
    up before trying to feed them to the birds.
    
    He asked if horses would eat them, if they were properly softened.  I
    didn't think so, but said I'd ask in the notes file.  I know what
    uncooked peas and beans can do with a human's intestinal track, and
    wondered if the same thing would happen to a horse.  If so, I would not 
    want to be riding behind that horse!
    
    Question:
    
    Would horses eat soaked whole green peas?  If not - would cows or
    geese?
    
    Would anyone like them? FREE.....
    
    Thanks,
    
    Gita

T.R	Title	User	Personal Name	Date	Lines
1802.1	Plant Them.	SOLVIT::BRIGGS		`Tue Sep 14 1993 09:08`	3
	Wait until srping comes and throw them aroud the pasture, maybe they will grow. I'm sure horses would eat the young tender sprouts.
1802.2		POWDML::MANDILE	medium and messy	`Tue Sep 14 1993 10:38`	13
	I wouldn't feed them to livestock.... However, see if you can get in contact with someone who raises show and/or racing pigeons. Dried peas are the #1 ingredient pigeon owners use when mixing up their own feed. (cracked corn and barley are some of the other ingredients, FYI) Or, use them in a compost pile for a garden, or put directly in the garden to decompose for next year! Lynne
1802.3	Thanks	KITYKT::GITA	recycled stardust	`Tue Sep 14 1993 11:38`	7
	Thanks for the suggestion, Lynne. I looked in the PET_BIRDS notes conference and have sent mail to one of the people who raises birds and has a "hotline" number listed. I'll let you know what happens. Gita
1802.4	Beans, beans they're good for the heart	DECWET::JDADDAMIO	Seattle Rain Festival: 1/1-12/31	`Wed Sep 15 1993 17:29`	17
	I had this vague memory of horses being feed dried beans and/or peas when I was a kid. So, I checked it out. They were indeed fed to horses and until as late as the 1950's early 1960's information about how to use them appeared in reference books. The beans gardeners know as Fava beans were called "horse beans" because they were so commonly fed to horses. Unfortunately, no modern reference on feeds that I have discusses how to feed them or even mentions why they are no longer used. BTW, I doubt that it was for the "gas attacks" allueded to in an earlier reply! :-) Beans cause gas in the human intestinal tract because we are not designed to digest celullose and other components of the bean. Since grass is mostly celullose, horses are able to digest the stuff better than we can. There was a quote in one book from Capt Hayes(a 19th century author on horse care) that said beans and peas were best used as a supplement for horses being fed starchy grains but no details were given.