Field with oak trees - manageable or not?

[maya2008]

We're looking at a field that is otherwise a good size, has stables and access to hacking. But... it has about 8 large oak trees along the edges. If we fence the trees off in the autumn and remove the acorns (poo hoover?) would it be manageable? It's a nice location and a pleasant sheltered environment for the horses.

 

[windand rain]

Sounds lovely as long as you dont vandalise it and kill or fell the trees it sounds perfect. A poo hoover should deal with the majoority of acorns and must admit mine dont eat them anyway

 

[rabatsa]

I have 83 oak trees in my field boundaries. I fence them off if the horses have to graze those fields but usually let the sheep use them at acorn time to eat them up.

I did have a mare that would actively seek out the acorns though.

 

[The Xmas Furry]

I have oaks all round my boundaries, only one paddock in the centre is completely free and the adjacent one only has a third of a tree hanging over.

I find raking in the bare bits is fine and stops my 1 x acorn eater pretty easily. Ignoring in the long grass works too as by the time i use those paddocks after xmas they are pretty rotten or squashed in anyway.
Its a mast year this year, so much more than is usual in most places.

Otherwise the oaks are great for shade in the summer, just get an annual tree check for any potentially dangerous limbs each year (mine are getting done soon).

 

[meleeka]

I have them bordering one side of my field. I fence them off from around August til November but they don’t cause a problem really.

 

[scruffyponies]

I miss having pigs for this purpose... used to walk them over to the paddock for a couple of days in the autumn.
They were very happy to help.

 

[ElleSkywalkingintheair]

I have a few and tend to leave those bits of field till had a few frosts or have raked them up. Lovely trees and great for shade. Also acorns fall straight down so easy to gather them up.

 

[Sir barnaby]

We have a few sycamores which are bordering my summer paddocks, I rake up the leaves every day, and keep a constant eye on the paddocks at this time of year. As soon as all the grass has gone which I am stripping at the moment the horses will be going into a clean winter paddock. The farmer has promised to cut all the trees back as soon as I move over so they won’t be hanging over and shredding in the paddock Next year (It’s my first summer at this yard so wasn't a problem before ). This is the worst time especially when it gets windy, so as soon as the weather changes and the wind arrives I will move the horses it will be loads better and safer next year when we’ve trimmed the trees down. I’m just being very vigilant at the moment, there is lots of grass at the moment so The horses are happy to eat the grass and not grazing around the edges and because the paddock is alongside the road they are brought into a starvation paddock at night which is closer to the farm buildings, that has no trees overlapping it.

 

[irishdraft]

I have oaks on the boundary of my summer fields 2 of mine will eat them so I just electric fence them off .

 

[Shady]

I have them all over and I manage them without any problems. Some years they don't even produce that many acorns, which is easier, but the bit of extra work taping off areas doesn't really bother me or them. They are really great for shade over here

 

[Abby-Lou]

yes manageable just fence off, we used to have 3 trees on an old field, my new field is now full of crab apples LOL

 

[Cocorules]

I have oaks all round mine. I tape off for about four months a year.

I let the squirrels do their jobs collecting acorns and only attempt to clear up what the squirrels leave.

Fortunately there is enough field left that the horses have plenty of grazing.

I am never organised enough to do this, but if you can let the horses graze under the oaks before the acorns drop, it should mean that the grass is short enough when you come to clear up the remaining acorns that you can see them (or at least vaguely given the leaf fall).

I would love to borrow a few pigs for acorn clearance, but it isn't really practical.

 

[SatansLittleHelper]

We have a couple of massive oak trees in the fence line of one of our fields. We have never had an issue with the horses eating them..??? I suppose if they were literally starving then they might but they've never had the slightest inclination ?‍

 

[TheHairyOne]

Fine if they stay in one bit. We normally just rake up the acorns daily when they really start to drop

Having a large amount of tree arrive wasnt great though!!

 

[Red-1]

I have one overhanging 2 of my paddocks. I usually leave them as we have loads of grass and the horses have never bothered. One year I fenced them off because we had less grass and coincidentally it was a huuuuge acorn year. I went and cleared them once they had finished dropping.

To be fair, if we had a lot of trees it would be more of a pain. But, we have some sycamore too, and they are more problematic!

 

[meleeka]

A horse near me nearly died from eating acorns a few years ago. The same horse is currently hoovering up the huge amount of acorns and is so far fine so I really don’t get it. It’s been a huge crop here this year and they are massive.

 

[buddylove]

My ponies are on a track and we have a few Oak trees on the boundary. Does anyone know why none of mine graze the grass underneath the Oak trees, at any time of the year? They tend to stand underneath them for shade and often use these areas for toilets, but never graze them?

