Horses and Toxic Plants - Equine Safety

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Here is a list of various plants known to be toxic to horses This may be your first and most vital step of equine first aid - an environment that is safe and pleasant.

It may be a good idea to purchase "Horse Owner's Field Guide to Toxic Plants". Search online or order from a bookstore. After you review this list, consider what types of landscaping or orchards your neighbors may have. If the property next door has horses too, that doesn't mean that the land or pasture is free from names in the list below. Help to protect your horse by checking any area it can reach.

Avocado

Black locust (robinia pseudoacacia)

Black walnut (juglans nigra)

Boxwood

Brackenfern / Brake fern

Broccoli

Buckeye (some species, but why differentiate) (Aesculus) Buttercup / Buttercups

Butternut

Castorbean

Prunus genus and relatives: Find a garden book. There are several. Many stone fruits.

Chestnut (Aesculus)

Chinaberry

Dutchman's Breeches

Elderberry (Sambucus)

Fiddleneck

Foxglove

Goldenchain tree

Goldenrod

Groundsel

Heavenly Bamboo (Nandina)

Holly

Horsetail

Hydrangea

Jimsonweed (Datura)

Kale

Kentucky coffee tree

Lambsquarter

Lantana

Larkspur (Delphinium)

Ligustrum

Marsh marigold

Milkweed

Mountain Laurel (Kalmia)

Oak tree acorns (quercus)

OLEANDER (nerium oleander)

Pigweed

Pittosporum

Poinsettia

Poison Hemlock

Pokeweed / Inkberry

Ragweed

RED MAPLE (Acer rubrum)

Rhododendron and azalea

Russian olive /oleaster (elaegnus)

Skunk Cabbage

And the bright side, is that there are so many other kinds available to grow. It's possible that you have seen other people's horses near some of these, or parts of these, with no apparent consequences. All we can do is supply this list of information which we have gathered. It's up to each pet or livestock owner to select their own level of risk.