Post by suewhitmore on Dec 26, 2008 23:44:20 GMT 1
This thread is to provide some additional information about possible causes of undiagnosed illness in grass kept horses. A friend of mine has just lost a healthy ten year old pony on Christmas eve, and now Maliksparky has a pony with similiar symptons. Please feel free to contribute any more information or further links that you know about.
Here are a couple of links, and then I am going to reproduce an article in full.
The first is about mycotoxicosis.
www.scribd.com/doc/3497711/Mycotoxicosis-in-Horses
The second, which I think most people know about, is the horse and hound article about atypical myoglobinuria.
www.horseandhound.co.uk/horse-care-index/1370/109865.html?cid=1370&aid=109865
Finally, here is a very interesting overview of the various weird symptoms found in horses at pasture in New Zealand. And, if anything, our climate in the UK is becoming more like the climate there.
This article is almost certainly copyright, and if you reproduce at all, please mention the copyright issue. I have emailed the author with a link to this thread. Not all the illustrations will copy here, if anyone who wants it in full sends me their email address, I'll send the pdf to you.
ASPECTS of PASTURE that can ADVERSELY AFFECT
YOUR HORSE
Until recently I had no idea of the impact that various aspects of the pasture can have on the
health and temperament of our horses. Go thru the list of symptoms carefully. As you read,
light bulbs will go on for you regarding horses you currently own or know of, or have owned
or known in the past. You too, will realize how countless, perfectly good horses have
suffered, been punished, become ‘problem horses’, caused accidents, labeled ‘bad’, ‘nuts’,
‘unmanageable’, deemed unrideable, diagnosed with brain tumours, wobbler syndrome,
and sent to the knackers, all because of the grass!!!!!
This information provides an explanation for many things going on with our horses where
extensive investigations have previously failed.
It comes from years of my own personal observations and experiences and those of the
hundreds of horses and riders I have met and assisted over the last 10 years of teaching
Horsemanship throughout NZ. Additionally, in the spring of 2004 I conducted the “Equine
Health & Behaviour Survey”, the results of which have been very revealing.
Horse owners frequently experience unexplained changes in their horse’s temperament and
personality. If you are like me and believe that horses do not ‘plot against us’ and are
definitely NOT ‘dirty’ ‘nutty’, ‘mongrels’, ‘bitches’, ‘pigs’, ‘f……g cows’, ‘have got
attitude’ (the list goes on!), then there must be other reasons for this kind of behaviour.
There is a strong correlation between the soils and pasture and the raft of health and
behavioural problems our NZ horses are plagued with, some mildly, some chronically and
sometimes acutely. Aggressiveness, herd-bound behaviour, pasture heaves, obesity and
laminitis are just a few that spring to mind.
For example things have been going great with your horse, and then he starts spooking at
things in the arena, or rushing out of the float, or you are paying for a lesson and he’s not
‘himself’, so it’s a complete waste of money, all of these sorts of things.
He doesn’t like being touched or brushed……
I’ve had the saddle fit checked but it’s still like he’s got a sore back……
Why do some horses bleed from the nose when they’re out at pasture??
What is the cause of head-shaking/flicking?
Why can’t I get rid of that mud-fever?
How come my horse has got sore feet? Goes to bite me when I’m doing up the girth?
I’m feeding my horse heaps but he won’t put on any condition…
My horse is on ‘nothing’ but I can’t keep the weight off……
What is the cause of many respiratory troubles? Skin troubles?
I believe the answers to these questions and many, many more, lie within the following
information.
I am very interested in any feedback and experiences you may have had.
Please e-mail: horsemanshipnz@xtra.co.nz
(The following information is not intended to replace veterinary advice, merely to give you an overview. If
symptoms are acute, or persist, call your veterinarian)
- Overview
- Signs of Myco-toxicity/Mineral Imbalances
- Respiratory Problems
- Nose-Bleeding
- Skin Conditions
- Mineral Imbalances Especially Magnesium Deficiency
- High Sugar / Lack of Fibre
- Fibre Requirements According to Lifestyle
- Why Add Fibre
- How Much Fibre
- B-Vit Deficiency is Caused by a Lack of Fibre
- Selenium
- Photo-sensitivity – the Real Cause of Sunburn and Mud-Fever
- Head-flicking/Shaking
AN OVERVIEW
In New Zealand horses are either kept on pasture primarily meant for other stock like sheep or
cattle, or on paddocks grazed by horses alone. Both situations lead to problems.