 

[twiggy2]

My ponies are on a track and we have a few Oak trees on the boundary. Does anyone know why none of mine graze the grass underneath the Oak trees, at any time of the year? They tend to stand underneath them for shade and often use these areas for toilets, but never graze them?

The probably don't graze it because they use it as a toilet.
OP oak trees areas to fence off and acorns can be picked up, as others have said they also offer fantastic shelter when needed.

 

[bouncing_ball]

We have a couple of massive oak trees in the fence line of one of our fields. We have never had an issue with the horses eating them..??? I suppose if they were literally starving then they might but they've never had the slightest inclination ?‍

It’s not got much to do with how hungry horses are. Some love the taste of acorns and seek them out and some don’t. I’ve seen horses when turned out canter straight to oak trees to look for the acorns that fell over night. Others in same herd uninterested.

 

[bouncing_ball]

A horse near me nearly died from eating acorns a few years ago. The same horse is currently hoovering up the huge amount of acorns and is so far fine so I really don’t get it. It’s been a huge crop here this year and they are massive.

Might be externally fine and not internally fine. Large quantities are pretty bad.

Why is the owner letting a horse that nearly died from eating acorns in the past eat large quantities of acorns?!?

 

[meleeka]

Might be externally fine and not internally fine. Large quantities are pretty bad.

Why is the owner letting a horse that nearly died from eating acorns in the past eat large quantities of acorns?!?

Because they are ****** (insert preferred insult here). ?

 

[meleeka]

It’s not got much to do with how hungry horses are. Some love the taste of acorns and seek them out and some don’t. I’ve seen horses when turned out canter straight to oak trees to look for the acorns that fell over night. Others in same herd uninterested.

My cob will do this. The others don't bother at all. He’s never hungry and always has access to forage, but seems to just really like them. I can’t risk having the trees unfenced because of him.

 

[rabatsa]

Why is the owner letting a horse that nearly died from eating acorns in the past eat large quantities of acorns?!?

Someone near here had a donkey on deaths door three years running from eating acorns. The vet asked why they let it near the trees when they knew they posed a problem. The answer was that they thought that the donkey would learn from getting ill not to eat the acorns.

 

[The Bouncing Bog Trotter]

I grew up in a house called The Oaks and we kept horses in our paddocks at home. The house and paddocks were basically built into a clearing in the centre of an oak wood, we were surrounded on all sides. In a really big acrorn year it was my job to go out with a barrow every day and pick up all the acorns. More recently I've fenced off the worst of the trees with temporary electric fencing.

 

[HashRouge]

We have quite a few oak tress, particularly round the border of the summer field. I just fence them off in the autumn if they are using that paddock when the acorns start falling. My 27 yr old has developed a thing for them in her old age and made herself very ill 3 years ago, so I have to be careful.

 

[Tiddlypom]

I’ve already fenced off the one oak tree that they can get to on the summer equicentral track. Some green acorns came down a couple of weeks ago. The squirrels usually do a good job of clearing them up, so I don’t do any raking or gathering. Should be able to remove the fence by new year.

 

[dorsetladette]

I have 83 oak trees in my field boundaries. I fence them off if the horses have to graze those fields but usually let the sheep use them at acorn time to eat them up.

I did have a mare that would actively seek out the acorns though.

We had a bad storm a few weeks back which knocked the acorns out of the trees early. We lost one of the sheep to acorn poisoning and anther one was very poorly for over a week.

I have a cob who is crazy about acorns, but I just fence off the 2 sides of the field with oaks in until the end of October, by then the acorns are either rotted, gone or I have raked them up.

 

[NLPM]

I think your plan of how you might deal with it sounds sensible, OP.

We did end up removing an oak tree after one of mine developed a bit of a taste for the leaves, and would stand on her back legs to reach, and go through fencing we put up. We tried for four years to live with it but she honestly was like a thing possessed I was concerned not only about the risk of her being ill but also injury from going through fencing. It did upset me to remove it but we have planted other trees instead (including three more oaks outside of the field).

She's never touched any of the other existing oaks though, and even with that one removed she hasn't moved onto the others! They are fenced off just in case, and I keep the lower branches cut as high as I can, and empty my wheelbarrow under them during acorn season as a deterrent too.

 

[SatansLittleHelper]

It’s not got much to do with how hungry horses are. Some love the taste of acorns and seek them out and some don’t. I’ve seen horses when turned out canter straight to oak trees to look for the acorns that fell over night. Others in same herd uninterested.

Fair enough. Just saying that mine just aren't bothered....we do rake them up if alot come down though to be fair but I think they are well harvested by the wildlife as we don't seem to get that many despite the size of the trees.

 

[Shilasdair]

My two had an oak tree in the field they were in last summer. They liked the tree for shade and bum rubbing but were totally uninterested in the acorns.
I tend to give them a lot of forage though. I guess it depends on the horse.