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Hawthorn berry nutritional supplements for horses are a good aid to digestion. Horses will readily seek out and eat this hedge plant if available in the field. Nutritionally supports increased stamina, normal circulation, horses prone to laminitis, navicular syndrome, rheumatism, tethering and slow digestion.
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Can Horses Eat Hawthorn Berries
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Horses have a rather complicated digestive system with its own bacteria and microbes. Other than normal grass, hay and some grains, you can definitely give your horse some treats. However, you must be careful. When choosing the treats, you should consider the health of your horse. Horses love to eat almost anything you can offer them, they always ask for more and more, but you have to say no if it keeps asking even after you’ve given enough treats. Otherwise, the balance of the digestive system can be broken.
How many treats should you give? Well, clearly “not much”. A healthy horse should eat small amounts of food regularly. Treats interrupt their diet.
Also pay attention to the horse’s chewing. Usually, the horse will chew anything you give before swallowing. Some horses tend to swallow small treats without chewing. We recommend cutting the treats, especially larger ones like melons, into smaller pieces before feeding your horse.
Exmoor Pony Stallion, Wild Horse Eating Hawthorn Berries, Horse Teeth, Autumn Stock Photo
You may be wondering why horses can’t eat all this healthy looking feed. As we mentioned above, a horse’s digestive system is complicated and delicate. They have a balanced system with the bacteria that live in their bodies, but feeding them the foods that can disrupt their digestive system can cause more gas and pain. To keep them happy even after the treats, you need to be mindful of what you’re giving and how much you’re giving.
If you like to treat your horse, you can also visit our shop for some very unique harnesses!
Not sure what to buy for your horse? Try our free quiz and see which color suits your horse best! We all know hawthorn, especially in our hedges. In addition to being fantastic for wildlife, it also has many healing properties. We asked Caroline Hearn of Hedgerow Hounds and Hedgerow Horse to tell us more.
, goes by many names, including Whitethorn, May Tree, Quickset, Bread and Cheese, Bride of the Hedgerow, Fairy Tree, and Hagthorn.
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It is a member of the Rosacea family. The fresh, vibrant green leaves unfurl in spring and small white, pearly buds appear in late April. This is followed in May by the most beautiful blossoms that bring the hedges to life. The blossom is often joined by elderflower shortly afterwards to put on a truly spectacular show.
Hawthorns are hermaphrodite, meaning that both female and male reproductive parts are in each flower. The flowers are highly fragrant, have five petals with an erect single stamen in the center and are white or sometimes pink in color.
) also known as Woodland Hawthorn. The leaves are much wider, the flowers have two stamens and the berries (hedges) contain two seeds compared to the single seed of
A. The blossom is much less sweet-scented than the common hawthorn and many find the pungent smell rather unpleasant.
A Horse Eating Red Berries From A Bush, Surrounded By A Diverse Flora Stock Photo
Hawthorn can support about 300 species of insects such as moths and bees, as well as dormice and birds, providing food, pollen, shelter and protection from predators. The berries provide vitamin C and antioxidants and will attract thrush, redwings, fieldfares, blue tits and yellowhammers, among others.
According to the Woodland Trust, Hawthorn is only just second only to the mighty oak when it comes to benefiting wildlife.
Hawthorn berries have been used in recipes for centuries and make a delicious hawthorn syrup that is rich in vitamin C, fruit leather and a warming drink of hawthorn brandy.
Hawthorn is steeped in folklore, with tales of fairies inhabiting the hedgerows and the threat of punishment for anyone who caused harm. The only time it was deemed safe to cut branches was for medicinal or ritual use, such as the day of May and only after permission was sought from the mythical elven folk!
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Probably the most famous story is of the Holy Thorn of Glastonbury. The legend tells of Joseph of Arimathea, who pushed his staff into the ground that eventually grew into a hawthorn tree. His offspring live on in Glastonbury and bloom unusually twice a year, once in May and again in December. To this day, a hawthorn sprig from St. Johns Church is given to the Queen every Christmas.
Herbalists use both the flowering tops and the berries as a heart and circulatory restorative, help regulate heart rate and help lower blood pressure. It can be administered in the form of a tincture, capsule or taken as a tea.
If prescription medications are being taken for high blood pressure or heart disease, it is important to consult a qualified herbalist or physician before using hawthorn as some interactions may occur.
Phytochemicals found in the berries, flowers and leaves include tannins, flavonoids, phenolic acids, quercetin and choline. Hawthorn leaf, flowering tops and berries are a useful tonic for the older animal.
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Most horses like to eat new hawthorn leaves when they appear in the hedges around April and May. The new shoots are soft and the thorns have yet to harden so they can be picked easily. The berries are often eaten together with a few blackberries in early autumn. I have also observed sheep and goats using fences or fallen logs to reach the new growth, which is very welcome after the scarce winter months.
Caroline is a member of IAAT, the International Association of Animal Therapists. She is a sports, remedial and holistic massage therapist qualified to treat dogs, horses and humans. Caroline has a lifelong obsession with dogs, a passion for holistic health care and natural nutrition, and a love of foraging in the countryside; all of this led her to found the company Hedgerow Hounds, which makes vet-approved herbal nutritional blends for dogs and other natural health products. She recently developed Hedgerow Horse.
Caroline also writes regularly for the holistic magazine Edition Dog, covering topics such as raw nutrition, dog therapies, and the progress of the sensory herb garden she has created for her dogs.
Where blogs were created by a guest author, reproduced them in good faith, but cannot be held responsible for any inaccuracies of information contained therein or any use you make of such information
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While we welcome positive recommendations for holistic health products, we do not necessarily endorse the product or the author’s opinion. We recognize that each animal is an individual and may react differently to the marked products. There may also be other products available that produce similar positive results.
The Veterinary Surgeon’s Act 1966 restricts the handling of animals (usually other than your own*) by anyone other than a qualified veterinarian. Always consult a veterinarian if you are concerned about your animal’s health. Hawthorn has been used for centuries as a general cardiac tonic and its components can help improve blood circulation and increase blood flow to sites of local injury.
The flavenoids present in hawthorn have been shown to strengthen the connective tissue structure of the endothelial lining of cardiac cavities and the blood and lymphatic vessels.
Hawthorn is also a peripheral vasodilator, dilating blood vessels away from the heart. This lowers blood pressure and relieves the burden on the heart.
Go Native With Hedgerows And Buffers On Horse Properties — Snohomish Conservation District
Horses with specific conditions such as laminitis and laminitis can benefit from hawthorn, where widening and strengthening of the blood vessels will improve circulation in these “local” areas of injury.
Horses with arthritis can benefit greatly from eating hawthorn. Hawthorn berries are widely used as a heart tonic and for increasing circulation, which is very important for horses with arthritis.
Western herbalists consider it a “food for the heart” that increases blood flow to the heart muscle and restores normal heartbeat. It is a wonderful herb for the older senior horse that helps with circulation