Acorns - are they always poisonous?

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Tonty Tont

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I know of a woman who's pony searches out acorns and eats quite a lot of them, but has been doing so for many years without any ill effects :confused:

Does this mean that some horses are immune to the poisonous effects of the acorns?

Thank you, I'm really puzzled by this :)
 
a copy and paste as I think it explains quite clearly....

Poisoning by oak is usually seasonal, being most common in spring when the young buds or leaves are eaten and the autumn when the acorns are eaten. Oak leaves and acorns contain tannic acid which is poisonous to horses and though eating a small number of leaves or acorns is almost certainly harmless, they can also be addictive, and once a horse has acquired a taste for them they can actively search them out. Also some animals seem to be more suseptible to oak poisoning than others with individual animals having different levels of tolerance.
Oak poisoning causes gastroenteritis and kidney damage.
Symptoms include:

lack of appetite
staring coat
constipation followed by diarrhoea which may be bloodstained
abdominal pain
depression
blood in urine

There is no antidote. The horse is treated with drugs to reduce the pain and control the diarrhoea, antibiotics may be prescribed.
 
I found this.
Squirrels, birds and deer eat acorns with no apparent problems. These free roaming species search out the less bitter tasting acorn varieties (less bitter means a lower tannin level). Stored and ripe acorns that have been soaked due to rain will also be lower in tannin. Tannin is water soluble and leaches out. It is important to note these animals have access to other foods which will help buffer and dilute the tannin.

Poisoning due to the ingestion of acorns is rare in horses which have access to plenty of good quality forage. An occasional acorn throughout the day should not harm a healthy horse with a digestive system full of long-stem fiber.

The ingestion of buds and spring leaves should be avoided. Make sure low hanging or broken branches are removed before they can be eaten. Providing plenty of forage will help deter horses from eating these forbidden windfalls.

Occasionally a horse will develop a taste for acorns. Such an individual would rather eat acorns than good quality forage. If your horse is one of these fanatics you will have to remove the horse from the pasture which contains the forbidden nut.

The signs of acorn poisoning can be: loss of appetite, excessive salivation, blood in the urine or manure, colic-like pain, slow or irregular heart-rate, elevated temperature, pale mucous membranes, watery eyes and a depressed attitude. In the early stages manure is hard and dark in color; the horse may be constipated. Often, in the later stage, the manure changes to diarrhea. Mouth ulcers may form; salvia may escape from the nose. In extreme cases liver and kidney failure ensues and other organs begin to hemorrhage. Some poisoned horses may develop laminitis.

In addition to the toxins created by the tannin in the acorns, there may be toxins released into the horse's system due to the sudden introduction of a "new feed".

When the balanced microbial population in the large intestine is disrupted by the sudden introduction of different feeds laminitis often results. Large numbers of beneficial bacteria die and poisonous endotoxins are released into the bloodstream. Blood flow to the hoof is restricted and the connective tissue (the laminae) between the hoof wall and coffin bone begins to die. If the inflammation is prolonged the coffin bone will rotate downward. The rotation of the coffin bone results in a condition called founder.

Horses that are extremely sensitive to tannin or have eaten large quantities of oak leaves, bark or acorns may die.
Click to expand...
http://www.thewayofhorses.com/10_08_acorns.html

If it was my pony, I'd fence off the oaks.
 
There was a post on British Dressage forums on Monday from someone who had Oak trees in her field, but thought that by bringing the horse in at night and making sure it had plenty of hay that it wouldn't eat the acorns.
It has just been put to sleep and the scenario that was described leading up to this was pretty horrific (they took it to the vet hospital to see if anything could be done).

I have copied and pasted what was written, the person owning the horse posted this as a warning to other horse owners, if I had oak trees in my field I would be raking up what I could and disposing of them and fencing off round about the tree's, better safe than sorry.

"On Friday night I lost my horse of a lifetime to acorn poisoning. I had read recent warnings, and I thought I was guarding against it by bringing my horse in at night to limit his time in the field, to fill him up with hay so he wouldn't eat them, and I gave him a liver tonic to boost his system. It wasn't enough. I'm pasting below what I posted on another forum on Saturday. I need you to understand how terrible it can really be so that you can protect your horses. I honestly didn't have any idea just how serious it could be.

On Friday I got to the yard around 6:45 and he was laying down in the stable. I knew instantly something was wrong as he would always be up before my engine was off. The stable light wasn't working but I could see his back legs were dirty. I got him up and out and was on the phone to my vet straight away. While he was tied up he did a liquid poo that was almost entirely blood. I put him back in the box and fetched a friend as I was quickly losing it, almost in hysterics as I knew it just didn't look good.

The vet finally came at 7:30. It was'nt good and she tried to suggest pts right there. I had to give him a chance so YO went to start lorry and we got him on. He was happy to walk, he knew we were trying to help him.

I travelled standing next to him stroking him to whole way. It was the longest journey of my life though YO drove as fast as she could. We took him to the vet college as that's the closest.

We mus have arrived around 8:30. They took him and we had to wait. They put him on drips to rehydrated and blood transfusions. At around 10:30 we could see him. He had perked up and had some hayelge but vet said he only had a 10% chance. We were told to go home and wait for her call in the morning.

Sadly she called at 3, that he had gone downhill and we should come in. My friend drove my mum and I there. He was so poorly, clammy and shaking and I knew they had cleared the blood out before they let us in. There was no option, no choice so we had to say goodbye and he was pts. I didn't stay, I didn't want to remember him that way.

They will do a post mortem on Monday, but I think it was acorns. I don't know how I can forgive myself, I feel that I failed to protect him and keep him safe.

I'm totally and utterly devastated. He was my first and only horse, my family, my best friend and my world. I honestly don't know what we will do without him. I still can't quite comprehend the situation, I'm struggling to make sense of it all. How is it possible for it to happen so fast? He was only 11, he had so much left to do.

I'm not a religious or spiritual person, but he truly touched my soul. He was such a special horse, we were so close and I always knew he was looking after me.

I don't know how I am going to move forward. He has left a gaping hole in our lives. I know I have to have horses in my life but I don't know how I'll do that. Saw some yesterday and had to run away. I feel that I need to spend time with horses soon as otherwise it will be too late and too hard but I don't know how. Trio was always my healer and now he is gone.

I always believed he was with me for a reason. He taught me so much. But I just don't feel his job was done. I jus have to try and believe that fate felt it was his time and I just have to try and remember him for who he was.

You just don't think it will ever happen to you. I always thought he would be with me into his 20s, mum said that she thought they would grow old together. I can't understand that he's gone. I thought he would be the 10% that pulled through.

RIP my beautiful wonderful boy. You were so much loved and cherished, we would have done anything and everything for you. You gave us the world and you will always be in our hearts. "
 
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