Eating logs?

[only_me]

I have a strange horse - he would prefer to eat the logs/sticks that have fallen off the tree over his hay - does anyone have an idea why?
I mean, at least he's eating some fibre but still, he isn't a cribber but likes to eat the sticks on the ground?! He's turned out on a woodchip area as fields currently looking like lakes!!
Anyone else's horse do this?

 

[LEC]

Ours love natural wood. None of them crib, eat their stables or windsuck but they enjoy eating natural wood if they have access. We have have a tree stump they love. Not much of it left now after 10 years.

 

[only_me]

That's good to know!
I'm hoping to teach him to fetch, would be a good party trick

 

[LEC]

They normally have a bonfire pile in their field at some point made from trees that have been trimmed. They will pick and pick at it until its just leaves and bits they do not want.

 

[Pale Rider]

I let ours eat branches off the trees I cut down, I always have a few logs in the turnout areas, they go mad for them. Just be careful not to let them eat trees which may be toxic, but most native deciduous trees are ok.

 

[Enfys]

Hay is easy to eat, it is boring, it requires little effort just suck it up.

Horses are natural browsers, many paddocks just cannot satisfy that urge.

I had this discussion with my Vet,(disregarding the teeth, vitamin issues) he says that horses need to browse/graze and the physical action of chomping on a log/branch goes some way to satisfying that urge especially in winter when grass is often hard to come by. They also may just like the taste too My mare herd have ad lib hay, they aren't ever hungry, but the trees in their paddock take a real bashing in winter, pine, willow, dogwood, aspen they all have teeth marks in them, I just let the horses get on with it they know what they are doing. Fence posts are verboten though, any beaver like tendencies and I throw an old fence post in there for the addicts to gnaw through.

Wood chewing (other than a snack of new shoots and bark) generally tends to be much less pronounced when grazeable grass is available.