The former consists of high production grasses (eg the rye/clover mixes) which, because of our
climate and the fertilizer regimes applied to them, reach even higher production. This is counterproductive
to the health of the horse, whose digestive system is highly specialized and different to
other species. Their natural diet of grass, herbs, shrubs and leaves is RICH in fibre and POOR in
carbohydrates. (See pics below)
High production grasses are LOW in fibre and HIGH in sugars and carbohydrates.
Whenever the grass grows quickly, which is mainly in spring and autumn, but also at many other
times of the year in our climate, it leaves the essential minerals behind and becomes deficient,
most obviously in magnesium.
Fertilising with super-phosphate, urea, or nitrates accelerates growth and causes plants to be
shallow rooted and therefore less able to uptake minerals from deeper in the soil. It also lowers
the pH (acidifies) the soil and pasture. In healthy soil there needs to be the right balance of fungi
to bacteria. The lower the pH, the more fungi and the less bacteria. Fungi really thrive in
these acid conditions. Rye-grass also loves a lower pH. This IS the root cause of why
MYCO-TOXINS and MINERAL IMBALANCES are such a big problem. See below.
Add to this the fact that that paddock of green, growing grass your horse is grazing is the
equivalent of a bowl of sugar! Then we go to the feedstore and buy more sugar in the form of
molassed grains. No animal stays healthy for long when their diet is predominantly sugar. This
high sugar/carbohydrate, low fibre intake leads to amongst other things (See Obesity) an impaired
insulin response, contributing to insulin resistant and ‘diabetic’ horses and ponies which are prone
to laminitis and eventually the Cushings-like syndrome. It also leads to restricted peripheral
circulation (eg in the hooves) and hind-gut acidosis, which has much more serious consequences
than the horse just having runny manure for a few days!!!
Many horses graze pasture that is termed ‘horse-sick’ because it is never fertilized or attended to.
It will likely have a low pH (docks, gorse, blackberries and other undesirables love this
environment) which, as already mentioned, also suits the endophyte rye-grass and fungal
populations in general and also tells you loud and clear that the soils lack, amongst other things,
calcium and magnesium.
Add all this to the fact that perennial rye-grass, containing endophyte fungi that produce
mycotoxins that are known to affect the health of stock, is the dominant grass species throughout
New Zealand.
In actual fact myco-toxins are present, to varying degrees, on and around ALL plants
everywhere, including legumes.
(I am told by a researcher at Kimihea that the rye-grass of North Canterbury is a particularly
virulent strain)
Stress on the grass caused by drought, or being eaten by an insect or an animal, causes myco-toxin
production to go even higher.
What are the Signs of Toxicity and/or Mineral Imbalances?
Because both these tend to happen unpredictably and simultaneously, especially
coinciding with flushes of pasture growth, it can be difficult and fruitless to try
and differentiate so it is best to address both issues regardless.
• Toxins are ones that have been ingested with pasture or feed
(They respond to a toxin-binder or removal from pasture)
• Mineral imbalances are complex and it is important to consider the interrelationship
of them all, however malnourishment of the macro-minerals
such as Calcium and Magnesium have very serious consequences. They
definitely require urgent attention in the short term in the form of
appropriate supplementation.
Meanwhile if your horse exhibits any of the following then it is highly likely he
is ‘affected’ by his diet, in particular the grass he is eating.
Often starts with: general ‘tetchiness’, an unwillingness to be touched, or tensing up and
reacting when touched, especially around chest and thorax
This can cause: cinchiness/girthiness, not standing for saddling/mounting
general crabbiness when ridden, pinning ears, swishing tail etc
tightness, tenseness, impulsiveness, wanting to run off, can’t use your legs
reaching around to bite the girth when ridden
Progresses to: touchy around ears
Flings off suddenly when haltering
Difficulty with bridling
sore across the loins
uncharacteristic bucking when first moves off with girth tightened
discomfort when walking downhill
- excessive aggressiveness towards you or other horses (viciously biting
you, attacking, hounding other horses, you think they’re a ‘rig’)
-excessive herd bound behaviour (eg screaming maniac, irrationally
attached to another horse)
Can exhibit both these previous two ‘opposite’ behaviours concurrently!!
