Allow them to grow and see what happens. You may want to protect them from the horses, it depends on how many are growing, how many horses, and how big of an area.

Protection is up to you. That means you may loose some or all. Natural selection at work with a couple of modifications. (Namely the horses.)

I think you're asking whether stump or root sprouts can eventually form a long-lived mature tree. The answer to this is yes. If the sprouts are allowed to continue to grow, they will grow into a viable tree.

One issue that may be a concern is root stability. When a sprout emerges as a sucker, it's root system is not equally spread out like the root system of a seed-grown tree. These trees may be somewhat more likely to be blown over, especially in their earlier years.

Hmmm..I wonder if the root system would eventually grow more eventually. I guess that's what you mean by being more unstable in the early years.

I guess I could leave them alone for a year or two and see what happens.

The horses tended to eat the bark back when there was no grass and I hadn't put up chicken wire around the trunks yet. *Sigh* Eventually I had to do just that in the back where they normally stay. But damage had been done to a dozen or more trees. Eventually there's a bare spot or more down to the middle portion of the tree (below the bark, not sure what it's called). Then, rot, bugs etc eventually weaken that part of the tree making it likely to fall depending on the amount of damage. We lost 5-6 in one of the hurricanes that cruised thru in 2006? (the year of Katrina and the 4 hurricanes in Florida). Now a few more need to come down since they're likely to fall on things we don't want them to fall on.

We've learned trees with wide, broad tops or any leaves at all actually are most susceptible during hurricanes. Pines (generally) and trees with very little leaves fair well. My Mom's place has a really large, sparse Cypress with a large eagle's nest at the top. This tree is taller by almost a half over all the others. These all surround a pond and were heavily leaved. They all toppled, leaned, went down but the Cypress and nest came thru with NO damage (3 hurricanes).

I sure wished I'd done the fencing sooner even if it does look silly. Luckily the Live Oak's were last on the 'hit' list and they only really got one or two very young ones.

Yes, the root system would tend to spread out more over time, but might not be as likely to become sufficiently symmetrical as the root system of a seed grown tree. I've seen plenty of actual cases of this situation, but can't remember ever seeing any good scientific studies of the topic.

If you think about a sucker, all of its nutrient-supplying roots are in one direction to start with. If the main tree trunk is removed on the other side of the sucker, the root system between the last sucker and the trunk will probably eventually wither away. Nutrient flow patterns are resistant to change, so it's less likely that roots will develop on that side of the sucker. Initially, the sucker's entire root system will be one sided. Some roots should eventually develop in the other direction.

The degree to which the new tree will develop roots at its base probably depend on the tree species and many other things. The bottom line is that there are many unknown variables here, and stability may be an issue or you may never know the difference.

BTW, many of the huge redwood trees out in CA started out as suckers. Below is a clonal circle of redwoods that are left after the initial tree was logged decades ago.

Here is a link that might be useful:

If you let the bottom part of the stump regrow it has got the roots so it will be stable ...the other parts of the stump you can make into a hedge if you just leave them on the ground some will sprout and others won't. Either way its good mulch if the tree isn't diseased. Otherwise just use the stumps or compost them and only let the base with the roots regrow. You can wax the top of the stump with beeswax to seal the open wound and stop it rotten and getting diseased. we have an apple tree that grew back like that and ive got horse chestnuts growing that way. You can also employ a proper arbour maintenance guy to cut your trees into shapes that are less likely to get ripped up in a storm hey take a lot of the longer branches and shorten them so you get new flimsy growth which the wind can't break as easily and they look nice after a few years and if it is properly done. They do third in Europe a lot and it looks great. Here in Ireland a lot of people with an electric saw think they can do work with trees and really they have not a clue. So be careful to find a guy and see his work. Sometimes they cut them so ugly but when cut right it make a them a lot safer and still looks nice. Bit like a lollipop lol! But better than having no trees at all. You can also plant other trees around large trees to create wind break... Trees like poplar are good for that and birch they break the wind up and divert it before the fall force hits the big tree. Its not bad for buildings to have some wind break too. Might not make much difference during a hurricane though. If its a big oak its probably been there longer than you and birds may have lived there for generations ...trees are an amazing asset and take so long to mature that I'd do everything I could to protect them and help them endure safely before cutting them down. They do so much good. And you might find problems if you fell a lpt of them... Landsliding away flooding in paddocks and other things which the trees have been preventing for years.

You won't want that oak tree. The trees that grow from stumps grow tall and fast. Usually three to six in a circle around the decaying stump. They don't have proper roots in the middle so thay develop a hole there in the center. Snow or winds come along and they fall outward like a flower opening and crush anything in their path and cost a ton of work to remove. Just plant a proper tree that can be trusted for years.