Desperately in need of clarification!

[Cypress]

Hello everyone, hopefully somebody can help me out here...
We have 7 horses, one recently was poorly.. now, we're surrounded by hedgerows of what I thought was just blackthorn but apparently there's some buckthorn in there too which is toxic to horses. A very helpful lady came out and identified it for us but I'm certain she said buckthorn has no berries... I tried to look at google pics but everyone seems to have different ides as to what it looks like(!).
So my questions are:

Does it have berries?

Does it have thorns like blackthorn?

How the heck can I tell the difference between the two?!


Many thanks in advance

[Lance Morgan]

Buckthorn has berries - little black ones like alder.
No thorns but has a sort of projection at the end of some branches hence common name.
Two sorts alder and common buckthorn.
Not that toxic it used to be used as a purgative by humans. Don't think it would upset a horse that much but if it eats alot it might.
Quite common in wet soils etc as a hedgerow plant.
Brimstone butterflies use it as a food plant so don't grub it out.

Blackthorn ( has sloes little round plums very bitter tasting - good in gin ;O)) smaller leaves, compact dense growth has lots of long thorns.
Completely different in appearance and growth.
Hope that helps

[Cypress]

Thanks LM... yeah she did say about the quantity eaten, and our poorly hoss has a sensitive tum and a long neck, lol!! The whole side is fenced off further now but we still need to cut it back if not down, and replant with something less stressful, lol!