Bucking (quite violent and “out of the blue”)
Bolting off in short bursts
‘ballistic’ behaviour
Hypersensitivity: excessive spookiness/alertness
Shies away when approached, hard to catch
‘spaced out’, ‘wired’, ‘not there’, hallucinating
eyesight seems to be affected, can’t judge jumps
overly claustrophobic (reluctant to ride close to the arena wall, rushes
off the float etc)
Staggers: heavy on the forehand, stumbling over nothing
Standing ‘base-wide’
difficulty backing up, out of floats etc
discomfort walking downhill
slightly drunk or ‘zonked’ looking
head twitch
uncoordinated movement, staggering, giving out in the hind-quarters
Heat stress: instantly overheats when you put the cover on
Running madly around paddock for no reason (while other horses aren’t)
Slamming into fences/gates
Excessive sweating, white sweats, smelly sweats, sweating in unusual
places, eg on top of rump, patches on upper neck
General agitation
Fence walking
Head-Flicks Like a bug has flown up their nose, can be worse on sunny days
Colic: when autopsy shows hindgut necrosis due to vaso-constriction of blood
supply to the intestine (too late to try a toxin-binder)
Reproductive: raging seasons, not cycling properly
Difficulty getting in foal
Abortion
Prolonged gestation
Reduced milk production
Weak suckling by foal
Ill-thrift: chronic dull/rough coat
Won’t put on weight, looks wormy but not, no topline
Consistently small, frequent manure
Scours/diarrhea
Lifeless eyes, dull, nobody home
No energy, lethargic
Falling asleep on their feet (like narcilepsy)
1. Myco-toxins
These are produced by various types of fungi.
Some of these fungi live inside the plant and are called endophytes. Perrennial ryegrass
which is the predominant grass in New Zealand contains endophytes which
produce two very harmful myco-toxins, namely lolitrem B and ergovaline.
Perrennial Rye-Grass Paspalum
Make it your business to be able to recognize these grasses. When not in seed, the
rye-grass is characterized by narrow, dark green, shiny leaves.
The rye-clover pastures seen on most NZ
farms is nothing short of disastrous for horses
and will cause you nothing but Trouble!
Clover is 1/3 higher in sugar and starch than
grass. All rye-grasses are high sugar grasses
therefore even when they have had the
endophytes removed as in low or zero-endophyte strains they are still not suitable for
horses.
Compare the lower picture with the one above.
Horses thrive on the high fibre diet. Have
you ever noticed when the grass browns
off in the late summer that horses ‘bloom’
and are ‘easier going’? Same in winter
when they are eating more hay and the grass is
not growing at all or very slowly.
The following is a picture of a horse in
blooming health with excellent feet. He was just rounded up off the country pictured
above.(the brown one!)
Equally dangerous are the myco-toxins produced by fungi that live on the outside of
plants and in the surrounding soil, especially on the seed heads and in any decaying
matter. You will perhaps have heard of the ergot, rust molds and facial ecsma spores.
Maybe even of Aspergillus, a known asthma allergen in humans.
Until recently, we horse owners didn’t take too much notice of fungi in our horses’
environment, apart from knowing not to feed moldy hay or feed. Because they are
usually invisible, and myco-toxins do not show up in blood tests, it has taken awhile
to make the connection between many health and behaviour problems in our horses
and these insidious equine trouble-makers!!
Our climate in NZ, and the generally low pH of the soils, means the conditions are
frequently very favorable to the explosive proliferation of fungal spores and mycotoxins.
If you happen to live anywhere near any orchards you will know how often
they spray for fungi. You will have seen molds suddenly appear on horse manure
from time to time. Fungi love acidic conditions, so pasture fertilized with traditional
super-phosphate makes an ideal environment for them.
The lifestyle of the typical kiwi horse means they spend most of the time out grazing
the pasture. Consequently they are inevitably ingesting and inhaling vast numbers of
fungal spores and myco-toxins 24/7. Not just at certain times of the year, but any time
the conditions favor fungi!
