Best hedges/trees for horse foraging

[paddi22]

What is the best hedging/tress to plant that would let horses forage and pick from them safely. I've tried googling but seem to get mainly American sites giving advice, so would be great to get some ideas of what works for Uk/Irish land. We get horses here on rehab that can't go on grass or have much movement the odd time, so would love an area where at least they can have fun foraging.

 

[MyBoyChe]

Im very lucky to have an old hawthorn hedge that runs the length of my fields, there are lots of nettles, cleavers and thistles growing in and under it which my boys love. Basically, anything that is sold as an expensive supplement will grow naturally somewhere, I chop nettles and thistles down and let them wilt in the field, the boys hoover them up. I think willow is also a favourite, my biggest lad does a fair impression of a giraffe trying to reach the lowest branches.

 

[wiglet]

My field also has a hawthorn hedge running across the bottom of it. The horses love it and spend hours 'flossing' on it!

 

[GinaGeo]

Mine get Ash and Hazelnut Branches to nibble on as that is what we have I have some Hawthorn trees that they nibble too.

We haven't got willow - but that is also safe and quick growing.

I also chop nettles and wilt them

 

[cauda equina]

Willow is brilliant - stick some branches in the ground and they will grow!
Mine like hazel too

 

[SpotsandBays]

Mine get Ash and Hazelnut Branches to nibble on as that is what we have I have some Hawthorn trees that they nibble too.

We haven't got willow - but that is also safe and quick growing.

I also chop nettles and wilt them

I’ve been thinking about chopping and drying nettles! Do you do anything after that or just give it straight to them?

 

[ThreeWBs]

I have gorse surrounding my fields. The horses eat it all year round, but especially love it when it flowers! It makes a fantastic shelter from the wind and rain too.

 

[Amirah]

I used to wilt the nettles for them but then I read the following and as nettles are high in iron it put me right off!

https://forageplustalk.co.uk/iron-overload-in-horses-by-dr-kellon/

Willow is very popular.

 

[GinaGeo]

I’ve been thinking about chopping and drying nettles! Do you do anything after that or just give it straight to them?

I Just give it to them - they like them best completely dried. I tend to dry them in bunches and hang them on the washing line - my neighbours do think I'm crackers.

On a really warm, dry day, they do dry enough just cut onto the ground

 

[Pearlsacarolsinger]

Our horses used to love foraging the hedges of a particular field with hawthorn, rosehips (dog-rose) blackberries hedges which were well-established. The trouble is that it takes years for the bushes to get to that stage. We planted hawthorn and dog rose 11 years ago and they are only just beginning to flourish.. The horses/sheep/bl**dy rabbits ate all the willow.

 

[meleeka]

Mine have loads of Hawthorn bushes. They also enjoy picking at the brambles. I strim nettles and just leave on the ground, but they don’t seem to mind picking them themselves either!

 

[Not_so_brave_anymore]

I'm lucky to have a very old hawthorn hedge- the ponies absolutely love it. Great shelter as well. I've just planted a few small sticks of willow, but I'm sure I'll get impatient and let the ponies at them too soon and kill them!

Mine also go crazy for the silver birch leaves when they come down in the autumn, but that's a tree not a hedge

The great thing about a hedge is that once it's established you'll probably find all sorts of goodies springing up- brambles (although I try to pickas many of the actual blackberries as I can as I'm sure they must be v high sugar?) , cleavers, cow parsley.

 

[Surbie]

I tend to dry them in bunches and hang them on the washing line.

Really good idea! I'll try that. I am sure my fellow liveries think I am bonkers ferrying buckets of cleavers, cow parsley & nettles to Prince Cobbus. He loves a good bit of hawthorn, and any willow is gobbled as soon as he sees it. We've got very well established hedges where he is now (not all of it is horse-friendly though) and he is in them a lot.

I'm moving to a yard with more exposed fields, no hedging (or streams) which will be miles better for his sweetitch but he will miss foraging in hedges.

