Eating Thistles and Nettles

[Supercali]

Not me - but the horses :p

There are 2 corners of the field that are quite rough and the horses haven't been eating there so I pulled out thistles and nettles and left them on the ground (there were quite a lot).

When I let the horses out they rushed over there are started eating the thistles and nettles I had just pulled out. Will this cause them any problems? It looked painful to me but they weren't bothered!

[baxter]

not at all, don't worry about it.....
horses often eat when they need things, nettles relates usually to their waterworks and not sure about thistles but thats why grazing land should include bushes etc etc... so horses choose what they "need" and "want" to eat.

[andreaB]

i think nettles are supposed to be good for horses , mine always eat them late in the season when they are dying off

[nat17]

They are all extremely good for your horse, nettles are used to help with arthritis I believe :)

[Dales_Lover]

Nope - Ebby just loves the thistles in the summer, and eats any nettles when she needs them :)

[Supercali]

They are all extremely good for your horse, nettles are used to help with arthritis I believe :)

Sherry should be leaping aout tomorrow then :D

Why didn't they eat them before I pulled them out then? Horses, I'll never understand them :p

[jinglejoys]

Supacali,they were probably furious you'd pullede out the thistles and were rushing to eat them before they wilted and the prickles really got nasty and dry ;)

[swerve]

Being pulled out means the horses can eat them backwards, avoiding the prickles. My boy loves when I cut him thistles, esp. the purple flowered ones!
It's like my friend says to her horse 'Here, Shenada, have some sweetfeed' and I'm like 'Hey Skye! I got you some *thistle*!' :rolleyes: He loves me, I'm sure of it...

[artemis]

I read that nettles were a good source of iron.