It is no surprise that the results of the “Equine Health & Behaviour Survey” fit with
this information. The horses with the most, and severest symptoms are invariably
grazing the ‘improved’ pastures, especially the rye/clover mixes. Of these, most are
also being fertilized with super. However, there are some horses with severe
symptoms that live on rye-grass pasture that hasn’t been fertilized in 10 years, and
some that graze ‘low-endophyte’ pasture and still show symptoms.
Thousands of horses throughout New Zealand suffer, for many months of the year,
from an array of the symptoms listed below.
All of the ‘severe’ cases have exasperated owners who have spent many hundreds,
sometimes thousands of dollars investigating other possible causes. They have had
numerous blood-tests (which time after time come up clean), equine practitioners of
all descriptions, multiple saddle fittings and sometimes up to three new saddles, horse
dentists and hoof trimmers. Finally they hear about feeding a toxin-binder (a
completely natural food that locks on to toxins in the horses’ intestine, prevents them
from going thru the intestine wall and into the bloodstream, and carries them out with
the manure). Within days they are astounded at the difference in their horses. Even
their husbands notice improvements!!
Due to the fact that there are hundreds of different myco-toxins lurking in and around
all pasture types throughout New Zealand it is no surprise that the above scenario is
very common. Because feeding a toxin-binder is simple, comparatively inexpensive,
and totally safe, it would seem logical to go down this avenue along with addressing
mineral imbalances, first if any of the above list of symptoms arise in your horse.
Toxin-Binders Explained
A toxin-binder helps to protect the horse from the toxins which can cause ill-health..
It is NOT a cure. It merely locks on to the toxin, making it too large to go thru the intestinal
wall, thereby preventing the toxin from getting into the bloodstream of the horse. Sometimes,
when the climate favours proliferation of fungi, or grazing hard means horses are eating the
base of the plant****, or when seed heads are present, the toxin-binder has its work cut out
and you will need to up the dose, or completely remove the horse from pasture until the
symptoms subside.
****(this causes the plant to ‘dial up’ mycotoxin production as a survival response to
discourage the animal or insect from eating it).
Horses do not become ‘immune’ to the toxin-binder. How could they? It does not even enter
their bloodstream.
Respiratory Problems
May be caused by Inhaling Toxins and Pollens which are Allergens
These symptoms therefore don’t respond to a toxin-binder
inflamed nasal membranes
‘runny’ noses, gunk in the corners of their eyes
blisters/ulcers up the nose (swabbing proves negative for Herpes)
coughing in paddock and/or on exercise
excessive snorting
breathlessness, out of ‘puff’ after very little exertion, can’t get fit
wheezing
‘gunk’ out of one or both nostrils periodically
nose-bleeding when at rest out in the pasture
Many horses suffer from one or more of the above symptoms, some to the point where they are
retired or their careers cut short. Once again extensive investigations which involve scoping,
blood tests, etc are often fruitless and expensive.
On a sunny day, hold your horses’ nostril open towards the sun and look up the nasal passages.
Hopefully it is pink and clean looking. If it looks inflamed, or looks yellowy and bumpy, or there
are little ‘blisters’ or even larger ulcerations, then your horse could have one of the allergies we
are talking about.
When you think about it horses have their noses down in the grass eating most of the time. Whilst
they are eating they are also breathing. There are quizzillions of fungal spores in the grass which
get sucked up their noses. For instance spores from the rust molds and aspergillus fungi, both very
common on our pastures, are known to cause hay-fever and asthma in humans. It stands to reason
that some horses will also have allergic reactions to them. In fact some of the symptoms in our
horses are very similar to asthma in humans.
If your horse has the laboured or noisy breathing, (symptoms similar to asthma), then he is
suffering from constriction of the airways. Remember that magnesium is a natural dilator so
keeping magnesium levels right up there is hugely beneficial. (Major clue)
Pasture with any length to it creates the ideal environment for fungi to proliferate within hours of
the right conditions, so in this case very short, or zero pasture is best. It goes without saying to
feed good quality, non-dusty (dunk in water if necessary), non-mouldy hay.
Leaving matter to decay on the ground, such as toppings, creates a wonderful environment for
fungi.
An interesting fact is that when your soil is biologically active and minerally balanced, (ph up
towards 7) fungi will not thrive, whereas they love in an acidic environment. (See Probitas). By
attending to the ‘cation capacity’ (Calcium, magnesium, sodium and potassium balances) the pH
of the soil will improve. This reduces the fungal populations to the optimal level.