 

[JoannaC]

Try Ashridge Nurseries, they do a horse mix hedge. We bought bare root but between the rabbits and next doors horses only about half have survived so far! We've ordered some more which will go in pots until bigger and then we'll be more careful planting them with rabbit prevention in mind lol
This is from their website

So, next up in terms of price is the Economy Hedge Mix – 70% hawthorn plus 10% each of three other native varieties. Please note that it does contain blackthorn, which some horse owners do not like, although it is widely found in paddock hedging.
For much more variety and no blackthorn, take a look at our Stock Friendly Hedging Mix – 50% hawthorn plus 10% each of five other horse friendly hedge plants.
Prepacked mixes are always the most economical way to buy hedging, in part because we choose what goes into them. You can, of course, concoct your own hedge recipe, or buy some other varieties to add to the ready mixed options. If you make your own from scratch, then always start with Hawthorn and make it at least 50% of the total. These are some of the classic choices:
Field Maple, Guelder Rose, Hornbeam, Cherry Plum, Dogrose, Sweet Briar, White Ramanas Rose and Red Ramanas Rose, Hazel and Common Dogwood.
Stay away from plants such as Spindle, any of the Buckthorns, Holly and Blackthorn. They may be fine for other livestock, but they are not suitable for equine hedges.
If you would like to have some mature trees in the hedge for added interest and shade, grow some Willow, Mountain Ash, Silver Birch or Small Leaved Lime.

 

[PurBee]

Im very lucky to have an old hawthorn hedge that runs the length of my fields, there are lots of nettles, cleavers and thistles growing in and under it which my boys love. Basically, anything that is sold as an expensive supplement will grow naturally somewhere, I chop nettles and thistles down and let them wilt in the field, the boys hoover them up. I think willow is also a favourite, my biggest lad does a fair impression of a giraffe trying to reach the lowest branches.

Mine love thistles too - its fun to watch them tackling the spikey leaves. My gelding digs away at them when theyre in rosette stage to remove the leaves, then he goes in for the centre lush root and bites a chunk off.

When they flower, they love eating the flower buds before they open, plucking them off gently with their lips!

Gorse is great fill-in hedgerow bush - its spikey so is great as natural fencing as horses wont want to push through onto the spikes to get to the neighbouring field. It grows fairly rapidly. This time of year it’s bright yellow flowers clusters are gorgeous and brighten up the landscape, they smell divine...mix of coconut and jasmin type smell....and horse love to pluck their flowers off and graze the young soft growing shoots.

 

[paddi22]

Gorse is great fill-in hedgerow bush - its spikey so is great as natural fencing as horses wont want to push through onto the spikes to get to the neighbouring field. It grows fairly rapidly. This time of year it’s bright yellow flowers clusters are gorgeous and brighten up the landscape, they smell divine...mix of coconut and jasmin type smell....and horse love to pluck their flowers off and graze the young soft growing shoots.

that's interesting, we have a gorse bush after appearing in the field. do you know if we can take cuttings of this or will it naturally spread?

 

[SEL]

My horses are lucky enough to have a very old hedge / trees on 3 sides of their field. It is beautifully 'trimmed' to 15.1h giraffe x Appy height. Turns out she can get fat on hedge when you restrict grass

In it which they eat - willow (we're on wet ground), hawthorn, blackthorn, dog rose, brambles, hazel, birch and ash.

 

[PurBee]

that's interesting, we have a gorse bush after appearing in the field. do you know if we can take cuttings of this or will it naturally spread?

Taking cuttings is possible and the fastest way to have more gorse than waiting for it to spread.
I have some very mature gorse and it’s spreading habit is it’ll grow another small shoot from the main stem, which becomes another branch, so it remains as 1 main stem but gets higher and wider as it matures.
Winds can break off the tallest branches.
To keep it nice and thick producing loads of flowers and tasty soft shoots is to prune it - which of course, horses will do when nibbling on it.

Try taking cuttings now - take some young very green tips, clear the bottom 2 thirds of the young stem of spikes, and poke it into firm soil/grit/compost mix. Keep them moist.

Also try some large woodier stems using the same method. Score off some of the outer bark at the bottom of the branch to encourage root development, poke 1/3 stem into soil/grit/firm mixture, keep moist...dont let cuttings dry out.

I had a bird drop a seed of gorse into my veg plot. The baby seedling appeared one year. I left it to see how fast it would grow - within 5 years the trunk was 2 inches across and it was 4 foot wide/5 foot high. Would have been bigger if i didnt trim it annually.

The years soon pass, before you know it youve got some serious thick gorse hedging.

Also what’s great about gorse is it stays green in winter and continues to grow slowly. So my horses nibble on it during winter....if youve got a stretch of it that would provide some winter nibbling fun for them..

They can never gorge on gorse due to the spikes! Ideal for fatties as it keeps them busy, having to take slow small bites...search out soft tips slowly....

A good tip- rotten manure feed your gorse once its rooted well insitu....it grows very slowly in sandy banks...yet in more nutritious soil will grow more ferociously.