Horses often chew tree bark for various reasons, including boredom, insufficient grazing, habit and nutritional deficiencies. To decrease their wood consumption it is crucial to provide enough forage while eliminating access with taste deterrents on nontoxic branches or twigs.

Your veterinarian should also perform an assessment for possible nutritional deficiency, especially if your horse engages in cribbing (pressing teeth against objects such as trees and fence posts in order to ingest air). Cribbing involves forcing teeth against these objects in order to ingest oxygen and breath through them, thus drawing air in through their pores.

Boredom

Horses are naturally curious creatures, and may nibble on things they shouldn’t–including tree bark. While this may seem harmless at first, this nibbling can actually cause irreparable damage to trees. If your horse has started nibbling tree bark without your knowledge or permission, take immediate steps to stop him before it’s too late. First try keeping them away from where he’s chewing; otherwise try using taste deterrents such as hot sauce or vinegar that won’t harm him but make the tree bark taste less desirable – taste deterrents won’t harming anyone while making tree bark less tasty to horses while not harming trees.

Chewing on wood can be detrimental to horses’ health and dangerous for riders alike. Such behaviors could result in fractured limbs and rotted wood that poses potential stability risks or lead to unstable situations that could create unsafe or unstable situations for all parties involved.

As an effective way of deterring your horse from eating tree bark, providing plenty of long-stem forage such as hay is key. Many horses start munching away at tree bark out of boredom or habit; without enough fiber in their diets this behavior becomes particularly prevalent during cold and wet weather when horses may crave roughage and forage more frequently.

As well as offering your horse plenty of hay, adding additional fiber-rich food such as chopped straw or other forage can help reduce hissing and other stereotypic behaviors such as cribbing, windsucking and pacing. This may help mitigate hissing.

At its core, the best solution for horse owners to curb tree bark eating tendencies is creating an environment more natural than that found in stall confinements and diets with long intervals between meals containing high concentrates – both can contribute to this behavior.

When dealing with these issues, it’s essential to consult your veterinarian. A blood test can determine if your horse has any mineral deficiencies which may need correcting through supplements; depending on its results, both you and your veterinarian can select appropriate ones to ensure his wellbeing and safety.

Nutritional Deficits

Prior to domestication, horses spent much of their day foraging on pasture grass and wild vegetation, which enabled their digestive systems to function more effectively than when kept in small paddocks or stalls that provide processed feed without enough forage for nutrition. When domesticated horses were forced into confinement pens with limited foraging opportunities and given processed feed in lieu of their natural diet of forage sources such as pasture grasses, they sometimes turned to wood chewing for sustenance.

Tree bark is an important source of dietary fiber and lignin, a structural carbohydrate. Lignin acts as a bulking agent in horses’ digestive systems to maintain optimal pH and balance in their microbiomes; unfortunately, forages and concentrates used as staple foods for horses do not contain enough of this component to supply this daily requirement. As such, many horses must turn to wood as an alternate source for daily dietary fiber intake.

Tree bark contains many essential nutrients, including cellulose. However, excessive consumption may lead to digestive distress or dehydration in some people.

As is also important to keep in mind, certain kinds of tree bark may be harmful to horses if eaten in large amounts. Red maple tree leaves, stems and bark contain gallic acid and tannins which can lead to hemolytic anemia in horses if consumed regularly in large enough amounts; similarly cherry tree bark (and shavings) contain cyanide which poses great threat if swallowed by horses.

Those concerned that their horse is chewing wood due to nutritional deficiency should contact their veterinarian. A blood panel will reveal any deficiencies and recommend the most effective course of action, while free-choice hay and slow feeders should be provided, along with speaking with a nutritionist so their horse receives all essential vitamins and minerals.

If the veterinarian rules out nutritional or medical problems and your horse continues to chew wood, it could be time for a change in diet. Offering more hay may help, as may changing up structural features in their stable and paddock. Furthermore, using a chew-stop formula with capsaicin (the same substance found in chili peppers that makes their flavor), can deter your horse from engaging in this practice of chewing wood.

Self-medication

If a horse’s environment lacks other chewable items, she may turn to wood as an outlet to satisfy her need to chew. This stereotypic behavior, also known as chewing, may stem from boredom or be an attempt at stress relief; over time this habit could even become harmful by leading to nutritional deficiencies and tooth or gum problems.

Chewing on tree bark may not be harmful for horses, but it should still be approached with caution. Chewing may cause uneven wear on their teeth and splinters may enter their mouth or gut which could prove fatal if swallowed. Furthermore, some trees contain toxic components which could compromise their health further.

As part of any attempt at solving any horse related issue, it is necessary to conduct an in-depth evaluation of their environment, lifestyle and diet. This involves ascertaining whether they have been socialized and are receiving enough grazing opportunities, type of feed and fiber content in their food supply. A veterinarian will need all this information in order to ascertain any underlying causes and provide solutions or make suggestions that could potentially reduce or alleviate problems altogether.

In such instances, if too much water is being provided to a horse and decreasing fiber intake, changing their diet to one rich in more fiber may be required. A blood test can also be conducted to identify what minerals may be deficient and supplements added accordingly to increase levels of these essential nutrients.

Encourage your horse to exercise more, which will burn energy that would otherwise be spent chewing tree bark. This can be accomplished either through structured riding sessions or simply encouraging more time spent grazing in pastures or adding high fiber forage to their diet as this may also help discourage tree chewing behavior. Lastly, using sprays or pastes containing capsaicin on surfaces where your horse likes to chew will act as an additional deterrent.

Stress

Horses who feel isolated or bored often turn to chewing trees to occupy their thoughts. This behavior becomes particularly apparent if other horses in their stable or pasture are also chewing wood, mimicking mischievous children seeking out mischief by mimicking others. Such behavior could indicate that these horses don’t receive sufficient mental stimulation or forage in their diets.

Eating tree bark can be hazardous to your horse’s health. If they ingest poisonous trees, however, the consequences can be much more serious than simply having an bored horse. Black walnut trees contain toxins which may lead to laminitis in their feet while all parts of red maple and cherry trees have been shown to be toxic when eaten in large quantities by horses. If you suspect your horse has consumed bark from toxic trees, contact your veterinarian immediately for treatment options.

Chewing on wood that has become infested with insects can also be hazardous for your horse, not only due to obvious safety concerns but also because bugs may irritate their intestines and skin, leading to irritation that requires treatment from a veterinarian to remove any bugs as well as relieve any associated symptoms.

If your horse is chewing wood as a means to escape boredom, try offering him free-choice hay or forage as an alternative source. A slow feeder might also make hay last longer while making it more difficult for your horse to gain access to wood. Another solution would be using products designed to make wood taste bad – there are several commercial formulas on the market.

If the wood chewing problem is due to nutritional deficiency, your veterinarian will likely suggest diet adjustments as a solution. In addition to feeding him healthy food and increasing exercise routines, provide opportunities for socialization, and make sure his exercise regime includes socialization with other horses. If stress-induced chewing is the culprit behind his chewing tendencies, your veterinarian may suggest medications or suggest working with behavioral specialists.