Horse "Friendly" trees!

[nikk62]

Hi,

We are just in the process of buying our own land and want to plant some trees in and around the paddock.

Can anyone recommend the "best" trees to plant ie. non poisonous!

We think that they will make some good shade in years to come and bottom scratchers!!!

Thank you.

 

[Auslander]

Ash, Birch and Willow are all fine - My parents have a willow tree in their river field, and the old crocks used to eat the bark - natures aspirin!!

 

[TrasaM]

Ash grows quite quickly..if you can keep hungry horse mouths away. We've just had a large ash branch taken down and they've eaten the bark and leaves and baby Arab has been using little branches as toys. Cob snacks happily on cherry, willow and sycamore if he can reach them. Is sycamore ok btw? All grow quite quickly too.

 

[Cocorules]

If you want to still have trees once horses have been near them I would suggest a lot of hawthorn! It is thorny enough to slow them down munching on it but not dangerous to eyes like blackthorn is. I also like how hawthorn changes through the year and great for wildlife. I would mix it with hazel and the other species others have mentioned above.

 

[Cocorules]

I also meant to add if you are planting within a field be aware of how much space a tree takes up. You need to fence the horses off from it and the you will get leaves on the ground for months on end reducing your grazing area. Personally I would just add trees to the edges of your land until you have used it for a couple of years unless you have a lot of land just to give you time to assess how it will work for you.