Can Horses Eat Clover?

While combing through my horse field the other day searching for something I’d dropped, I noticed that there were clover plants all over throughout the grass.

I’d never noticed them before and immediately was wondering how long they had been there.

After that, my first thought was that my horses must have been eating them while grazing. I started panicking a little at first, before I calmed down and went to do some research and find out if they were in any danger.

So, can horses eat clover?

Yes, clover is safe for horses and actually provides a lot of benefits. Clover growing fresh on your pasture poses no problems and in fact will provide extra fiber and protein that they wouldn’t get from just the grass. There are certain caveats to that point, so read on to find out more.

Clover comes in many different varieties, and some varieties are less safe than others.

They should still be able to access plain grass, as overconsumption of clover can be a problem.

Let’s take a look at everything you need to know about giving clover to your horses.

What clover is safe for horses?

There are three common types of clover that appear in horse pastures.

These are white, red and alsike.

There is also sweet clover, but it is rarely found in pastures like the others.

It is more typically found in hay mixtures harvested from roadsides, where the sweet clover is seeded as a soil stabilizer.

White clover is the most common and recognizable type, and is very common in horse pastures because it will survive close grazing.

White clover poses no problems for your horse, and eaten in appropriate amounts can even be beneficial to your horse.

There is sometimes a fungus found in white clovers commonly called black patch, which can be problematic in large doses.

Check your field regularly for these, as you can identify them via black spots on the leaves and stems.

The same is true of red clover.

The plants themselves are completely safe for your horse, but they are also susceptible to this kind of fungi.

Red clover is very similar in appearance to white except, you guessed it, the flower is red.

There is a third type of clover called alsike, distinguishable by its dark pink flowers at the bottom and light pink towards the tip.

Unlike the first two, alsike is known to cause more serious problems in horses: photosensitization and big liver syndrome.

So, let’s look at how clover is toxic to horses.

Is clover toxic to horses?

The main cause for concern with white or red clover is, as I mentioned, the black patch fungus which they can become infected with.

This fungus contains a toxin called slaframine, which can cause a couple of issues in horses, but mostly benign and without much danger.

That said, it’s still best to treat the black patch on your clovers if possible.

Alsike is the real problem plant.

Alsike clover contains an as yet unidentified toxin which causes what is known as photosensitization in horses.

This is a condition characterized by sunburned, crusty skin, that dies and sloughs away.

It’s usually caused by a reaction to something the horse has eaten; including alsike clover.

Big liver syndrome is a condition which is pretty self-explanatory.

Horses, when they eat alsike, have been reported to suffer from this condition in which the liver expands as a reaction to something that’s been eaten.

This can be fatal, so if you’ve got alsike on your horse’s pasture, you’ll need to remove it.

Why do horses drool after eating clover?

One observation many horse owners have noticed when their horses eat clover flowers is that they very often start to drool afterwards.

This probably means that your clovers are infected with black patch.

The slaframine that I mentioned earlier encourages the production of saliva, and your horse begins to drool.

As I said, it’s not really much of a problem, and it won’t cause your horse any real issues.

However, it’s probably still best to try and treat the black patch mushroom when you see if it you can.

Fungicide can usually do the trick.

Can clover kill horses?

Clovers, for the most part, pose no real problems for your horse, then.

White and red clovers are perfectly safe, if with the potential to cause minor digestive troubles and a harmless overproduction of saliva.

Alsike, however, poses a very real fatal threat to your horse.

An enlarged liver can quickly escalate into bigger problems like internal bleeding, and even if you dodge that bullet, you’re still likely to see liver failure, colic, diarrhea, and even death.

Don’t take any chances with alsike clover in your horse pasture; look for it often and remove it as soon as you find it.

So, you should always be careful of everything that’s in your horse’s diet and on its pasture.

Ordinary clover is fine and safe for your horses, but you still need to make sure they don’t eat too much of it.

A horse’s diet should always be balanced so they can get all the nutrients they need.

Furthermore, be sure of what variety of clover you have growing or that you are feeding to them, as some varieties pose real dangers.