my horse eats leaves

[CurlyWurlyRach]

should i be concerned?
I left curly tied up while i went to get her tack and when i came back she was eating a pile of dry leaves...shes on good grazing, adlib hay and HiFi so i doubt shes starving.

The leaves she eats seem to be oak, birch and conker tree leaves (dont know the posh name :o)

[Skye08]

mine do too :rolleyes:

[CurlyWurlyRach]

ah cant be too bad then :)

[Ella2004]

so does mine:d stopped while out on a ride today and she was gently pulling them off a branch with her teeth:rolleyes: strange ponio

[No_Angel]

ted has a favourite tree that he likes to eat and carries the branches down teh road with him:D

[Iron Maiden]

First time I tried to long line P she parked herself in the middle of the school & started to hoover up the fallen leaves. I had a giggling fit & couldn't get her to move for ages so I've no idea how many leaves she had but she's been fine since!

[Bay Mare]

Oh yes ... Saffy loves the leaves, dead or alive. She stopped when I was lunging her once and munched on a pile of leaves, you'd think that I never fed her :rolleyes:

She looks like a giraffe when we go down to the field:


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v146/TashaKat/SeptSafftheGiraffe.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v146/TashaKat/SeptSaffeatingtreesinet.jpg

[neen]

Fluke goes mad for leaves -- he balances like this for ages picking them off the high branches:

http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j305/ninblak/rear450.jpg

I don't think they're meant to have too many oak leaves, because of the tannin. Of course, oak leaves are Fluke's favourite :rolleyes:

[becs]

Ours pick at all sorts of leaves from time to time.

I don't think they're meant to have too many oak leaves, because of the tannin. true, but it's the young green leaves (and green acorns) that have the highest levels of tannic acid.

[Rowena]

Yes, my horse also loves leaves.
He lives at home, and I let them roam free around the garden (what once was a garden :D )

But each horse likes only certain types. My horse is fond of Mulberry leaves :eek: The other horse loves roses, and doesn't care for the tree varieties on offer...

[puzzles]

oak and maybe (i can't remember) chestnut (conker) leaves are poisonous.

[Mareish]

Be careful, they quickly become addicted to oak and horse chestnut.
Lily had severe liver damage from conker (horse chstnut) leaves

[Gracie]

Fluke goes mad for leaves -- he balances like this for ages picking them off the high branches:
I don't think they're meant to have too many oak leaves, because of the tannin. Of course, oak leaves are Fluke's favourite :rolleyes:

The picture of fluke is so adorable...

Cherry also likes eatting leaves right off the trees... little devil.!

[BeachRiding]

Yep! Gitcha keeps are trees as trimmed as possible, they look like a bunch or brocolis!

[Jessey]

Oak and conker should definatly be avoided when ever possible, they are poisonious and addictive :eek:
I was also told by a nutritionist a horse eating leaves esp in autum is a sign the grass is starting to loose its goodness and they are probably lacking in something, and thats a good time to start giving a vitamin and mineral supplement or to increase the available forage.

J x

[acw295]

Share pony loves dried leaves - she likes to snuffle them about with her nose before she eats them - I did think she was bonkers but at least I now know others do it too :D

I only let her have a few as I'm always worried she'll eat something she shouldn't. When we hacked out last week it was really windy and leaves were falling down around her - she tried to snatch them out of the air which was very cute :)

[countrybumpkin]

it is perfectly natural for your horses to eat leaves, afterall they are browsers, and in the wild will self select herbs and plants to fulfil their nutritional requirements.
If it is causing a problem or they are going mad for them, add a vitamin and mineral supplement (if you are feeding a forage based diet) like Think Complete Granules, or use a mineral block in the field (HerbiLIX is a new low sugar lick). Adding something like Devon Bank Herbs to the feed is also great at this time of year or when horses are stabled.
www.brinicombe-equine.co.uk will have some more info.

[virtuallyhorses]

it is perfectly natural for your horses to eat leaves, after all they are browsers, and in the wild will self select herbs and plants to fulfil their nutritional requirements.


Yes, horses are browsers but there is plenty of evidence to show that animals are no better at 'nutritional knowledge' than we are - this is simply an old wives tale. They will eat stuff that is bad for them, even toxic and have no way of 'knowing' their nutritional requirements. In the wild, if they make the wrong choices they die.

Oak is moderately toxic both dry and living. The toxins in Oak are called gallotoxins - this includes tannin but tannins are not the only problem. Both gallic acid and pyrogallol, are also produced on digestion and these are very harmful to the kidneys.

Some horses appear to get 'hooked' on some toxic substances (again disproving the nutritional wisdom myth) - bracken, oak and many other substances which will slowly poision the animal (by causing organ damage usually) but they seem to be drawn to the taste once they have eaten it a few times and the more they get it the more they want it. Probably very similar mechanisms to the ones that make us eat 'bad' tasting things.

However, don't panic. Like quite a few toxins a fairly big quantity needs to be eaten over time to cause problems. At the same time - we often don't know what or how much is being eaten so the safest course of action is to eliminate ALL toxic substances so that cumulative effects aren't building up over time.

Signs of oak poisoning can include depression, lack of appetite, emaciated appearance, poor or rough hair coat, dependent edema (fluid buildup under the skin under the neck, abdomen or on the legs), digestive disturbances (both diarrhea and constipation have been reported, with mucus covered or tarry stools), increased drinking, passage of copious amounts of urine which may contain blood, and death. As with most cumulative poisons - you won't see the effects until its too late. There is no antidote for oak toxicosis.

[Nik-n-Kia]

Wow

Kia loves hawthorn and beech leaves and scoffs cowparsley in the summer!!

Also scoffs the big squashy itchycoos off of the big roses bushes.

Are these poisionous anyone can't find them in me book of poisonious plants for horses not to eat!!!

Thought oak was vv bad????

Nikki xxxxx

[CurlyWurlyRach]

i had a word with the YO and explained that shes eating the leaves which might be bad for her and shes moved fields to a tree-less one :) thanks for the help :)