Cheryl Walmsley
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Hey......I'm eating here!!
Posts: 3,599
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Post by Cheryl Walmsley on Jul 24, 2008 20:32:28 GMT 1
yep, there is field I drive past every day that looks like a blumming ragwort party!! full of ragwort and full of horses. really annoys me.
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Post by arabheaven on Jul 25, 2008 14:22:14 GMT 1
never suffered before but my paddock this year is covered in the stuff, none of the adjacent paddocks are, just mine i pulled a LOAD of it but more sprung up. the YO had sprayed it for thistles and ragwort and mine have to stay out for 6 weeks. it is week 4 now and the ragwort is doing NOTHING
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Post by colourfulpony on Jul 25, 2008 19:58:17 GMT 1
i'm lucky not to be bothered by ragwort - my old yard used to be a nightmare because of other land oweners not getting rid of it but since i moved house and yards i've hardly seen any. At my current livery yard there isn't any because all the farmers get rid of it as soon as it aears so it never has chance to seed and spread it's evil. At home where we will be bringing the horses back to in september the field is surrounded by golf course on all sides but one and our garden on the other - the gold course don't let anything grow but grass so there's nothing to blow over.
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potto
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I have a large spotty and the privilage once of the most beautiful big Ass!
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Post by potto on Jul 25, 2008 23:10:33 GMT 1
I am afraid to say that i am well aware of the dangers of ragwort and spent much of last summer clearing a large area of it.. (A complicated and very sad story) However I am sad to say i know that this winter one of the horses in the herd living in that field died of liver failure and i suspect suffered neglect as well, while the others had signs of extreme neglect.. (the rspca and ilph have been involved) Unfortunately i have seen the offender at a show since with one of her ponies which makes me so mad.... to neglect them year round, then take one of the ponies out to a show... i hope the judge takes a proper close up look at all the scars from old untreated leg injuries covered with shoe polish and dye and such like, and the poorly shaped hooves recently shod... usually neglected and the poor muscle.... etc and the general relationship the owner has with the horse.... although i wouldn't be surprised if she hadn't administered a calmer for the trip! However maybe i should not be so negative... maybe the owner is taking on board all the work and support that has now been given by people and the agencies involved for once and is now enjoying her ponies and caring for them as they deserve, I should not begrudge her and the pony may well be enjoying its day out at the show getting a treat, next time i drive past i am sure she would have pulled out all the ragwort that would have regrown!
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Ann NF
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Post by Ann NF on Jul 26, 2008 0:06:55 GMT 1
I`m fighting a constant battle with ragwort rosettes. I need to root out some more tomorrow. The tiniest bit of root left behind means a new plant sooner or later. The verges of Hampshire and New Forest roads and lanes are festooned with ragwort this year. Very little seems to be being done and the flowers are about to go to seed :-( More e mails to various authorities on Monday.......
Hay - It is important to be able to recognise dry ragwort and then to look out for it in every section of hay you feed.
Thank you Bridge for details about who to contact.
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cuffey
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Post by cuffey on Jul 26, 2008 22:36:32 GMT 1
If any of you live in Scotland--a booklet HOW TO PREVENT THE SPREAD OF RAGWORT has recently been published. Copies from Blackwells Bookshop, 53 South Bridge Edinburgh EH1 1YS Email orders business.edinburgh@blackwells.co.uk It is extremely useful with lots of info including Assessing Risk, Control methods, Enforcement, Disposal, Who is responsible etc
At home my biggest risk comes from seeds washed down river during floods (grazing on flood plain) I graze sheep for local farmer so fairly unusual to find any but I have found a couple of full grown plants and some rosettes to dig because I am understocked at present.
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Post by sharonh on Jul 27, 2008 18:32:52 GMT 1
Please can I add that if you don't already know, ragwort is toxic to humans too so please, please wear gloves if you are pulling it up. It can be absorbed through the skin quite easily.
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Post by purrsing1 on Jul 28, 2008 11:41:32 GMT 1
first of all the majority of ragwort growing in fields is due to it been on the road sides,the wind can carry the seeds miles.We should get on to our councils and demand it is removed, this would reduce the growth of it in feilds by at least 50 %.We always spray our paddocks its my responsibilty that my paddocks are safe for my horses and my liveries horses to graze in.Good tread more people should be made aware of this deadly plant,how many times have we seen horses grazeing in paddocks thats covered with it and yes ive heard people say they dont like the taste of it,most horses dont but some do.Thats why we make our own hay we know whats in it .Its very hard to see it when you buy bales from other people.It should be law that if you intend to sell hay that the feild by law has to be treated first.
