Can Horses Drink Coffee?
One of the greatest pleasures of my daily life is having a cup of steaming hot coffee out on my front porch.
I’d have to call myself a purist when it comes to coffee.
I drink it bitter, black, and hot.
It really helps me get going every day.
This morning, I was having my cup of joe, watching the sun rise the last little bit of the way above the horizon line.
I didn’t have any plans for what I was going to write today, and I zoned out for a moment, staring into my mug.
And then the perfect question came to me: Can horses drink coffee?
The answer to this question is, no, horses cannot drink coffee. Coffee contains large amounts of caffeine, which can cause problems in horses such as irregular or rapid heartbeat and anxiety. While some of your favorite morning drinks, like peppermint tea, can be enjoyed by your horse, coffee is one drink to keep away from your equine friend.
In this article, we are going to get into why horses cannot have caffeine and some of the possible side effects of caffeine consumption.
We’ll discuss whether or not horses can have hot drinks, herbal teas, or coffee bean husks, as well as the use of stimulants like caffeine among racehorses.
Can horses drink tea?
Horses can drink or eat many different herbal teas.
Black tea is high in caffeine, and so should be avoided.
While green tea has some caffeine in it, there are possible benefits to horses that should be studied further.
People sometimes feed their horses herbal tea by mixing a few handfuls of the dried tea into their horse’s feed.
Some teas that are good for horses are:
Peppermint
Rosehip
Ginger & turmeric
Yarrow
Lemon balm
Rooibos tea
These teas all have different benefits for you and your horse.
If you’re interested, I’d recommend looking into each one to see its health properties.
Can horses eat coffee beans?
No, horses cannot eat coffee beans because the beans contain high amounts of caffeine.
Caffeine can cause unwanted problems to your horse.
Can horses eat coffee husks?
No, horses cannot eat coffee husks.
The trace amount of caffeine in coffee bean husks is still enough to cause unwanted negative side effects to your horse if they eat any decent amount of it.
It should not be fed to horses, and it also should not be used as bedding for horses.
They are likely to eat it and become ill.
Side effects of caffeine for horses?
As anyone who has had a caffeine overdose knows (Hello, college me!), caffeine does not always have pleasant effects on the body.
For the most part, horses seem to react to caffeine similarly to humans.
Some of the negative side effects associated with excessive caffeine consumption are:
Anxiety and “the jitters”
Rapid and irregular heartbeat, heart palpitations
Cold sweats
Insomnia
High blood pressure
Frequent urination due to caffeine’s diuretic effect
Fatigue (“the crash”)
Diarrhea
Extreme thirst
Vomiting and nausea
Confusion
Muscle spasms
Heart attack
Can horses have decaf coffee?
Decaf coffee still contains around 3% of its original caffeine content.
While it might not be the absolute worst thing in the world if your horse were to drink a bit of decaf coffee, you still probably shouldn’t give it to them.
Even decaf coffee has enough caffeine in it that racehorses can be disqualified if it is found in their urine.
Can horses drink hot drinks?
While warm water is fine for horses, I would avoid giving your horse hot drinks.
You don’t want your horse to burn their mouth.
Really there is no reason to give hot drinks to your horse.
And even when it comes to warm water, studies seem to indicate that horses prefer cold water, even when the weather is cold.
Can racehorses be disqualified for caffeine?
Yes, racehorses can be disqualified for having caffeine in their system.
The logic of this being that caffeine could possibly give the horse an unfair advantage in the race.
The compound theobromine, found alongside caffeine in chocolate, also can get your horse disqualified for the same reason.
It does however seem that you would have to give your horse a couple thousand milligrams of caffeine, probably five times or more the recommended amount of caffeine for an adult human, to give your horse any kind of advantage in a race.
At that point, you risk poisoning your horse.
It seems obvious that any benefit doping your horse with caffeine could give you would be overshadowed by the health risks to your horse, and anyways, you wouldn’t make it into the race once your horse tested positive for caffeine.
In 1998, a racehorse was disqualified for having theobromine and caffeine in their system from…a handful of peanut M&M’s!
In the wake of this, the College of Veterinary Medicine at Ohio State University ran a study where they gave horses 20 peanut M&M’s daily as a part of their diet to see if their urine would test positive for the two stimulants.
All of the horses that participated in the study tested positive for theobromine and caffeine from simply having those 20 M&M’s a day.
Just don’t give your horses coffee.
Caffeine is not good for them, and unless you give them a caffeine overdose, there aren’t any performance benefits.
An overdose of caffeine can cause your horse myriad health problems.
Plus, if your horse is competing, they could be disqualified for having caffeine in their system.
I can’t think of any good reason to give your horses coffee, decaf or not. I personally think you should stick to giving your horses almost exclusively water to drink, unless your horse has special medical needs as detailed by your veterinarian.
Always consult with and listen to your vet about your horse’s specific needs.