One suggestion in the meantime, is to smear some Vaseline around the inside of the nostril to
catch the spores and pollens on the way up. (Apparently you can do the same thing on aeroplanes
and buses to prevent other peoples’ germs going up your own nose!)
Keep magnesium intake right up there as when magnesium levels decline, the incidence of
allergies and asthma rises. (see “Magnesium Deficiency” below)
Nose-Bleeding
This can occur when the Aspergillus fungus ‘sets up camp’ in the walls of the guttural pouch of
the poor horse. Their preferred location is on one of the major blood vessels that are right there.
The blood vessel gets damaged and bleeds. It’s as simple as that. Sometimes this colony of fungi
damage nerves in there, which can cause difficulty swallowing.
Unfortunately it’s not that simple to eradicate it. It is a serious and debilitating condition and
horses have been known to bleed to death. Surgery may be required.
This form of nose-bleeding is not related to exercise. If it is induced by exercise there is a
different cause.
There is an excellent article “The Whys and Wherefores of Gutteral Pouch Disease” by Dr
Dwayne Bennett. Google will find it. Go to ‘Gutteral Pouch Mycosis’ for more details.
Skin Conditions
I am talking about the persistent ones that don’t respond to the normal treatment regimes. Where
the poor horses rub and scratch their bellies on the ground so much that they bleed, or reach
around and bite their elbows until they bleed. These conditions require a drastic reduction in sugar
(lush grass) consumption and corresponding increase in hay consumption to restore hind-gut
health and function, which will kickstart B-Vit production (essential for healthy skin), ensure
omega 3’s are in the diet with a good quality multi-vitamin and mineral supplement.
The answer lies in getting the horse into a state of optimal health.
Mineral Imbalances especially Magnesium Deficiency
Unless you have been organically farming for years, or applying the Probitas (or similar
system) to your soil, your pasture WILL BE minerally imbalanced, in particular deficient in
calcium and magnesium. These macro-minerals are so vital to life that if the animal isn’t
getting them from the grass he is eating then we must supply them in the form of a supplement
for the following very good reason…
****The body pH of the horse (or any mammal including us) is supposed to be up around 7.
When the pH is less than 7, from eating too much sugar/carbohydrate from grass and molassed
grains, the body is acid and numerous health problems arise from being in a state of ‘acidosis’.
If the diet does not contain enough calcium and magnesium then the body has to continually
swipe these vital minerals from the bones, muscles, (including the heart), nerves, and brain, to
maintain this pH.****
In layman’s terms, here are some facts. Think about them and draw your own
conclusions!!!
Calcium excites the nerves and magnesium relaxes them. The brain is part of the nervous
system! (Attention Deficit Disorder type symptoms). They ‘lose the ability to process
information’ (can’t think straight), you have difficulty getting their attention, they become
over-sensitive, spooky and cause accidents and so on.
Calcium is necessary for muscle contraction and magnesium is necessary to release them.
Horses are 80% muscle.
Lack of calcium/magnesium causes ‘spasticity’ of back muscles, tight hamstrings, tenseness,
muscle cramps.
Boron is a ‘synergist’ for calcium and magnesium, which means it helps calcium and magnesium
to do their jobs. In the absence of boron, up to 40% of calcium and magnesium is lost in the urine.
Boron is also commonly lacking in our soils.
Calcium, magnesium, boron along with copper, are high on the list of minerals necessary for
proper bone formation and maintenance as well as joint health.
Spring time (worst time of the year for mineral imbalances) is when mares are in the third
trimester of pregnancy, and are nurturing their growing newborn foals. (Increased
requirements)
Lime is calcium, so liming is a good start and will take care of part of the daily calcium
requirement. Magnesium is not so easily applied via the soil short term.
Our climate in New Zealand is changeable, warm and wet. The spring ‘flush’ is well’ known
with its associated problems, but there are many slightly lesser ‘flushes’ throughout the year
depending on conditions. Anytime the grass shoots away it grows too quickly to uptake
minerals, especially magnesium.
There is a huge emphasis in New Zealand on grass production, and comparatively little on the
health of the stock that are eating it. Many of the pastures our horses are grazing are primarily
for sheep and cattle, and are more suitable for improving weight gain and milk production.
