I am building a house on 5 acres in Argyle. My wife has a horse and we might add another one. I know very little about horses or their diets but I love to plant things for birds, butterflies, and bees! What do I need to avoid planting? What might already be growing that could be toxic to the horse? Of course I hope to keep the horses mostly in pasture, but I want to plant things around the edges of the pasture to increase biodiversity.

I know there are plants that are toxic but I can't remember them. I just don't worry about it. In the summer there is something my palomino eats that makes him sun sensitive and his white/pink nose burns. Johnson grass under the right conditions can be a problem. Something about a toxin building up during dry periods.

Please understand just about anything you plant, the horses will eat. Keep them in pasture away from your landscaping and everyone will get along. Generally as long as the horses aren't starving they'll eat only what's good for them I believe.

Congrats on the new house and expanding your herd.

Dr. Reagor at the A&M vet clinic in College Station can likely steer you in the right direction. He was the vet who advised me regarding the blue green algae problem with my pond a few summers ago and he is very knowlegable. Sorry, I don't have his direct no. with me, but I'm sure you can find him on line through the A&M website.

There are many plants for horses that can be a problem, and yet when given over a long period of time in slow moderation with other things, I've seen them eat without issue. But I'm sure there are a few red flags. One that comes to mind is Lantana - I think they know to stay away from that one, it grows wild in the pasture and even the cows stay out of it.

Wow - I just had to put down a 7 year old gelding because of something he ate. Initially it was thought he had colic, but when they scoped his stomach, he had a massive "growth". When we sent it off to TAMU, it turns out he ate a blister beetle (how many I don't know) and this ruptured his stomach! From what I've read, this is a problem in alfalfa and when it flowers, the beetles go after the flowers. Their toxicity stays alive even after the beetles are dead and baled. I have 4 other horses, none of which were afflicted, however.

My family raises horses and cattle - they also have a ton of lantana, which both species stay away from. From what I recall, lantana is toxic, but in the Texas Valley it grows tremendously and the livestock don't bother it.

Good luck with adding horses to your home! I'd not trade it for the world!

Try this, http://www.manesandtailsorganization.org/toxic.html

Good stuff - good question. The lady who operates our stables does not mind us feeding Johnson grass to the horses as long as we hold it and only let them bite six inches or less. She is worried about them getting 3 feet of it into their intestines and binding. She gets this from her sister who has a master's degree in animal nutrition, so I'm passing it along at least 4th hand (FWIW). Hopefully someone else can corroborate.