Fishing in Equestria

[ggg-2 3,555]

In Leap of Faith, as the Apple family takes a personal family day, one of the activities the siblings do is relaxing under a shady tree as Big Mac fishes. Yes, fishing is canon now. But why would ponies fish if they are (presumably) purely vegetarian? Is catch and release all they do?

[XxConfusedUnicornxX 834]

I did some research and this is what I got...

 

"A biologist colleague from the Netherlands, Machteld van Dierendonck, who has studied horse behavior in Iceland and Przewalski horses in Mongolia, reminded me that pastured horses in Iceland are provided salted fish as a protein and mineral/salt supplement. She wrote, "In Iceland in winter, where horses are kept mostly at pasture with hay supplement, it is traditional for farmers to place salted herring in big plastic barrels out in the pastures. This supplement is very popular among the horses. The herds gather round the barrels about once a day and each horse takes several bites of the fish. During my field observations in 1999, a 150-liter barrel in a pasture of 34 horses was emptied in five weeks. It's pretty funny when you see a horse take a whole fish at once, and you see the tail extending out through the lips as the head and body are chewed. You can hear the bones crush in their mouths. Afterwards, you see them licking their noses and lips extensively. It is claimed that the fish provide salt, as well as vitamins A and D and selenium, which are reportedly deficient in the native hay and silage. You can also see 'dominance' behavior among the horses, as if this fish is a prized and limited resource. So in many ways, their behavior around the barrels of fish is as it is with a salt/mineral lick."

 

Source: http://www.thehorse.com/articles/13831/follow-up-carnivorous-horses

[pony.colin 156]

Go to episode 7 Season 1, Fluttershy beat you all to it a long time ago: 

 

 

I did some research and this is what I got...

 

"A biologist colleague from the Netherlands, Machteld van Dierendonck, who has studied horse behavior in Iceland and Przewalski horses in Mongolia, reminded me that pastured horses in Iceland are provided salted fish as a protein and mineral/salt supplement. She wrote, "In Iceland in winter, where horses are kept mostly at pasture with hay supplement, it is traditional for farmers to place salted herring in big plastic barrels out in the pastures. This supplement is very popular among the horses. The herds gather round the barrels about once a day and each horse takes several bites of the fish. During my field observations in 1999, a 150-liter barrel in a pasture of 34 horses was emptied in five weeks. It's pretty funny when you see a horse take a whole fish at once, and you see the tail extending out through the lips as the head and body are chewed. You can hear the bones crush in their mouths. Afterwards, you see them licking their noses and lips extensively. It is claimed that the fish provide salt, as well as vitamins A and D and selenium, which are reportedly deficient in the native hay and silage. You can also see 'dominance' behavior among the horses, as if this fish is a prized and limited resource. So in many ways, their behavior around the barrels of fish is as it is with a salt/mineral lick."

 

Source: http://www.thehorse.com/articles/13831/follow-up-carnivorous-horses

Embrace your inner omnivore equines, you know it to be true.