Quick growng hedge that is safe for horses?

[Finwoodhill]

I'm buying a country property with a fenced lawned garden which has a horse paddock on the other side. Fence is sound but unatttractive. Plan to plant a hedge on the inside of the fence. What hedge can I plant which will be relatively quick growing but safe for the horses (and they won't want to poke there heads over the fence and want to eat)?

[NazNomad]

Horses will gnaw on pretty much any hedge you plant.

Holly is a reasonable deterrent as longas you don't let it get big enough so that they can get to the bark.

[boxtops]

Hawthorn? Prickly and attractive when it flowers? (Don't get privet, it grows like the clappers but you'll spend all your time cutting it, and it's poisonous to horses.)

[carlton23]

Best ask a vet methinks.

[jomifl]

Yup.. holly grows surprisingly quickly especially if you have to trim it yourself, it is quite impenetrable and is so all year round, also it doesn't blow over easily and birds will eat the berries before christmas..guaranteed.

[horselady]

A really comprehensive llist of poisonous plants here.

oak
ragwort
yew
laburnum
hemlock
laurel
rhododendron
foxglove
privet
bracken
horsetail
lupin
poppy
buttercup
chickweed
deadly nightshade
black nightshade
st johns wort
bog asphodel
pimpernel
iris
henblane
lily of the valley
bulbs of daffodil, hyacinth snowdrop and bluebell
columbine
hellebore
fritallaria
soapwort
sandwort
larkspur
monkshood
greater celandine
corncockle
flax
buckthorn
alder buckthorn
cowbane
hemlock water dropwort
broom
hemp
white bryony
thornapple
sowbread
meadow saffron
herb paris
black bryony

[NazNomad]

... but not many that actually relate to a hedge, lol ;-)

[Finwoodhill]

Thanks for your help everyone - holly it is then!

[vivandorron]

Naz has given good advice; although I wouldn't have thought that Holly was fast growing. There are horses in the field behind my house and the hedge is composed of Blackthorn,Hawthorn, Beech,and lots of Bramble. The horses keep tugging at it and seem to enjoy most the Bramble to eat How they cope with the thorns is a complete mystery to me.

Ron.