I have been told, to my surprise, coniferous hedging is poisonous to horses
and they will eat it. Is this true? Thanks

Yes
"Chris" wrote in message
news
I have been told, to my surprise, coniferous hedging is poisonous to horses
and they will eat it. Is this true? Thanks

In article ,
Chris wrote:
I have been told, to my surprise, coniferous hedging is poisonous to horses
and they will eat it. Is this true? Thanks

Not really and not really.

Yew is not really a conifer and is the only seriously poisonous
conifer that I can think of relevant to the UK. And animals do
not normally eat it, despite the common myths, unless they are
starved - though there are the occasional exceptions.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

All parts of the Taxus (Yew) Conifers are certainly poisonous and
should never be planted near grazing land. Not aware of any problems
with other varieties of conifer??

Garden Oasis
www.gardenoasis.co.uk

On Thu, 2 Feb 2006 18:40:40 +0000, Chris wrote:

I have been told, to my surprise, coniferous hedging is poisonous to horses
and they will eat it. Is this true? Thanks

We seem to have disagreement Let me be more specific. Is Leylandii
hedging poisonous to horses? Please let's avoid any other perceived ill
effects this plant may have on neighbors, the environment, GMT, whatever,
for the purpose of this question Thanks

"Chris" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 2 Feb 2006 18:40:40 +0000, Chris wrote:

I have been told, to my surprise, coniferous hedging is poisonous to
horses
and they will eat it. Is this true? Thanks

We seem to have disagreement Let me be more specific. Is Leylandii
hedging poisonous to horses? Please let's avoid any other perceived ill
effects this plant may have on neighbors, the environment, GMT, whatever,
for the purpose of this question Thanks

See
http://www.countrylife.co.uk/gardens...ps/petgar2.php

which doesn't mention leylandii as a significant risk to horses. That isn't
conclusive in itself, of course.

Chris wrote:
On Thu, 2 Feb 2006 18:40:40 +0000, Chris wrote:

I have been told, to my surprise, coniferous hedging is poisonous to
horses and they will eat it. Is this true? Thanks

We seem to have disagreement Let me be more specific. Is Leylandii
hedging poisonous to horses?

AFAIK no it's not and no they don't eat it anyway. I have had horses
next to conifers in the past and they have never tried to eat it as far
as I'm aware, and if they have it has never done then any harm. In fact
my two now are in with some Douglas Fir, but that's obviously not the
same as Leylandii. Ask on uk.rec.equestrian perhaps?
--
Holly, in France
Gite to let in Dordogne, now with pool.
http://la-plaine.chez-alice.fr

"Chris" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 2 Feb 2006 18:40:40 +0000, Chris wrote:

I have been told, to my surprise,

a)

coniferous hedging is poisonous to horses and

b)

they will eat it.

Is this true? Thanks

We seem to have disagreement Let me be more specific. Is Leylandii
hedging poisonous to horses? Please let's avoid any other perceived ill
effects this plant may have on neighbors, the environment, GMT, whatever,
for the purpose of this question Thanks

You're asking two separate questions there. Without wishing to appear
unduly facetious I'd imagine it should be fairly easy to discover the
answer to question b) without too much difficulty. Providing that is, you
have some leylandii to hand. Simply pull off a bit - presumably young
growth would be more appetising - leaving aside the question as to whether
this would be available to them on an actual tree - and wave it in front of
their noses. If they try to eat it, then pull it away sharpish. If they
don't try to eat it, then the answer to question a) is fairly academic in
any case - assuming they have plenty of other food sources available to them
at all times. Most evergreen foliage has a fairly distinctive smell, which
would presumably either render it palatable, or unpalatable, to horses.
Although they do like their Polo and Extra Strong mints, which don't seem
to have any counterpart in nature. And so it's not necessarily a foregone
conclusion IMO.


michael adams

....

michael adams wrote:
"Chris" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 2 Feb 2006 18:40:40 +0000, Chris wrote:

I have been told, to my surprise,

a)

coniferous hedging is poisonous to horses and

b)

they will eat it.

Is this true? Thanks

We seem to have disagreement Let me be more specific. Is Leylandii
hedging poisonous to horses? Please let's avoid any other perceived
ill effects this plant may have on neighbors, the environment, GMT,
whatever, for the purpose of this question Thanks

You're asking two separate questions there. Without wishing to appear
unduly facetious I'd imagine it should be fairly easy to discover the
answer to question b) without too much difficulty. Providing that is,
you have some leylandii to hand. Simply pull off a bit - presumably
young growth would be more appetising - leaving aside the question as
to whether this would be available to them on an actual tree - and
wave it in front of their noses. If they try to eat it, then pull it
away sharpish. If they don't try to eat it, then the answer to
question a) is fairly academic in any case - assuming they have
plenty of other food sources available to them at all times. Most
evergreen foliage has a fairly distinctive smell, which would
presumably either render it palatable, or unpalatable, to horses.
Although they do like their Polo and Extra Strong mints, which don't
seem to have any counterpart in nature. And so it's not necessarily a
foregone conclusion IMO.

Sound (though peppermint sweets are pretty close in aroma to members of
the mint family). It's worth adding what the '68 edition of HMSO's
_British Poisonous Plants_ says on the subject.

In summary, gymnosperms other than yew, the true conifers, do contain
irritants, but animals aren't attracted to most of them. There have been
a very few suspicious cases among cattle and a goat over the years, but
horses weren't mentioned. It goes on: "In Britain cases are so rarely
recorded, and the opportunities for poisoning by them are so many, that
it is safe to say that although poisoning by them is possible, it is
very highly improbable." We should all know what it means when a
scientist says something is "very highly improbable."

I'm not a vet, of course; and it's possible that further evidence has
come to light during the past forty years. DEFRA will have the latest
opinion, probably on line.

--
Mike.

On Thu, 2 Feb 2006 19:19:59 +0000, Chris wrote:

On Thu, 2 Feb 2006 18:40:40 +0000, Chris wrote:

[2 quoted lines suppressed]

We seem to have disagreement Let me be more specific. Is Leylandii
hedging poisonous to horses? Please let's avoid any other perceived ill
effects this plant may have on neighbors, the environment, GMT, whatever,
for the purpose of this question Thanks

Thanks for all the pointers, I feel better knowing our new hedge won't kill
next doors horse, it's virtually out of reach of him anyway, as it's well
set back within the boundary, and I won't be too pleased if the thing is so
underfed it starts any bizarre contortions to even TRY and eat it!

--
Best Regards,
Chris.