Horses eating certain trees

Question
I've heard eatin azalea bushes will kill a horse what about a bradford pear tree?

Answer
Hi Chrissy,

Thank you for your question.  Although there is not a lot of literature suggesting that the bradford pear tree is dangerous for horses, there is some suggestion that the seeds of the common pear can be.  Mind you, the concern is that if a large volume of seeds are finely ground, they release glycosides that mix with stomach acid to create cyanide.  I'm not sure that one tree could produce enough fruit that a horse would eat to make this all happen...it's quit a long shot.  Other species of fruit trees (like cherry trees) will have high quantities of glycosides in leaves and bark and can pose a more immediate threat to horses that like to chew on them.  Given all of that information I would suggest avoiding having the tree available to the horses by fencing them off within the field or re-routing fencing to eliminate them from the field.

I hope that helps to some extent.

Thanks, Corlena