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Post by Lulu on Jul 28, 2008 20:37:59 GMT 1
I am afraid to say that i am well aware of the dangers of ragwort and spent much of last summer clearing a large area of it.. (A complicated and very sad story) However I am sad to say i know that this winter one of the horses in the herd living in that field died of liver failure and i suspect suffered neglect as well, while the others had signs of extreme neglect.. (the rspca and ilph have been involved) Unfortunately i have seen the offender at a show since with one of her ponies which makes me so mad.... to neglect them year round, then take one of the ponies out to a show... i hope the judge takes a proper close up look at all the scars from old untreated leg injuries covered with shoe polish and dye and such like, and the poorly shaped hooves recently shod... usually neglected and the poor muscle.... etc and the general relationship the owner has with the horse.... although i wouldn't be surprised if she hadn't administered a calmer for the trip! However maybe i should not be so negative... maybe the owner is taking on board all the work and support that has now been given by people and the agencies involved for once and is now enjoying her ponies and caring for them as they deserve, I should not begrudge her and the pony may well be enjoying its day out at the show getting a treat, next time i drive past i am sure she would have pulled out all the ragwort that would have regrown! Sounds like someone I know, her ponies are not thin or anything but aren't as looked after as I'd like. You're not from near me are you (PM me if you want more info !)
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Post by jennyf on Jul 29, 2008 18:59:22 GMT 1
The stuff's a menace. I lost my 22 year old pony last October to liver damage. Of course the vet couldn't be sure, but he said she could have had liver damage from years ago, way before I even had her, so it appears that the damage could lurk undetected for years. No way of knowing if my pony's liver damage was due to ragwort, but it does worry me when there seems to be so much of it about on the grass verges for instance.
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jinglejoys
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Post by jinglejoys on Jul 29, 2008 20:40:35 GMT 1
What frustrates me is that there is nothing you can do to stop it spreading and the moth huggers actually encourage people to grow it!
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Post by rj on Jul 30, 2008 14:11:50 GMT 1
I did a weeks voluntary work for ILPH as it was then, a few years back and used to watch Basil, who was blind as a result of ragwort poisoning, follow his buddy around the field. They were inseparable. They were trialling Barrier H & I spent a couple of days helping spray the fields with back-pack sprayers. Basil died a couple of years ago, due to the gradual liver failure also due to ragwort poisoning.
There is a field near us that is used by a dealer, don't know who owns it, but I understand there have been a few disgruntled people who have bought horses which became ill & died over a period of time. It's full of ragwort though it seems to get cleared once a year. just before it seeds. Horses aren't taken off it though.
We are trying to get rid of all of the plants in our fields. We're having to wait til it flowers as the grass is long, but it def won't seed. I used to dig at rosette stage in old field.
And yes there ARE fields full of the stuff as though it's a crop, around us too!
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Post by JackieJATaylor on Jul 31, 2008 12:16:23 GMT 1
I've just been checking the facts for someone else. They will indeed eat rosettes apparently - according to Derek Knottenbelt (who has tried them!) they don't taste as bad as mature plants. The biggest problem according to this article is seedlings sprouting almost year round in infested fields: www.ragwortfacts.info/Oct_news.pdfFrom the same site: "The route by which fresh ragwort is regularly grazed by equines and cattle was only discovered and published in October 2002. Ragwort has three stages - Seedling - Rosette - Flowering. Seedling stage in grassland is manifest as individual long thin leaf stems with small rounded leaf tips roughly the size of a clover leaf. These leaves appear singly within the grass and are regularly bitten off within a mouthful of grass. When the leaves are small, the animal does not taste the ragwort and happily eats the leaf along with the grass. By the time the leaves reach the size of a 50p coin, the animal may detect the leaf and will reject the mouthful of grass. However, after 2-3 days wilting, the leaf will have lost its bitterness and smell and will be eaten by the next passing horse. " www.ragwortfacts.info/index.htmlJackie
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Post by Fussymare on Aug 1, 2008 7:24:00 GMT 1
is a field where it looks as though ragwort is being grown as a crop - the field is literally a sea of yellow. It is ragwort not rape isn't it? Definitely ragwort.
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Post by Kelly Marks on Aug 1, 2008 9:29:41 GMT 1
Latest from original poster ): - I did report to the ILPH but they informed me it was not illegal for land owners to allow horses/ponies to graze and the first consideration must be for the horses welfare and i/we should consider moving or assisting in removing ragwort which to be honest i was little shocked about as appreciate the horses welfare is a priority but am paying for a service which the initial responsibility must be with the landowner. Anyway just another issue Pilgrim has been declared as having irrepairable liver damage and Virginia has been in touch with her insurance company (E&L) who have told her the vet must contact them before they can agree for youthanasia, the vet did this and was told after explaining his condition in that he can only deteriorate and suffer that he was not in a bad enough condition for them to agree. He is absolutely livid as they are using the law stating that the horse must be in its very final stages of wobbling. potential blindness etc before they can consent to termination. Virginia is now making arrangements outside her insurance as she cannot allow him to suffer any longer as he is quite clearly losing his fight, this looks like friday of this week. Sorry but as if things aren't bad enough the last thing you need is a fight with your insurance who also clearly don't have the horses welfare or customers interests in mind.
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