28/11/2025
🥕🥕🥕 Friday focus...carrots! 🥕🥕🥕
🥕 It’s carrot season!!! 🥕
Due to lots of misinformation out there about carrots, I know some of you are very concerned about feeding them to your horses, particularly those with laminitis, EMS and Cushing’s etc. A carrot or two a day is absolutely fine, most things are in moderation! So if you are worried about giving carrots to your horse or pony, here are a few carrot facts to ease your mind!
🥕 Carrots are high in water - around 80% so they are a fabulous succulent!
🥕 On an as fed, fresh weight basis, carrots are LOW in sugar - around 4-5% per 100g of carrot.
🥕 They are low also low in starch on a fresh weight basis - making around 6% NSC in 100g of carrot.
🥕 Carrots are useful additions to winter rations of dry feed (hay & concentrates) as they are a more natural source of moisture-containing feed when many horses are fed unnaturally dry diets of hay and concentrates.
🥕 They are excellent training treats, great for hiding meds in and they can also help increase appetites and encourage horses to eat; particularly when grated and mixed into the feed!
🥕 Carrots are an excellent source of vitamin A - 100g of carrot more than meets a 500g horses vitamin A requirement!
🥕 Their naturally high vitamin A content makes them a fab source of antioxidants, particularly for our older horses!
🥕 Slice carrots into batons to avoid choke and for those with poor dental function, grated carrot added to the feed works really well!
I always feed carrots throughout ‘carrot season. There is absolutely nothing wrong with a carrot or two a day (my EMS horse always had them) and they are a fabulous little addition to a winter feed ration! There is no need to deprive your equine of such a wonderfully tasty succulent because of people misunderstanding their sugar content.
