Trees

[rhapsody]

I just noticed that one of my horses has started to eat the bark & leaves of the trees that are bordering our property. The other 2 horses are not at all interested, could he be missing something in his diet?

[Cera]

He could be missing some important vitamins or minerals in his diet. What are you currently feeding him? Is he currently on grass only or is he on hay, alfalfa or hard feed that has vitamins and minerals added? Does he have access to a salt lick?
It is normal behavior for a horse to eat leaves, twigs, bark etc in the wild, the only thing I would be concerned about is if the trees are toxic or poisonous.
Many trees, bushes, weeds have different levels of toxicity. Do you know what trees he is eating? :)

[rhapsody]

I just added a salt lick next to his feed bowl, he just sniffed at it and didn’t seem too interested. He is currently on pasture and hay.

He is not getting any grain or hard feed as he is not in work at the moment and started to get fat. The trees he is interested in are Silver Maple which I asked around and was told they were ok but if anyone knows any different let me know! I have been keeping an eye on him and he seems fine, his coat is shiny and he is the picture of health. I was just concerned about him getting all his nutrients. :confused:

[ninjashoes]

my horse does that too, I have no idea why I figured it was something for his teeth or he was just bored

[horsegirl413]

the hoses at the barn i go to are fine they eat trees all the time although my riding teahers horses dont as much they are on a diet of alfalfa cubes and hay also mineral licks.
and for the salt licks the horses usually anly use them when they want to:D
so if theyre not using it at the time it just means they dont reallly dont want it right at that moment:)

[at4101]

Our horses all do this too. They've been doing it quite a while, and our vet sees no harm it. I thought they may be missing something in their diet too, since sometimes they will chew on bark and other times they don't seem interested at all. The vet said it was just in "their nature" ;). Someone mention toxins in trees and now that has me a bit worried. I feel that since the vet said so that ours are fine, but everyone else may want to double check just in case.

[RackingHorse]

The key here from my experience is purely Horse Boredome. They get tired of the same old food.

Some will and some will not. In particular they are kinda cat like and will go after your favorite trees without mercy.