Pine Trees & Grazing Horses??Poisonous or not??
- Thread starter Moonstar
- Start date
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kturner
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I just googled "pinetrees poisonous" there are lots of answers, one being Horse & Hound Forum, everyone seems to think they are.
Check some of the other google sites as well. First one says no, further down they say yes.
If in doubt - dont take a chance.
Check some of the other google sites as well. First one says no, further down they say yes.
If in doubt - dont take a chance.
most horses are sensible enough to not eat poisenous things if there's plenty of none poisenous food to eat if that makes sense? so as long as there's plently of food for them i shouldn't worry too much
I wouldn't worry. They taste nasty (get sap on your hands then accidentally in your mouth!) and are not appetite attractive. Our winter fields have a boundary of huge Douglas Firs. They are perfect shelter (they may as well be in a stable) but the horses never touch them - not to eat/gnaw etc. They rarely even scratch on them for some reason 
.. they use the other trees (oaks etc) to do the bum scratching..
The probably are poisonous but can't see a horse that isn't absolutely starving trying to eat them more than once!
.. they use the other trees (oaks etc) to do the bum scratching.. The probably are poisonous but can't see a horse that isn't absolutely starving trying to eat them more than once!
I'm not sure, I know leylanidi are and horses will eat them, I have a vauge memory of generally evergreens are not good, but TBH most fir trees have really spikey leaves (are they really leaves??????) so horses tend not to bother with them.
Don't know about Birish's reply, as I too have known plenty of horses that absolutely love pine needles. Just because they taste bad to us doesn't mean they do to horses.
Don't know the definite answer, but anecdotally I'd say no, not poisonous. I've never known a horse to get sick from pine needles & my old horse & donkey lived in a paddock with pine trees that they'd eat from regularly. Those 2 are both dead now
but they died in their late 30s from old age after healthy lives.
Don't know the definite answer, but anecdotally I'd say no, not poisonous. I've never known a horse to get sick from pine needles & my old horse & donkey lived in a paddock with pine trees that they'd eat from regularly. Those 2 are both dead now
but they died in their late 30s from old age after healthy lives.Horses in the wild eat a huge variation of vegetation some of which is 'known' to us a poisonous.
Homepathic medicines are based on kick starting the body into self healing and some, are again, known to us as 'poisons'.
My horse on hacks (take aways as he knows them!) will make a bee line for a particular tree or plant. This has regularly included pine. He has also on 2 occasions demanded to get a mouthful of acorn.... Maybe he knows something I dont...
Homepathic medicines are based on kick starting the body into self healing and some, are again, known to us as 'poisons'.
My horse on hacks (take aways as he knows them!) will make a bee line for a particular tree or plant. This has regularly included pine. He has also on 2 occasions demanded to get a mouthful of acorn.... Maybe he knows something I dont...
Most pine trees (including lleylandii) are toxic. That is, they are not immediately poisonous but if allowed to eat it often over time, it will poison them.
I wouldn't worry. They taste nasty (get sap on your hands then accidentally in your mouth!) and are not appetite attractive. Our winter fields have a boundary of huge Douglas Firs. They are perfect shelter (they may as well be in a stable) but the horses never touch them - not to eat/gnaw etc. They rarely even scratch on them for some reason
The probably are poisonous but can't see a horse that isn't absolutely starving trying to eat them more than once!
Sorry, too busy laughing at the image in my head of BIrish licking Douglas Fir sap off her hands!!!!!
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