Furthermore, they are fertilized with substances that promote rapid growth and therefore lack
of mineral uptake.
Magnesium deficiency can cause many of the symptoms listed above in horses, including
staggers. This is well recognized in cattle in the spring and remedied with magnesium
supplementation. It is referred to as ‘grass staggers’ to differentiate it from ‘rye-grass staggers’
caused by the Lolitrem B endophyte in the rye-grass.
Magnesium is one of the most important minerals in the cell. Some is stored in the body,
mainly in the heart and the skeleton, from where it is released when deficiencies occur
in the diet.
Magnesium plays a vital role in the activation of around 350 enzymatic processes in the body
including breakdown of blood glucose. Blood magnesium levels rise after the horse eats
glucose or carbohydrates. Simplified : low magnesium = a reduced insulin response.
It therefore contributes significantly to the development of obesity, the ‘diabetic’ horse,
associated laminitis and eventually to the “Cushings-like” syndrome.
Spring grass is especially high in glucose and low in minerals including magnesium.
Deficiencies affect the cell membranes of nerve and muscle tissue, leading to many of the
above symptoms, especially the ‘hypersensitivity’ ones.
Magnesium is one of the essential electrolytes, along with calcium and potassium. Too much
calcium and/or not enough magnesium can predispose a horse to ‘tying up’ (severe muscle
cramps)
Symptoms include:
Excessive spookiness/alertness/excitability
Loss of appetite/poor condition
Nervousness
Exhaustion
Cramps
Cardiovascular irregularities
Epsom salts (magnesium sulfate) can be fed short term, however, regular feeding can lead to
gastro-intestinal upsets, even diarrhea. Magnesium oxide is a form of magnesium that is
usually applied to the soil. From there it would be processed thru the plant into a form that the
body can utilize. It is imperative to feed a highly absorbable, organic form that is non-toxic
and whatever the horse doesn’t need will go out with the urine or manure.
Magnesium needs to be part of the right feeding regime for your horse, according to his
lifestyle.
Kikuyu grass contains oxalates which bind up calcium. Horses grazing pastures with
significant proportions of kikuya definitely need to be supplemented with calcium. Feeding
some lucerne along with a good calcium supplement is a good option.
Kikuyu grass is not high in nutrition, it is important to have a good feeding regime when
kikuyu is prevalent in your pasture.
High Sugar = Lack of Fibre
Insulin Resistance/Acidosis/Laminitis
Grasses planted primarily to fatten livestock and promote milk production are
‘high sugar’ grasses. Hay made from wheat, barley, rye-grass or oats is high in
sugar especially if it has been made prior to seed formation.
Sugar levels can be elevated in grasses when they are drought stressed or overgrazed.
Sugar levels can sky-rocket in the spring when grass shoots away.
Grains, whilst they contain some protein, are mainly carbohydrate, and therefore
oats, corn, wheat and barley contribute to total sugar the horse is consuming. So
does any feed containing molasses.
When the input of feed far exceeds the output required for the amount of exercise
the horse is doing, problems will ensue!!
What is happening in New Zealand is that we make the mistake of thinking that
grass provides enough roughage and fibre. NOT TRUE! Young, green, growing
grass is mainly non-structural carbo-hydrate (sugar and starch). Clover is 1/3rd
higher in starch than grass. As the grass matures it develops more stalk and
becomes more fibrous (as in roadside grass or standing hay). Then it is great as it is
more fibre than sugar.
Horses have a small stomach and a short ‘small intestine’ (where carbs are
digested). Then they have a HUGE hind-gut, (the caecum and large intestine),
which takes up most of the room in the horses ‘barrel’. The hind-gut is meant to be
chokka full of micro-organisms which are designed to digest the large quantities of
fibre the horse would normally eat. What happens instead is that the excess
carbohydrate from the grass / molassed grains diet we force upon them, gets
pushed into the hind-gut, where it cannot be digested. There it ferments, resulting
in acidosis (low Ph) which kills all those good micro-organisms. The ensuing
metabolic chaos, compounded by mineral imbalances especially the lack of
magnesium, results in inflammation of the laminae of the hoof and there you have
it, sore feet and laminitis.
