"Horses tend to be fed food that is cheap and local, so what they are offered will vary around the world," said Deborah Goodwin, lead author of the study. "We offer horses apples in the U.K., but in Japan they are expensive and people gift wrap them and give them to each other as presents."
Goodwin, a lecturer in applied animal behavior at the University of Southampton, added, "Colleagues in Tokyo have told me that apples are too expensive to offer to horses. My friend from Bangalore wasn't surprised that horses liked bananas. She tells me in India she would offer a banana to a horse as naturally as she would offer a banana to an elephant."
Goodwin told Animal Planet News that she and her colleagues began by offering six mares and two geldings of varying ages 15 flavors that currently or historically have been included in equine diets. The researchers added these flavors to standard cereal by-product meals.
The horses mostly rejected echinacea, coriander and nutmeg-flavored meals. In fact, one horse refused to eat anything flavored with echinacea or coriander.
In a second test, the researchers offered the remaining 12 flavors in pairs and calculated how quickly and how much the horses ate.
Previous studies indicate that horses love the smell of coriander, but they apparently do not like the taste of this spice very much.
Goodwin explained, "The senses of taste and smell are closely linked but not identical. For example, you may love the smell of coffee but not like the taste, or love the taste of Parmesan but hate the smell."
Christine Nicol, professor of animal welfare at the University of Bristol, told Animal Planet News that she particularly was not surprised by fenugreek and cumin making the list, since she said they have been determined to be "historically successful palatants."
Nicol and her colleagues conducted yet another recent study concerning horse feed. They examined the behavior of 17 foals that received either starch and sugar enhanced feed or food that had more fat and fiber.
The latter shares some similarities with the Atkins diet for humans, in that both aim to reduce glucose and insulin response.
The researchers found that horses fed the diet emphasizing fat and fiber appeared less distressed, seemed calmer and were more inquisitive.
Nicol said, "Horses interestingly seem to have a greater ability to increase their ability to digest and absorb fat than they can starch and sugar. They have been shown to be able to be fed up to 20 percent of their diet as fat/oil if appropriately introduced and of a suitable type."
Both Nicol and Goodwin suggested that feral and free-range horses eat a wider variety of foods than stabled horses.
Goodwin hopes owners will find out for themselves what their horses like.
She advised, "But only offer small amounts of novel flavors. Responsible owners will be aware that it can cause problems if they make sudden large changes to the bulk of a horse's diet."
