horse chestnut trees...friend or foe?

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Marilyn

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Hi,

We've recently moved house and have a gorgeous horse chestnut tree in one of the fields....some people say that this is poisonous to horses, others say that it has health benefits...any thoughts?
 
That's encouraging...it seems such a shame to fence it off as it does provide super shade...I've seen both horses nibble the odd leaf but nothing substantial
 
I will stand corrected if someone says otherwise.
There is a poisonous plant website and I don't think it's on there.
Oaks are more of a problem with the acorns
 
I think conkers themselves are toxic but not attractive to horses anyway. We used to worry about ours eating the leaves and sticky buds in spring but the vet said these are fine, in fact you could put them in a salad!
 
We have one in the corner of our field and it never seems to have done much harm - and I have seen the horses eat the leaves. It actually provides good shade and shelter. The horses don't eat the conkers.
 
it also depends on the horse ! H is always eating them and is fine, although at old yard had one in corner of field, horse went out in field got very ill, yet the other 3 in with her did not !!??? she was ageing (sp)
 
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