Herbs in the meadows

As soon as it gets warmer, most horses spend more time in the meadows. Not only grass is growing, but also other useful herbs grow in the meadows. Which herbs are good for your horse and which aren´t?

Do you know what grows in the meadows? Birds, the wind, and even rain could spread seeds that will grow into plants in the meadows. Some people take all the plants away as they think they are removing poisonous plants, which is a shame! It is important to know which plants are useful for your horse and which could potentially be dangerous.

Recognizing plants and herbs in the meadows

In the meadows, there are a lot of plants instead of only grass. Think about different types of grass, innocent weeds, but also slightly and very poisonous plants. A lot of plants don’t show that they are dangerous and it is therefore important for horse owners to recognize poisonous plants. If you own your meadows, then you have to take the responsibility to remove poisonous plants. But also when your horse is staying in livery stables, then you can’t always expect that everything that grows is safe to eat.

To create a safe meadow for your horse, you don’t have to be a biologist or a botanicus. It is however important to recognize which are the most important plants and herbs in a meadow to recognize if they are poisonous.

Medicinal plants in the meadows

Wild horses eat up to 80 different plants, herbs, flowers and even trees. This isn’t surprising as most plants and herbs are full of vitamins, minerals, and other healthy nutrients. A lot of herbs are growing in the meadows and are useful for your horse: These are the most common:

🌱 Dandelions – Dandelions could work detoxifying, and blood cleansing and contribute to a better digestion.  

🌱 Madeliefje – Daisies are full of vitamins, nutrients, minerals, and work anti-inflammatory.

🌱 Nettle – Nettles are rich in iron, silicon, manganese, calcium, and are good for overall resistance and contribute to a healthy blood circulation.  

🌱 Yarrow – Yarrow is good for digestion, blood circulation, and decrease stomach, and intestinal complaints.

🌱 Narrow plantain – Narrow plantain supports the airways, digestion, and the recovering ability of the skin.

Picking and drying

If your horse stays in the meadows where many herbs grow, then it can choose what it eats. You could choose to pick the herbs and give them later as a treat in the stables. This could be given fresh, but can also be dried to make them more durable. With dried herbs, you can also make your herb mix!

Tip: dry nettles before you feed them to your horse. Fresh nettle could sting in the mouth and remove the irritant effect in the mouth when it’s dried.

Poisonous herbs in the meadows

Even though it is fun to recognize useful plants and herbs, it could be more useful to know which aren’t edible. Some plants could be poisonous. Always check if poisonous herbs and plants are growing in your meadow. Remove the whole plant including the roots, to prevent that they start to grow again.

The most common poisonous plant is the ragwort. This herb can be recognized by its yellow multi-petal flowers in a rosette-shaped growth and multi-shaped green leaves. Other common poisonous plants include horsetail, spurge, foxglove, bracken, buttercup, and more. Learn to recognize these plants so you can remove them from the meadows in time.  

Trees that grow near the meadows can also be dangerous. Poisonous leaves could fall and be eaten. Some common trees with poisonous leaves are maple-, oak-, and acacia trees. Also, be aware of boxwood or yew shrubs. These shrubs are also in small amounts very poisonous for horses.