Can Ponies Eat Carrotts

Answer 1

It probably did them no harm, but you want to be very careful about feeding corn or corn products directly out of the field because of the danger of corn mold and horses may colic or develop laminitis. cobs and husks can also cause choke if they are wolfed down and some horses can have an alergic reaction.

Response to additional detail: yes, many prepared horse feeds do contain corn. The corn that is used in those feeds is screened for mycotoxins and is safe.

As other people have indicated, there is a laminitis hazard associated with feeding corn. If a horse eats a large amount of high-carbohydrate feed all at once, the sudden load of starchy carbohydrate in his gut can set up a cascade of events that leads to founder. (It's a very complicated process to explain-- people have written PhD disertations on it.)

The trick to feeding any concentrate feed (that's grain-based feed) to horses is to start out in small amounts, feed only as much as absolutely necessary, feed small amounts several times a day, and feed on a regular schedule.

The trick to feeding corn is to recognize that it is a denser, higher-carbohydrate grain than oats, which is the grain of choice. You always feed corn by weight, never by volume, and you have to recognize that a pound of corn has more carbohydrate than a pound of oats, because oats have a higher fiber content than corn. So you have to do some ration energy calculations to know the amount of corn to feed.

Horses that are getting small quantities of grain, only a few pounds (2-5 pounds) are at much less risk of founder than horses receiving large quantities of concentrate feed, like racehorses, endurance horses, and some show horses. If you're feeding more than about 5 pounds of grain per day you have to start being very cautious about feeding it: spread it out over two or more feedings per day, and never change feeds suddenly.

Corn of itself is not bad for horses. Feeding corn (or any grain) carelessly can be very bad, even fatal.

Answer 2

Of course. Why not?