Are Peppermints Spoiling My Horse’s Diet?

Q.I have an extremely easy keeper who, after a summer spent grazing lush grass, gained a ton of weight and is now obese—I’d guess a body condition score of 8 (on a scale of 1 to 9). She’s now living on a drylot and getting more exercise to bring her weight down, and the vet suggested we soak her hay to reduce some of its sugars. I still give her five or six peppermints a day out of habit and wondered if that’s offsetting all the hard work we’re doing to help her lose weight.
—Elise, Tomball, Texas
A.Soaking hay is an excellent way to decrease sugars and calories in your horse’s hay. Research has shown that soaking hay for 16 hours at 8° Celcius (46.4° Fahrenheit) reduces the hay’s water-soluble carbohydrates (WSC, or simple sugars) by 27% (Longland et al., 2011)
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