corn stalks

[cheval]

Some doofus barn owner up the road thought it was a good idea to feed his horse corn stalks (and who knows if any of the kids that board their horses there). I got a frantic call last night from our barn owner asking me to go and feed the horses and close the barn up because she was running this horse down to OSU vet clinic to try and save it.

Had a really bad impaction. I still haven't heard if he made it. Hopefully our vet will give this guy an earful on what's proper to feed horses and what's not. The OSU vet's said the poor horse had fiber overload. They were feeding mostly alfalfa on top of that.

Some people...

[gaited07]

Wow, hope the horse is okay, then give the owner a ear full.

[Equine_Woman]

Oh man. How sad. I hope the horse makes it!

[valleyrider]

Oh, I hope he is OK,, I give my boys the part I peel off of the ears of corn. Is that ok to do? :huh:They love it. The most would be from about 6 ears of corn. They seem fine after they eat it..

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[jeezitsjacki]

ughh seriously people!! I hope the horse is ok

[outriding01]

Why do people think it's ok to be in charge of the care of a living being and have little idea of how to properly care for it?

[shynbvs]

i hate how ppl can be so stupid around horses!

[grandmadeb]

So many people don't realize how delicate the digestive system of a horse is. That and how delicate their skin is. Yes, they are big animals, but so darn delicate in so many ways.

[JetLagaside]

I sure hope he's ok and that they give him the full long lecture!

[Ranger44]

I hope the horse is OK. But, my vet feeds her horses corn stalk bales. They seem to be fine. I wonder why it works for some and not others.

[WashingtonBay]

Huh - Well I gave mine the cornstalks when we grew corn, but just a couple a day. A big overload of something new and rather fibrous, might've been what did it, particularly if it had some underdeveloped ears on it too that were not harvested. I'd give those too, but I'd peel them so they didn't eat them as one bite, and I usually removed the silk, just because it didn't seem good.

[AppyLady]

I sure hope the horse is okay.

We used to grow a little sweet corn -- much more than we could ever eat. Most of it would get cut and baled and fed to the horses. They LOVED it!

But then, my horses have cast iron stomaches. :)

[Gypsy Rose]

Yikes! I hope the horse will be okay.

[Horseless]

hummmm ** mental note to horse, do not feed horse's corn stalks** :eek:

huh I thought corn talks were ground up in horse and cow feed???

[cloedoll]

Gah, I'm sorry...I hope the horse is ok.

[luv2show]

Oh no!
Hope the horse will make it.
Tanner loves corn stalks lol.

[Toodlestoo]

Every year, we put up a halloween/thanksgiving display with hay, corn stalks and a few pumpkins. And...every year, the horses reach over the fence and eat the corn stalks! We never thought it was a big deal and they never had a problem. Now, I'll be more careful!

[WashingtonBay]

I think the danger, toodles, is in the quantity.

[cheval]

From what it sounds like the OSU guys say no corn stalks are good for the horse, no matter the quantity. Apparently they can't digest it well and even in small amounts can start a blockage that leads to a bigger blockage and then impaction.

It might be that people who've fed them have just been lucky. Still no word on the horse, the last news I got was that it wasn't looking good. :(

[FatSpottedAppy]

I've fed them to my horses before, but not a lot at the time. My horses have always been perfectly fine.. But either way, I hope the horse makes it. Keep us updated...

[cheval]

Like I said, horses apparently aren't meant to digest the stuff so even something small could lead to a big problem. Seems like too much of a gamble!