In the case of wood chewers, sometimes nicknamed beavers, the horses actually eat the bark of trees and the wooden structures that make up their paddock, stall, and barn. Not the bark, just the needles. Mine killed all the maples first, then started working on the young oaks. In an ideal world, horses should be in a pasture that is clean and nutrient-rich for the majority of the day. Consuming off of wooden stalls is likely a case of cribbing, and mainly results from the horse simply being bored. :) Also, if you want your trees to live, I'd put up some chicken wire around the trunks up to a point where they cannot reach it. Horses typically graze 16-20 hours per day and when they are unable to do that, they find alternative sources of fiber and something to occupy their time. I don't suspect him to be in pain anywhere - he just likes them. Our horse propety came with lots of small (6 inch diamater) trees on the pasture. Previous studies have shown when given the option horses like to eat as wide a variety of vegetation as possible. Mine has killed off 3 rowan trees over christmas, and if let into my garden ignores the long grass in favour of the willow trees. Just like humans, cows will crave certain foods or substances when they are running low on important nutrients. Why do my 8-month-old steers eat bark? Good idea re. I think it stems from boredom, and the sudden realization that it's there. We have them (or thought we did) trimmed so that the branches don't start until above the horses's heads. Cribbing formally referred to as aerophagia, is an obsessive-compulsive disorder (again, found only in domesticated horses), where the horse sinks its incisors into an upright object like a fence post, then pulls against the object while inhaling and arching its neck. Most of the time when horses eat tree bark it is an effort to get more roughage in their diet. Will the really old massive trees die too? If, that is, the ungrateful beasts don't strip them completely of the bark!! Prolonged bark eating will destroy trees and can cause dental and intestinal problems for your horse. All my trees are dead then Is there nothing I can do about this now to save them? As the title says really. Luckily, they're minis so you shouldn't have to go too high. If you aren't able to keep the horses out from under the trees, you can wrap the trunks with chicken wire. It is going to look horrible having a field full of dead trees with no leaves. I finally wrapped the remaining trees in wire fence material. #1 is it's normal horse behavior to alleviate their boredom, so unless it is excessive, don't worry too much. Why do horses eat dirt? It is not known why horses eat bark. Eating bark isn't good for them or the trees. When you turn your horse out more, do much more driving with a lot more transitions and challenges, and be certain your horse has anything to do more usually, the problem will have to repair itself. Certain types of trees have a bark that carries medicinal properties. They may even catch them eating the bark off trees. my horses do it now, and the horses my grandpa used 80 years ago to farm with did it, it won't hurt the horses - and won't help the trees!! My gelding has a really bad habit of chewing off the bark on trees. Bleeding canker is a disease of horse chestnut trees (Aesculus hippocastanum).It affects trees of all ages and produces external and internal symptoms. There a few main reasons why cows begin chewing on wood around your farm or eating tree bark. She eats well and she gets plenty of mix and some grain. 1. We give them grain and hay, but sometimes they will leave some hay and start eating bark off trees and limbs. 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