The commercial horse feed industry uses palatants to mask undesirable tastes of feeds and
enhance product acceptance. However, an unknown odour or taste may also hinder feed intake, due
to, inter alia, novelty. The objective of the study was to assess the horses’ response to novel diet:
five different herbs added alternately to dry, wet or wet-sweetened oats. Twenty adult horses were
given different diet combinations of a feed presentation and a herb: field mint, common yarrow,
common chamomile, common sage and common nettle, consecutively, once daily. The response to
novelty was assessed regarding traits showing the willingness to consume: times of olfaction and
consumption, times and numbers of intervals in consumption and drinking water, and the mass
of leftovers. The results show that properties of the herbs studied did not hinder the consumption
and only the odour of the dry common sage delayed the intake. Wetting or wetting and sweetening
the diet accelerated the intake. In conclusion, herbs in small amounts do not significantly affect the
willingness to consume feed. Although wet and wet-sweetened diet presentations may be novel to
horses, they increase the feed palatability and can be suggested for use when preparing horse diets.