24/10/2026
🥕🥕🥕 Friday focus...carrots! 🥕🥕🥕
🥕 It’s carrot season!!! 🥕!! I bought my first sack of carrots this week, so I thought it would be a good time to give some carrot facts as I know that due to lots of misinformation out there about carrots, 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!
