Horse eating bark/branches of trees

[lynspop]

A former livery of ours has now taken up the habit of stripping bark of trees and eating it, as well as eating small twigs and branches etc.
Just wondering why some horses do this? I presume it may be to do with some sort of nutritional deficiency? Or the horse is just displaying a sort of Pica behaviour?

 

[Tinypony]

Horses are meant to eat some trees. However, if they ring bark them, the tree will die.

 

[saddlesore]

Mine eats twigs etc. He's fine, teeth recently done, weight good-ish (bit tubby) and he has a well balanced diet. I think some of them just like the texture!

 

[MagicMelon]

I actually give mine a supply of tree branches (decent sized ones, not twiggy ones and ideally with leaves on (safe ones) which they adore) to stop them nawing our wooden fencing. All horses I've ever had have enjoyed stripping bark off, they all get plenty of fibre and a balanced diet etc. - they just seem to enjoy it!

 

[NeverSayNever]

yeh, mine has wrecked my neighbours cherry tree vet happened to be out doing teeth and i mentioned it as i was a little worried and he just laughed

 

[HollyWoozle]

My pony Cosmo had a pet log for a while. He nibbled the bark off of it and stood with it for hours.

 

[Ottinmeg]

my daughters horse was on a mission to completely eat his field fence and succeeding! Ashe was talking to another livery who works for a nutrition company and she mentioned he might have an acidy gut or a startch intolerance so she switched him onto top spec feed and he has since left the fencing alone.

 

[Tinypony]

Oh dear, mine are already on Top Spec.