Francis found that horses selected anise more frequently (65% of the time) and banana and orange least. | Photo: Courtesy Kelby Fenton

Manufacturers often add palatants such as peppermint to feeds and medications to make them more appealing to horses. But which flavors do horses truly like?

Jesse Francis, a graduate student at Southern Illinois University, in Carbondale, tested common oil-based palatants to find out. She shared her results at the 2019 Equine Science Society Symposium, held June 3-6 in Asheville, North Carolina.

In her study Francis presented 10 mature stock-type horses with pelleted feed top-dressed with six flavors—anise, apple, banana, orange, peppermint, and spearmint—plus a corn oil control in paired comparison preference tests. They were allowed 15 seconds to sniff the palatants, then three minutes of access to consume the one(s) they preferred