This message is from: Mary Thurman <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> --- Sanders <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > This message is from: "Sanders" > <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > > Robyn, If the tree eating has recently started and > isn't an ingrained habit > yet you could try to coat the tree with liquid Ivory > dishsoap. It would, of > course have to be reapplied often. > Maybe some of our people who > live in Puget Sound, where cedar trees are abundant, > would have some > additional thoughts.
Yes, those of us who live in the great "Northwet" DO have lots of cedar trees. Normally the horses leave them alone at our place, except for the occasional 'curiosity taste' by the youngsters. I have had a horse or two that was more serious about chewing trees - cedar, spruce, alder, whatever was handy to chew on out of boredom(I guess). If the tree was 'expendable' I didn't worry about it - ie. if it was a small tree or a weak one that would be coming down anyway. If the tree was a big tree and NOT expendable, I just stapled chicken wire around the trunk from the ground to above 'reach height'. When the horse outgrew the chewing - or was moved elsewhere - I pulled the staples out and remove the chicken wire, as the wire will become imbedded in the bark as the tree increases its girth. If only one side of a tree is exposed to chewing, just put the wire on that one side. One of my geldings also had a taste for cedar and spruce ROOTS and would chew at any he could find or unearth by pawing. These I sprayed with Bio Groom 'No Chew' (yes, it needs to be Bio Groom, as other No Chew products aren't nasty tasting enough) and he quickly got the hint. That stuff is SO BITTER. Haven't met a horse yet that likes it. We have used cedar bark chips and cedar shavings, etc., in stalls and never had a problem with the horses eating the bedding. They WILL, however, devour ALL of any product used for bedding that resembles food in the least! That automatically deletes any kind of straw or pellets from our list of bedding products, leaving only woodchips/sawdust/planer shavings(the BEST) to choose from. Good luck with your 'cedar eating' Fjord. BTW, out here I have never heard of a horse getting sick or dying from eating tree bark - only from eating cherry leaves in the fall(in LARGE quantities). Anyone else out here ever hear of bark eating being a problem? If so, was it a Fjord? When we first got our Fjords the local horse people told me I'd need to get rid of all the buttercup in my pens and fields, plus all the elderberry brush, or my horses would eat it and get sick. NOT!! We have buttercup growing abundantly everywhere - in some pens it's the ONLY thing that's green. The Fjords do not eat it - except for the occasional curious nibble. As for elderberry bushes - one or two of the mares would eat the new leaves in the spring, get the 'runs' from it, and quit eating it. Almost like they used it for a 'spring tonic'. Usually they only ate it for a couple of days and then quit. Both of these mares had been 'range mares' at one time, so I never worried much about them eating stuff that was bad for them. They also were useful in teaching the youngsters what was 'good to eat' and what was not. A great 'natural delicacy' at our house for the horses was the watercress weed I cleaned out of the creek bed in the fall every year. I pulled it out in great mats with a rake and left it on the banks for munching. I was usually followed by a Fjord or two, happily eating up the goodies! Good luck with your 'cedar muncher'. Mary ===== Mary Thurman Raintree Farms [EMAIL PROTECTED]
