my horse is eating acorns!!

horserider0912

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hi, My horse has been caught eating the acorns of the ground today. I mucked him out and i found about 3 acorns in his "waste" (lol) A stable friend has suggested that i should feed him in the mornings so he wont go for them so much. But i was thinking if i could put a grazing muzzle on him. He is quite over weight but can you get any that stop them from eating acorns? I am worried sick cos i was told them can kill them. I don't care how much the muzzles are, i just want my horse happy and healthy.
The other day he jumped over a field fence in to farmers land with cows in it. I have no idea why but i really dont think it is his week! lol
 

JJtheJetPlane

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My mare was in a field with acorns when she was a youngster 6months she came in one day and had terrible colic ended up at the hospital for a week.They never figured what it was but the obvious was the acorns ! If i was you i would be out there raking them up if he is eating them :( Sorry !
 

stencilface

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My horse did this one year, we've had an oak tree for years, and none of our horses before this had ever eaten any.

My horse ate so much he poo was just shiny brown :eek: We had to fence off the tree canopy area with electric fencing (it ran out one day and they were straight in there!) Is that an option? Cheaper than the vets, and you wouldn't lose that much ground :)
 

appylass

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Ditto Stencilface, rake them up! A 'friend' has several horses who hoover up acorns, she has to get the vet to at least one, every year because of colic, TBH I'm surprised none of them have died yet. Trouble is, the effect can be cumulative, like Ragwort.
 

horserider0912

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to many oak trees to rake them. right if the morning feed fails and i find acorns in his "waste" again in the next dayi will get him a grazing muzzle and i will have to feed him extra and more hay. i don't want to do it really but this nutter of a horse leaves me no choice! lol. he is over weight any way so this might be good for him.
 

Cinnamontoast

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Speak to the yard owner and ask him to get rid of the overhanging branches or rake them up. A muzzle sounds good if he is overweight, particularly as the grass has come back big time all of a sudden. Can you restrict his turn out and up his exercise? Maybe get a sharer if you don't have much time as you say? He sounds like a prime candidate for laminitis if overweight.

You definitely ought not to be feeding him in the am to try to stop him eating acorns-horses graze a lot of the time, so he will carry on eating them regardless. They are very very poisonous. Don't up his hay, weigh it to encourage weight loss and soak it to remove nutrients/protein. You can email a feed company to ask for advice on how to get some weight off him.
 
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spike123

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I'm sorry but is this really a serious post!

You know your horse is eating acorns but think he will be okay. Well to put it bluntly acorns are addictive to horses and some horses will actively seek them out. You need to fence off the trees so that they can't get to the falling acorns and rake up any stray ones that fall into the area your horse is grazing in. A muzzle may help prevent him from eating them and if he is overweight anyway then strip grazing him where he can't get at the acorns would probably be a better idea than making excuses for him. If this horse really means that much to you then you really don't want to risk him dying through colic or poisoning.
 

goldanas49

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I have fenced off some oak trees for this same reason. It is , I believe, only when acorns are green that the tannin content is high enough that it can cause liver damage. Obviously from a colic point of view it has to be avoided and fencing off is the best way. You say your horse is quite overweight so I question why you are feeding him anything (as your friend related that you should change his feed to the morning), other than grass.
 

horserider0912

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ok, will get a grazing muzzle tomorrow in a horse shop. I do really care about my horse. I am just not that happy about putting a muzzle on him. I don't really like the idea of something basically stopping my horse from eating right. But if people think its ok to get one then i will go out tomorrow and get one. I just hope he can't get it off! thanks for helping me! My horse is a complete nutter sometimes!
 

legaldancer

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Another 'interesting' post from this member. Please check out some of the others before spending too much time giving good advice. Maybe a case of 'crying wolf'? Hope pony will be alright. Please keep him away from the acorns.
 

alfirules

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I cant believe your not doing something straight away! Acorns are very poisonous and if your horse is eating them you need to stop him! feeding him more is not going to make a difference. You will have to fence them off or move your horse to another field or keep him in, anything to stop him eating them!
 

teddyt

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Acorns are both addictive and poisonous. Unless you want a seriously ill horse and a huge vets bill then i suggest that you find a way to stop the horse eating them asap.
 

Cinnamontoast

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He is in his stable at the min.
its almost 8:30pm. no shops will be open at this time.

Ebay is 24/7. TBH, a grazing muzzle probably won't help. Has he worn one before to your knowledge? Mine can get all main types off in under a minute, plus grazing muzzles allow horses to graze, just less and most types I can think of will allow a horse to get to acorns still anyhow as they obviously have holes in to allow restricted grazing.

The solution is not a grazing muzzle (except to control his weight issue) but to remove the source of the problem or to move the horse.
 

teddyt

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You cannot just get a muzzle and leave it on all day at first. You have to train the horse to get used to it and to be able to eat and drink. This will take at least a couple of weeks until you can leave it on for an extended period of time. Can you fence the acorns off? Feed soaked hay so the horse isnt hungry but isnt getting anymore calories? And rake the acorns up.
 

