English Holly, leaves and berries

[expanding_horizon]

Is the consensus that English Holly, leaves and berries are not seriously toxic for horses, when growing in the hedge line? Google rather frustrating as is either silent, or refers to the much more toxic US or Japanese holly. thanks

 

[Burnttoast]

The Equibiome fb page has a post or two on it I think. I've planted holly in my hedges and used to pick it for the ponies when we were on livery. It used to be grown as winter fodder in some parts of the country.

 

[PurBee]

Likewise, when i looked into it years ago i got conflicting information online. I came to the conclusion, they can have some leaves but not loads. Yet even if they did go overboard on leaves, it’s unlikely to be fatal. The berries came up as being more toxic than the leaves. This is from horseextension.edu:


“Holly has an array of potential toxicants, but its potential to cause symptoms is quite variable and is highest in fruits when consumed at 0.28% of body weight if fresh and 0.71% if dried. In most instances of intoxication, the signs will be indicative of mild to moderate dysfunction and may include diarrhea, which lasts only a few hours. A lethal outcome is not likely. (From Toxic Plants of North America, Burrows & Tyrl)”


We have a fair amount of holly trees scattered around the tree belt - some of which the horses have access to, which is why i was keen to find out. The gelding munches it like candy and his poops were softer. They stripped a young holly of the trunk bark and killed it. Their poops were softer then too. I read afterwards holly bark contains copper, moreso than other tree barks, so then gave them copper supplement.

After finding out it wasnt absolutely fatal toxicity, and knew mine were eating some, when they had softer poops, i came to the conclusion it was ok in small amounts, leaves only.
Any holly in their area bearing berries, i trim right back - i didnt want to risk the berries if the leaves give softer poops. Hawthorn berries are ok AFAIK.
All said and done, i dont let them have full unbridled access to gorge on a very full tree - they can nibble on leaves of young branches that grow over the fenceline annually.
Gives them hedgerow variety without risk of issues.

 

[expanding_horizon]

Likewise, when i looked into it years ago i got conflicting information online. I came to the conclusion, they can have some leaves but not loads. Yet even if they did go overboard on leaves, it’s unlikely to be fatal. The berries came up as being more toxic than the leaves. This is from horseextension.edu:


“Holly has an array of potential toxicants, but its potential to cause symptoms is quite variable and is highest in fruits when consumed at 0.28% of body weight if fresh and 0.71% if dried. In most instances of intoxication, the signs will be indicative of mild to moderate dysfunction and may include diarrhea, which lasts only a few hours. A lethal outcome is not likely. (From Toxic Plants of North America, Burrows & Tyrl)”


We have a fair amount of holly trees scattered around the tree belt - some of which the horses have access to, which is why i was keen to find out. The gelding munches it like candy and his poops were softer. They stripped a young holly of the trunk bark and killed it. Their poops were softer then too. I read afterwards holly bark contains copper, moreso than other tree barks, so then gave them copper supplement.

After finding out it wasnt absolutely fatal toxicity, and knew mine were eating some, when they had softer poops, i came to the conclusion it was ok in small amounts, leaves only.
Any holly in their area bearing berries, i trim right back - i didnt want to risk the berries if the leaves give softer poops. Hawthorn berries are ok AFAIK.
All said and done, i dont let them have full unbridled access to gorge on a very full tree - they can nibble on leaves of young branches that grow over the fenceline annually.
Gives them hedgerow variety without risk of issues.

thanks. Yes hawthorne berries are fine (according to my vet and my overall understanding).

 

[PurBee]

I basically experimented with tolerance with mine after finding out they werent lethal/fatal like yew or sycamore, and knew they had eaten some leaves and hadnt died!

I had a cut log of fresh holly about 4 foot long 6 inch diameter they had to chew the bark, for copper, and they (likely moreso the gelding) stripped it overnight, and there were subsequent softer poops the couple days after. So i concluded leaves only, small amounts.
They get willow logs and birch only now.

The mare isnt that interested in holly, but the boy loves holly and ivy, ivy berries…so it does depend on the particular horse and their penchant for the mild toxic stuff.

 

[planete]

The commoners in the New Forest used to prune the 'blind' parts of hollies to supplement the diet of the ponies near the end of Winter. The leaves on the highest branches have very few if any prickly bits = blind. There has been a revival of the practice in recent years for nature conservation purposes to increase the amount of light reaching the ground which helps some plants and lichens. The ponies do not let the trimmings go to waste.

 

[TGM]

Purely anecdotal, but I've kept my horses for over 25 years in a field bordered by lots of holly bushes, including ones with plentiful berries and never had a problem.