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Horse Herbs for Grazing
There are many different plants that horses will love to eat
that are perfectly safe to plant in your pastures and along
your fencerows. To start with,
when purchasing herbs specifically for this purpose, you
must always buy according to the Latin name and plant
family. A good example would be marigolds. If you want to
plant medicinal calendula, you MUST buy "Calendula
officinalis", and not any old marigold seeds you see on the
seed racks in your local nursery or Walmart. You will find
about 20 different Marigold seeds but probably NO Calendula
officinalis. You will need to find a nursery that carries
true medicinal plant seeds or plants, or a really good seed
catalog.
What to plant?
A lot, of course, will depend on where in the country you
live and the climate. Soil conditions, moisture, and
sun/shade requirements should be on each individual seed
packet.
I will try to give you a list of the "hardiest" herbs you
can plant, and since most of the world consider these to be
weeds anyway, you can rest assured that they will probably
grow most anywhere - maybe spreading to places you don't
want them. If you don't want them to spread, try to pinch
off the seed heads if this is at all possible. I found that
one particular herb was extremely HARDY and took over half
of my farm, and that was motherswort! I have even dug up the
roots and burned them, and they come back again and again.
It was like something out of a B-rated horror movie "Revenge
of the Killer Herb Plant". I have also read that Lemon balm
is particularly hardy and easy to grow, but I couldn't get
it to grow. I do not have a really green thumb, I am not a
gardener, but I am an herbalist. One doesn't make the other,
sorry to say. So a lot will depend on your climate and soil
conditions, and your green thumb.
For open pastures, four of my favorite herbs are dandelion (Taraxacum
officinale), dog grass (Agropyron repens), true German
chamomille (Matricaria recutita), and plantain leaf (Plantago
major). These are fairly easy to sow from seeds, and are
quick to grow. These plants have a long growing season.
Horses will usually eat the dandelion leaf when young and
tender, and then ignore it as it becomes more mature and
hence bitter. They can graze on true chamomile from late
spring through early fall. Plantain grows all season long,
but again, horses will prefer the tender, younger leaves
over the more mature plants later in the season.
When you get close to the edge of the pastures these herbs
will hopefully thrive:
All herbs in the mint family such as lemonbalm (Melissa
officinalis), catnip (Nepeta cataria), peppermint (Mentha
piperita), and bee balm (Monarda didyma). The mints will be
most medicinal right before they go to full flower, as this
is when their main medicinal property (oil) will be at its
highest.
Others such as: hyssop (Hyssopus officinalis), valerian (Valeriana
officinalis), yarrow (Achillea millefolium), blue vervain
(Verbena officinalis), goldenrod (Solidago virgaurea),
nettle (Urtica dioica), and blessed thistle (Cnicus
benedictus) also like the edge of the pasture and prefer not
to be stomped on continuously. These plants will be ready
for grazing right before going to flower. Goldenrod is
particularly good while in FULL flower, as the flowers are
an excellent digestive aid.
Herbs that would prefer to be on the fencerow include:
cleavers (Galium aparine), chickweed (Stellaria media),
horehound (Marrubium vulgare), honeysuckle vine (Lonicera
periclymenum), passionflower vine (Passiflora incarnata),
boneset (Eupatorium perfoliatum), dog rose (Rosa canina),
meadowsweet (Filipendula ulmaria), raspberry (Rubus idaeus)
and blackberry (Rubus villosus). |
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Cleavers and chickweed are fairly early
spring plants and are very tender, then just die back until
next spring. I have found some older stands of chickweed and
it's not as bitter as one would expect. It makes a good
salad for humans when mixed with the dandelion leaf.
Honeysuckle vines are usually eaten when in full flower, as
the flowers are a great liver tonic. Passionflower is
another vine that is usually grazed during full bloom. I
have never seen a horse eat a maypop. A maypop is what they
call passionflower seed pods down here in the south, but
humans treat them similar to kiwis. I have not eaten one
yet, nor have I seen any of my horses eat the maypops.
Horehound is a late summer plant and is ready when it is in
full flower.
The dog rose, meadowsweet, raspberry and blackberry are more
hedgerow bushes/vines. They may need propping up if no fence
is available. Even though the raspberry and blackberry vines
have thorns, the horses will eat the leaves and seem to love
them. The dog rose and meadowsweet seem to stand up better
but a little support won't hurt. The meadowsweet leaves and
flowers will be grazed. Horses will probably only eat the
actual rose hip from the dog rose bush. These are quite hard
but my horses eat them all the time.
Many can even start their own herb gardens for their horses.
It's very easy to do and here are a few plants that are very
easy to start and grow: |
Calendula (Calendula officinalis), echinacea
(Echinacea angustifolia, purpurea, pallida), eyebright (Euphrasia
officinalis), and of course, you can add any of the above
mentioned herbs to your own herb garden if you are not able
to seed your pastures or fence rows.
I would also suggest planting a few medicinal type trees. My
favorite is the willow tree. It's one of the few trees whose
leaves and bark your horses CAN safely eat. I would try to
find true white willow (Salix alba), but other willows such
as black willow (Salix nigra) will work as well. And they
also will make excellent shade trees for your horses. As
many probably already know, the bark and leaves help to
relieve pain and inflammation and are considered an
analgesic in the herb world.
This is just a small but safe example of what you can plant
for your horses. Most of today's pastures have been
"cleaned" of all weeds, be they good weeds or plain old
nasty weeds. Today's horse can benefit greatly from the
reintroduction of weeds and hopefully this will restore our
land to its original condition and not this "sterile"
environment that many find so appealing.
Always be careful in what you purchase and in what you
plant. Please read all labels carefully and never feed
anything to your horse or yourself unless you are absolutely
sure of its identity.
This is an informational article only and is not intended to
replace veterinary or professional care. |
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