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PLEASE NOTE:
"Poisonous" does not mean deadly. Some manifestations of toxicity are subtle. The dose, as always, determines if a plant is safe source of nutrients or a toxic hazard.

Frequently (and not so frequently) Asked Questions

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BRIEF: Should I move my horse away from the oak trees?


QUESTION:
I recently purchased a horse and my veterinarian told me that there was no threat to my horse from the oak trees (both red and white) in her pasture. How common is poisoning from oaks and should I move her away from these trees?

ANSWER:
I would not bother the trees or the horses. If they are well fed, they should be fine. If they have access to a lot of new sprouts in the spring or acorns in the fall, you might want to move out the horses or prune the sprouting branches out of reach or sweep up the acorns (to avoid the slight chance of a short term seasonal exposure to tannin or pyrogallol toxicity), but otherwise there is no chance the oaks are going to do anything but shade the horses.