This message is from: "Denise Delgado" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> yes, i have seen mine eating acorns too. we have native california, white oak, blue oak, live oaks and black oaks. no problem for them. the eat the grass and the acorns in one mouthful. crunch, crunch. denise, central sierra nevadas. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Marsha Jo Hannah" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <fjordhorse@angus.mystery.com> Cc: "Marsha Jo Hannah" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Saturday, January 01, 2000 8:01 PM Subject: Re: Acorns & other stuff...
> This message is from: Marsha Jo Hannah <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > > > Jon & Mary Ofjord <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > > ...have any of you actually seen a horse eat acorns? I doubt they > > would want to eat them due to texture & palatability as they are very > > bitter...I know I tried to eat them as a kid. Native peoples used > > them by first soaking them in water to remove the tannins, then dried > > them and ground them into a nourishing flour. > > Yup. All 3 of my Fjords and my donkey relish acorns. (Note, these > are from "live oak" trees native to the California coast---a variety > that the Native Americans ate. Other parts of the country undoubtedly > have other species of oaks, so YMMV....) When let out of their corral > during acorn season, my equines stop under the big oak tree in the > alleyway and "vacuum" for a while, before going out to where the grass > is. I've even seen them reach up and pick almost-ripe acorns off the > tree, then eat them! They don't eat a lot of them at any one session, > and don't seem to be bothered by the practice. > > Our pastures contain a variety of plants (native and non-) that are > "poisonous" to equines, as defined by the USDA pamphlets I got from > the local Ag Extension agent. (BTW, no mention is made therein of > oaks or acorns.) Anyway, my experience has been that, if there is > grass or other "good" forage available, my equines will concentrate on > it, and not bother with more than a sample mouthful of the "bad" stuff. > > OTOH, when this topic came up on the LONGEARS list, one member in far > Northern California reported having lost a jack to "oak poisoning". > His pen was under some deciduous variety of oaks, and he apparently > developed a taste for the fallen leaves---over several days, vacuumed > his pen clean of several inches depth of them, then refused to eat > anything else, and eventually died of it. > > Marsha Jo Hannah Murphy must have been a horseman-- > [EMAIL PROTECTED] anything that can go wrong, will! > 30 mi SSE of San Francisco, Calif. > >
