woodland grazing

[peteinthehills]

Hi
I'm trying to convert an area of woodland that we own in to grazing. Its a mixed woodland mainly of ash, rowan, pine , cherry and oak. The woodland is approximately 10 years old.
I've cut down most of the undergrown and will mow it regularly to encourage grass. I'm also taking out all the lower branches to allow our horse to wander beneath the trees without getting her rug caught. This will also allow more light in allowing the grass to grow.
Has anyone else got woodland grazing and has advice or experiences they'd think useful to share.
I know oak is bad, so they are going to have to go, but should I worry about any other trees?

Pete

[sarak]

Hi Pete. Not an expert on woodland grazing, but you can do a search on Google to find other trees that are poisonous to horses. This is quite a useful website:

www.whmentors.org/saf/poison.html

We used to have oak trees in our paddocks, and found some years there were tons of acorns dropping, and others hardly any. Depending upon the size of your area, you could fence off the oak trees with electric fencing when the acorns are dropping. My horse never used to eat oak leaves, but some horses do - however, they are OK in small amounts.

One good thing about grazing in woodland is the amount of shade and shelter your horses will have.

[varkie]

I wonder if they will be itchier tho? I have a sweet itch pony, and we are always told to avoid woodland area grazing as its supposed to have higher midge populations.

[sarak]

Ah, good point Varkie. My boy isn't troubled by midges, so I didn't think of that.

[rottiebird]

Sounds idyllic! Rowan berries can be poisonous to horses but make a nice jelly for humans! Also Cherry tree bark contains cyanide so care must be taken with that as well. Beech leaves contain a lot of tannin and all parts of bluebells are poisonous as well.