Can Horses Eat Dock Leaves?

I tied up my mare the other day while I was getting ready to brush her, and when I turned around, I heard her chewing on something.

She had reached over the fence onto a path nearby where there were some dock leaves on the other side.

She spat them out pretty quickly before I could do anything, which was a relief, and she seemed fine afterwards. B

ut I always think it’s better to be safe than sorry, so I decided to do some research on the question.

So, can horses eat dock leaves?

Dock leaves are perfectly safe for horses to eat, although they are quite bitter and your horse probably won’t like them. In very large quantities they could pose problems for your horse, but it’s unlikely that your horse would ever eat this much or any at all. Dock leaves are not dangerous for horses.

Dock leaves pose no serious danger, then, but they also aren’t very nice either.

Horses are known to avoid dock leaves once they’ve had a taste, since they’re so bitter.

There are a few different varieties of dock leaves you should be aware of, and if you do have a problem with them in your horse field there’s a few things you can do.

Read on to find out more.

Can horses eat dead dock leaves?

Dock leaves might lose some of their bitterness when they die, and your horse might enjoy them a bit more then.

They probably still won’t touch them, though, so if you’ve got dead dock leaves anywhere on your horse’s pasture, it probably won’t present a problem.

It’s still advisable to clean them up so your horses can get at the fresh grass underneath, but the dead leaves themselves are no more dangerous than the living ones.

Horses are known to scoop up dead leaves, though, so just keep an eye that your horse isn’t eating too much dock and making itself sick.

There are other varities of dock which can cause more problems, though.

Can horses eat curly dock?

Curly dock, which often grows in similar places to ordinary dock, are in fact toxic to horses and should not be fed to them.

Curly dock contains high levels of nitrates and oxalates, both of which are toxic and potentially very harmful to horses.

Oxalates are also found in things like kale, so they’re not uncommon in foods we eat.

We, however, are much better at digesting the oxalates, whereas they can cause havoc for horses.

If you have curly dock on your horse’s field, get rid of it at the root and make sure it doesn’t come back.

Further, search the rest of the field to make sure there’s no more anywhere, and do this regularly if you spot some.

Are docks invasive?

The real problem with dock leaves is that they are incredibly invasive.

This means that they are harmful to their environment and were usually introduced from elsewhere.

Dock leaves, once they get a foothold, can completely take over natural environments and fields.

So, while your horses would still avoid the dock leaves, once they invade their field they’re going to spread and spread and it’s going to make it a lot harder for them to graze properly.

If you notice dock leaves on or near your property, there’s a few things you can do to get rid of them and stop the spread.

How do you get rid of dock leaves in a horse field?

There are many ways you can deal with an invasion of dock leaves.

One is simple weedkiller; any weedkiller based on 2,4-D or MCPA will do the trick.

These are common lawn weedkillers which you can get at most stores.

As long as you catch the dock leaves early on, weedkillers will do the trick.

Once they’re a bit more stablished with flesh rootstock, you might need to take more extreme measure.

You may also simply be reluctant to use weedkiller, which is understandable.

To get rid of dock leaves naturally, you’ll need to dig the plants out at the root.

They have quite a long tap root from which they will just regrow if you pull the plants up.

Get a shovel, and make sure to dig out the whole plant.

Once the plant has been removed, destroy the root in one way or another; you can either leave it out to dry, burn them or drown them in water.

Any of these methods will kill the roots.

It can be quite difficult to get every plant once the invasion has gotten out of hand, so if you see dock on your property, deal with it as quickly as you can.

Get to the root of the problem and eradicate all of the dock plants you can find.

Does vinegar kill dock leaves?

If you’re reluctant to use actual weedkillers, one other great option is a vinegar solution.

Unsurprisingly, vinegar is not good for plants.

If you make a solution of vinegar, molasses and dishsoap with water, you can spray it on the dock leaves and the plants should eventually wither and die, never to return.

This can be more efficient than digging them up if there is a lot of dock around and you have a spray bottle handy.

So, dock leaves can present a problem for your field, since they can become invasive.

They’re pretty easy to get rid of, however, with the right tools, and they pose no particular threat to your horse’s health.

Your horse will almost always avoid eating them since they’re so bitter, and will probably just spit them out if they do eat any.

Make sure they aren’t completely taking over your horse’s pasture and you’ll have no problem with dock leaves.