Watermelons are a favorite snack during the summer when it is hot outside. So it's not surprising that you want to share a good thing with other people, even your horse friends. Unless you pickle them or cook them in a stir-fry, rinds don't taste very good to us. Our horses, on the other hand, will probably eat them with glee. But can your horse eat the watermelon rinds? Yes, that's correct. In small amounts, watermelon rind is OK. Your horse can also eat the ripe part, with the seeds and all. If you like melon, you might not like it for the same reason that some people don't.
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| Horse eating grass |
Watermelon has a lot of sugar from fruit.
One thing people are afraid of when they give their horse watermelon is that it has a lot of sugar. A watermelon is mostly water. In fact, watermelon is 90% water. That means about 10% of a watermelon is sugar. Diced watermelon has 0.5 grams of fiber and 10 grams of sugar in a cup. There are also a few vitamins and minerals in there, like vitamins A and C, magnesium, and phosphorus, but they aren't the only ones there.
Sugar is found in all plants. A cup of diced carrots, a favorite root vegetable for horses, can have about 6 grams of sugar. This is because carrots are often fed to horses by the bucketful. Natural pasture grass, which is what a horse eats, has sugar, too. At certain times of the year, the sugar in grass can be more than 25%. Over the course of a day, a horse will eat a lot of sugar. Only if they eat too much sugar can cause laminitis and colic. This is a problem only if they eat too much sugar in their grass.
When your horse eats a lot of watermelon, the sugar will start to hurt him.
Toxins in watermelon
A second thing that people worry about is that there could be toxins in the rind of the fruit. Unlike most cucumbers, a watermelon doesn't have a skin. Most people don't think twice about eating the skin or giving it to their horse, but watermelon skin is very different. People can pickle watermelon rind and eat it. There is no mysterious toxin in watermelon skin or rind that is dangerous only to horses.
One thing that some horse owners are afraid of is seeds. toxins can be found in the seeds of many fruits, but the amount is so small that it's not likely to cause any harm. It's even possible to roast the seeds of watermelon to make a traditional and tasty snack. Another thing to note is that because the seeds are so small, there is very little chance that they will cause choking. You can also buy seedless watermelon to avoid any worries about seeds.
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Before cutting into your watermelon, you might want to wash the outside. In some cases, the outside of the fruit may have been sprayed with pesticides or herbicides, or it may be full of bacteria like E. coli. These bacteria can get into the flesh as you cut through the fruit. That's bad for you and your horse. It's important to wash all of the outside of the rind with cool water and a sponge.
Everything should be done in small amounts.
When you feed your horse small amounts of watermelon or share your uneaten rind, that's fine. But if you feed your horse a lot of sugars, your horse might get colic or have other problems with its digestive system. Even if the food isn't properly chewed, chunks of it can cause a horse to choke. The rind of a watermelon should be cut into small, easy-to-eat pieces. Otherwise, there's no reason your horse can't enjoy this summertime treat in moderation, just like we do: in small amounts.