Every few years, nature produces an abundance of fruits, nuts and seeds. This is called a mast year and this year, 2025, is one. Apple trees are laden with fruit, oaks have more acorns than usual and even holly is producing a good crop of berries for Christmas.
For us horse owners, this can be a blessing or a problem. Where grazing has been diminished due to the dry summer, horses at pasture may be feeling peckish and more inclined to eat acorns if there is an oak tree shedding these on the ground.
For horses, cattle and sheep, acorns are poisonous, so you should deny them access. Pigs, however, enjoy and thrive on acorns. In the New Forest, pigs are released to eat the acorns and other fallen bounty such as crab apples – collectively known as pannage. They grow fat and the ponies are kept safe!
In the wild, with unrestricted access to pasture, horses would spend the summer “stocking up†by eating nutritious grass - and plenty of it - to aid them in building a thick coat and laying down excess weight...
Horses’ teeth change throughout their lives - they are continually growing and continually wearing, as they chew and grind their grazing and forage.
Grass has the potential to grow all year, which is different from many other plants. Certain things are necessary for this growth, but if they are not met, the grass will be dormant, waiting for conditions to improve.Â