KarynK

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I witnessed a mare dying from acorn poisoning years ago it was not nice, she had spent hours consuming them and had a very painful day or so before we gave up and PTS, so please don't take chances as once they get a taste for them they can really go over the top like she did.
 

juliette

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My friends horse had an allergic reaction to acorns so we electric fence off a substantial part of the field at this time of year, yes there is less grazing, but the grazing they have is safe. Get the electric fence out! If you can only safely give the horse an electric paddock 10m x 10m then that is what you give them.................. it's better than getting an ill horse.
 

rcm_73

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Hmm Greenguard mask might work, the gaps are rather small in those but again you can't leave it on 24/7 so unless you are bringing him in during the day/night it's prob not the best solution. Probably the cheapest and safest option is to fence off around the trees, after reading this I'm a tad worried, although I have been raking the acorns up I didn't realise they became addictive if they ate any and although I haven't seen them eating any tomorrow I'm fencing off around those trees until the acorns have finished falling!
 

horserider0912

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I have already asked the owner and she does not want the field fenced off. Not fair at all.
I thought if i got him a grazing muzzle he would find it hard to get an acorn though the muzzle in to his mouth. cos there is only a hole at the bottom.
All the yard fields have oak trees in them
 

Tinypony

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I think, depending on circumstances, you've got two choices. You could move yard, or you could put your "ask" in writing to the yard owner, enclosing information that you can easily find by googling on acorn poisoning. I say put it in writing because the YO has a duty of care, and if your horse gets ill then I'd be inclined to go after her for vet bills. However, my first priority would be to get my horse safe if he is one of those that seems to get a real taste for acorns.
The fact is that horses die from acorn poisoning, people have recounted their sad experiences on this thread. So you need to decide if you are going to take action or take a chance. Nobody can really help with that, here people can only give you the information.
 

Groom42

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I think, depending on circumstances, you've got two choices. You could move yard, or you could put your "ask" in writing to the yard owner, enclosing information that you can easily find by googling on acorn poisoning. I say put it in writing because the YO has a duty of care, and if your horse gets ill then I'd be inclined to go after her for vet bills. However, my first priority would be to get my horse safe if he is one of those that seems to get a real taste for acorns.
The fact is that horses die from acorn poisoning, people have recounted their sad experiences on this thread. So you need to decide if you are going to take action or take a chance. Nobody can really help with that, here people can only give you the information.

As per TP's advice above. It is really important to prevent your pony eating acorns..... I also have experience of acorn poisoning. Perhaps you could do some concentrated raking when you go out to poo pick? I don't know if disposal of acorns on a muck heap is as big a "no, no" as ragwort, so it might be better to put them in a sack and dispose of them elsewhere, just to be sure.
 

lh1975

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If this really is a genuine post (hard to tell from the flippancy of OP), then it's yet another example of really ignorant people having horses. Sorry if this causes some backlash, but I just can't believe the lack of basic knowledge some people demonstrate.

Why not read about horse care in books, or ask an instructor or knowledgable horse owner BEFORE you get a horse instead of having responsibility for one and blatantly not knowing important facts, asking about it on the internet and then coming back with the 'can't be bothered' kind of remarks? If the YO doesn't fence the trees off, talk to them and explain the consequences. Electric fencing is easy to install and will solve the problem!

So what happens if it does get colic - will the OP post a thread on here asking strangers what to do first instead of calling the vet out??!!?
 
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mcnaughty

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seriously, you need to get out there with a rake or move fields.

We lost a mare at our old stable with acorn poisoning. Supposedly they can be a bit addictive and are very poisonous in large numbers.
 

Tinypony

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If this really is a genuine post (hard to tell from the flippancy of OP), then it's yet another example of really ignorant people having horses. Sorry if this causes some backlash, but I just can't believe the lack of basic knowledge some people demonstrate.

Why not read about horse care in books, or ask an instructor or knowledgable horse owner BEFORE you get a horse instead of having responsibility for one and blatantly not knowing important facts, asking about it on the internet and then coming back with the 'can't be bothered' kind of remarks? If the YO doesn't fence the trees off, talk to them and explain the consequences. Electric fencing is easy to install and will solve the problem!

So what happens if it does get colic - will the OP post a thread on here asking strangers what to do first instead of calling the vet out??!!?
I must admit, I did have some of those thoughts, I wondered if maybe Op is quite young. It's a shame that the YO isn't a bit more knowledgeable and responsible isn't it? After all, we all have to start somewhere as horse owners, and taking the horse to a livery yard where we get some support should be a good plan.
What we're saying Op, is that if your horse is enjoying eating acorns, the clock is ticking now and you might end up with no horse at all. You don't have time to hang about.
 

guido16

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If this really is a genuine post (hard to tell from the flippancy of OP), then it's yet another example of really ignorant people having horses. Sorry if this causes some backlash, but I just can't believe the lack of basic knowledge some people demonstrate.

Why not read about horse care in books, or ask an instructor or knowledgable horse owner BEFORE you get a horse instead of having responsibility for one and blatantly not knowing important facts, asking about it on the internet and then coming back with the 'can't be bothered' kind of remarks? If the YO doesn't fence the trees off, talk to them and explain the consequences. Electric fencing is easy to install and will solve the problem!

So what happens if it does get colic - will the OP post a thread on here asking strangers what to do first instead of calling the vet out??!!?

Watch out, you will get slated for that post!

OP is only 14 years old (apparently), some posters took great offence when on another of her threads, some people made similar comments.

For what its worth

I agree with you...
 
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