What NOT To Feed To Your Horse

[MissDanni]

Making a list of things NOT to feed a horse, please add to the list if you know of anything else.

Thanks

ragwort (plant)
oleaner (plant)
yellow star thistle (plant)
rhododendron (plant)
grass clippings
peanuts

 

[freemotion]

Wilting strawberry, raspberry, or cherry leaves in any quantity.
Red maple leaves (not just the decorative red maples, but the ones with red leaf stems...know your maples!)
Lots of red clover. A small amount is fine.
Yew!!!!
Lily of the valley!!!!

 

[MissDanni]

Wilting strawberry, raspberry, or cherry leaves in any quantity.
Red maple leaves (not just the decorative red maples, but the ones with red leaf stems...know your maples!)
Lots of red clover. A small amount is fine.
Yew!!!!
Lily of the valley!!!!

A friend of mine had a mare that got into red maple. The poor thing got really sick and it cost $1500 for the vet to "fix" her. Unfortunately, she didn't recover and there was an addition bill for having the vet come and put the poor girl down.

It was an awful mess.

I should have remembered that and added it to the list!

Thanks a bunch freemotion!

 

[miss_thenorth]

http://www.omafra.gov.on.ca/english/livestock/horses/facts/poison.htm

 

[patandchickens]

There are some good 'poisonous plants' lists out there for horses, you'd really be a lot better off consulting one of those, prefeably one aimed at your particular geographical area.

But in general, the most common things that get peoples' horses in fatal trouble are:

Yew
Oleander
Red maple (note usually leaves are not red except in fall)
Locoweed

Plants that you don't want growing in your pastures because they sometimes cause problems:

Alsike clover
Bracken fern
Cherry of any description (wilted leaves are the problem)
Oak or walnut (rarely cause problems)
Milkweed, buttercup, horsetail (rarely eaten)
Apples or other fruit trees (b/c horses can colic eating large quantities of fallen fruit, green or ripe)
Laurel/rhododendron/azalea

Plants that frequently cause problems in specific conditions:

Fescue with endophytes (i.e. most fescue) causes problems in late pregnancy and early lactation
Clover with endophytes causes harmless but really gross "clover slobbers" in summertime

Things not to feed your horse:

excessive amounts of anything
more than tiny amounts of anything novel
things that if not chewed well can choke a horse (small whole apples, large carrot chunks, corncobs)
meat (yes I know, some show horses have eaten many a hamburger and never colicked, but others are not as lucky)
fresh lawn clippings

This is not a comprehensive list, but it's the things most-commonly causing problems

Good luck, have fun,

Pat

 

[ducks4you]

pat and chickens wrote:Apples or other fruit trees (b/c horses can colic eating large quantities of fallen fruit, green or ripe)

I moved my orchard out of the fenced in pasture, when I got new fencing, but I left them one tree. They start working on that one apple tree as soon as the fruit is edible. 4 horses on one middle sized tree keep it cleaned up. Ten years on the property, NO colics, from apples or other fruit trees.
Did you know that they'll eat peaches?!?!?!?

I do agree, you have to be a policeman about what they eat.
Here is ONE more:
NO NEW FAST-GROWING SPRING GRASS!!!! They will overeat and get grass founder. MY south pasture is now chained and off limits for free grazing until June. I will let them all out on it for a couple of hours at a time, but only when I'm there, and then I take them out.
My turnout around the barn is torn up, and my big north pasture is clover, kept clipped short by the herd. (We also ride there.)
We have the summer slobbers, too.

 

[sterlng&sierra]

Black waulnut (especially as bedding)
Red Clover in large amounts.
White clover in large amounts, I think (Correct me if I'm wrong) can give horses an allergic reaction which causes blistering and peeling of any skin covered in white fur, especially face and leg markings.

One of the two clovers (again, I think it's white) causes a mre of mine to lactate a bit, it's the wierdest thing, but it's not bad!

 

[ohne]

Tansy Ragwort

 

[shj09]

I am so glad for this post! Thank you all for all the info about the "grass" and all the things my horses should not eat. My dad is fixing to plant grass in the area that the horses stay in, does any one have any idea what kind of grass that should be planted? Thank you!

 

[ohne]

Contact you local Ag Extension Office. They will know what will grow well in your area as pasture.