How many different plants do your horses eat?

[Jambarissa]

Latest research is that humans should eat at least 30 different plants a month to support their gut bacteria and aid good health. I'd suspect this would also apply to horses, probably at a greater number.

So how many do your horses eat?
Mine graze on ancient rather weedy pasture with hedgerows, trees and river banks. That must be good but no idea how many varieties there'd be in there. 10 - 15?
Their hay is the same stuff so nothing additional there.
The chaff is 'alpine grasses', from visual inspection I'd say 4 types.
The balancer adds nothing but linseed so + 1.
I do feed herbs, everyone gets marigold and Clivers so + 2
2 large ones get oily herbs, +3
Little cob gets milk thistle, white willow, barberry, ginkgo, nettle, and a couple I can't remember, +7

So the 2 biggies get 25 types and the little one gets 29.

It is daily rather than monthly but still might not be enough. Maybe I should add the occasional carrot, apple, swede, etc. Or switch chaff every time I buy.

I can't find research on horses but it does make you think.

 

[vanrim]

My pasture doesn’t have much variety so I feed a mix of dozens of dried herbs as I agree that horses should ideally browse on a mix of hedgerow plants.

 

[Little Loli]

I've got about 6 different grass varieties. They love the Hazel, willow and Ash trees too. They'll have a nibble on the ivy that grows in my hedgerow. I pick meadowsweet, hogweed and. Clivers for them when available.

 

[Errin Paddywack]

hogweed

I hope you mean cow parsley and not hogweed. Hogweed is definitely not good for horses. My friend's mare developed a taste for it and it made her very ill. Horses don't usually bother with it but they go mad for cow parsley.

 

[Highmileagecob]

My old cob is out on 'old' unsprayed pasture too, so no idea what is there. However, he is going crazy for dandelion leaves at the moment. Any ideas?

 

[Jambarissa]

My old cob is out on 'old' unsprayed pasture too, so no idea what is there. However, he is going crazy for dandelion leaves at the moment. Any ideas?

My book says the leaf is good for joints, digestion, liver and kidneys.

The root is also rich in magnesium, which spring grass tends to lack.

They know what's good for them.

 

[Polos Mum]

Mine eat all my trees - grrrr
Other than I encourage then to eat the willow that overhangs the school as it saves me a job cutting it
They pick of bark not just leaves. I had a massive branch come down and I put it in the field and they spent hours picking off all the bark

love thistles just picked
Nettles - after 24 hours of wilting
plantain - the long stuff in preference but will eat the round too
clover - although I wish they'd have less of this (white and red)
Cow parsley the love
Vetch is scoffed when they can
dandelions
Daisies
Sticky weed is a favorite at the moment.

in fact all any anything that grows in the fields except docks and buttercup.

 

[SEL]

My fields have many different types of grasses (at least 6 on last count) plus trefoil, purple & white clover, ladies bedstraw and multiple types of thistles. Also creeping buttercup which they aren't supposed the like but something is eating it. Plantain is devoured coming into winter but doesn't seem popular right now. Self heal has gone bonkers this year but that's being ignored too.

Hedges have blackthorn, hawthorn, field maple, willow, hazel, rose, horse chestnut and hops.

There is sticky weed the other side of the fence so I guess it doesn't survive contact with the mob if it strays into the paddock

The Appy has been walking out in hand and will ask for some stuff that isn't in the paddock. She very delicately took the ends off a holly bush along the bridlepath the other day - just a couple of pieces but it was very intentional. There is meadowsweet and rosebay willow herb in the ditches and they all reach for those if I pull in to let a car past.

Mine will also eat bark if I put branches in their field. They all love a good branch to chew on!

 

[Fieldlife]

Latest research is that humans should eat at least 30 different plants a month to support their gut bacteria and aid good health. I'd suspect this would also apply to horses, probably at a greater number.

So how many do your horses eat?
Mine graze on ancient rather weedy pasture with hedgerows, trees and river banks. That must be good but no idea how many varieties there'd be in there. 10 - 15?
Their hay is the same stuff so nothing additional there.
The chaff is 'alpine grasses', from visual inspection I'd say 4 types.
The balancer adds nothing but linseed so + 1.
I do feed herbs, everyone gets marigold and Clivers so + 2
2 large ones get oily herbs, +3
Little cob gets milk thistle, white willow, barberry, ginkgo, nettle, and a couple I can't remember, +7

So the 2 biggies get 25 types and the little one gets 29.

It is daily rather than monthly but still might not be enough. Maybe I should add the occasional carrot, apple, swede, etc. Or switch chaff every time I buy.

I can't find research on horses but it does make you think.

Mine

field
timothy, oats, brome, rye, meadow grass, clover, ash, hawthorn, nettles, plantain, dandelion, spiny sowthistle, orchard grass, alpine timothy, reed canary grass, colonial bent grass, yorkshire fog, rough blue grass, poverty brome, great brome, creeping cinquefoil, bermuda grass, purple dead nettle, self heal, red barista, white dead nettle, spear thistle, rough hawkbit, yarrow, bladder campion, shepherds purse - 31 (or 15 eaten regularly)

Dengie meadow chaff
Chopped grass (tall fescue, timothy and rye), grass pellets, rapeseed oil, herbs (liquorice root, ground fennel, chamomile, aniseed and mint). - 6 new

Feed
linseed, and 3 oily herbs - 4 new

feed flourish
(new only included) High fibre oat husks, Micronised flaked peas, Spearmint herb, Beet pulp root 4 new

feed agrobs mash
Pre Alpin structured fibres, apple pomace, beetroots, carrots, parsnips, rosehip shells (seedless), caraway 7 new

which I make a total of 52

Though if halved number from field to a more realistic to 15 eaten regularly, then get 36 varieties daily.

Though I think maybe I am undercounting, as the mash, I think contains more different grass types?

Interesting anyway!

 

[marmalade76]

Loads, they're on wildflower meadow surrounded by hedges & trees. My husband makes hay in various places so they have a mixture of meadow hay from different fields, seed hay and hay that's from old dairy pasture so inbetween (yes, I have at least three different bales on the go in the winter!) Then there's the carrots, various types of apples (we have an orchard at the yard too with some heritage types) and other herbs in their feed so I'd say they get a fairly wide variety.

 

[skint1]

My horse has a pretty weedy field with lots of different types of grasses and other plant life, she has meadow hay, she has daily time (unless weather is atrocious) on the verges which also have many different types of plant life- her favourites are cow parsley, clivers, young beech and young hawthorn leaves. As a feed she has a token handful of Bailey's Fibre Plus nuggets. I have no idea how many different types of plant/grass she has but I think it's probably better than most, not as good as some

 

[Little Loli]

I hope you mean cow parsley and not hogweed. Hogweed is definitely not good for horses. My friend's mare developed a taste for it and it made her very ill. Horses don't usually bother with it but they go mad for cow parsley.

No, defintely hogweed. Nothing wrong with common hogweed at all. It's the giant variety that is nasty.

 

[nettle]

I hope you mean cow parsley and not hogweed. Hogweed is definitely not good for horses. My friend's mare developed a taste for it and it made her very ill. Horses don't usually bother with it but they go mad for cow parsley.

Common hogweed is fine.

 

[TinseLeneHorse]

Mine gets a daily salad of cow parsley, sticky Willie, common hogweed, hawthorn shoots, plantain, vetch and a few clover flowers to garnish.
Unfortunately we don't have willow nearby or I would definitely include that too.