I never saw the flowers even though I make it a point of hiking through this area regularly. Due to the chewed off tops, it is quite possible if I had visited a few days or a week later I may not have seen these plants either. bboy - not sure if you are referring to the plant's odd name or if you think they were eaten by horses, but on that note, while I was looking up info about "horse gentain" it was noted that nobody really knows why it was given this name :-)

Liable to be another Protea family plant.

Thanks! I think you nailed it. Here is a link that might be useful: my blog

Yes, it is a hebe, possibly 'Paula', although there are many cultivars with a similar appearance. All hebes have some degree of toxicity (as do the vast majority of plants) but it would not be one I'd worry about. But then no dog I have ever owned has grazed on any outdoor plants other than some grass and I grow a huge number of quite toxic plants if dogs were to bother to eat them..........they don't!! Once they are out of the puppy stage, I think they just know better.