In fact the horse/pony can eventually become insulin resistant, which is a similar
condition to Type 2 Diabetes in humans.
Signs of insulin resistance include:
- being obsessed with eating, especially grass, you can’t keep their head up!!
- ‘lives on the smell of an oily rag’, get fat easily
- has a ‘cresty’ neck
- gets ‘pads’ of fat behind the shoulders and above the tail
- puffiness, around the eyes and sheath
- urinates a lot
- lethargic
- mares don’t cycle properly
- drinks a lot
- sore feet (pre-laminitic)
- prone to laminitis
It is important to understand that these horses are not just fat, they have a serious
metabolic disorder that needs urgent action! They are like diabetic people and suffer
from the dysfunction of every major organ system in their body, the circulatory
system (especially to the hooves), the digestive system (especially the hind-gut), the
reproductive system, the nervous system (including the brain), the endocrine system.
They are an inch away from foundering.
Horse owners have reversed these symptoms by restricting grass intake, and feeding
plenty of hay that has had the sugar content leached out by soaking in a tub of water
for an hour before feeding. The water goes brown and fizzy. Tip it on your garden.
Supplementation with chromium, magnesium and omega 3, attention to healthy hoof
form and as much exercise as possible are equally important.
PREVENTION IS WAY BETTER THAN CURE.
Please understand that it is primarily a hind-gut problem caused by sugar
overload, lack of fibre and lack of exercise. These horses are the equivalent of
the couch potato person who lives on junk food.
The key to a healthy horse with healthy hooves is to look after the flora in the
hind-gut by ensuring good fibre intake daily.
Fibre Requirements Relative to Lifestyle
(Adult Horses & Ponies)
Oils 5% Oils 5% Oils 5% Oils 5% Oils 5%
95% 15%
25%
Soaked Hay 80%
35%
FibaRich FibaRich 70%
Pellets Pellets 45%
FibaRich 60%
Hay Cubes Pellets
10% of this can FibaRich 50%
be made up of Hay Hay Cubes Pellets
Hay Cubes or FibaRich
Protein Hay Hay Cubes Pellets
Hay Hay Cubes
Hay
Idle
Light
Work
Moderate
Work
Intense
Work
n
Obese & or
Laminitic
Less than 3 rides
per week
Pleasure riding,
dressage, Hacking,
showing etc
Trekking,
stockwork,
showjumping
Racing,polo,
endurance,
hunting, eventing,
See below
*
Protein
(eg soya bean meal)
and
Fibre Protein & Fat
Carbohydrate
Important:
Carbohydrate
(eg grasses,grains )
• Soak hay in water for one hour (to reduce sugar content) discard water and feed
immediately.
• Feed Hay without any perennial rye grass or clover in it.
• Feed Lucerne Hay, Lucerne Cubes or Lucerne/Timothy Cubes to Horses on Kikuyu grass
for extra calcium.
• After approx 6-9 months the obese/laminitic horses’ metabolism will be returning to normal
and they can be fed as ‘Idle’ Be extremely diligent about not allowing a relapse.
• When on any kind of pasture feed a toxin binder containing mycosorb and a highly
absorbable magnesium such as Alleviate.
• For horses in moderate to intense work add carbohydrate (eg grass & grain) and protein (eg
soya bean meal, sunflower seeds, tick beans ) according to energy requirements (refer to
table above).
• Avoid sugar overload in broodmares, young & growing horses, by ensuring a high fibre
intake to offset high sugar content of lush pastures.
Why Add Fibre?
Adding fibre to the diet of NZ pasture-fed horses is vital:
It keeps the hind-gut and its resident micro-organisms healthy, preventing
sugar overload, which causes hind-gut acidosis (sloppy manure), ADD
(attention deficit disorder), insulin resistance, metabolic chaos, laminitis.
The digestion of fibre has immune-boosting, anti-allergic and hormone
regulating effects.
The fermentation of structural fibre is a major source of energy.
Fibre helps synthesise B-Vits & Vit K for calmness and good health.
Provides fuel for their internal body heater.
Creates a water reservoir for proper hydration, especially after sweating,
urinating and salivating.
Requires more chewing = more saliva, preventing stomach ulcers.
Does your horse eat Grass? Clovers? Molassed feeds? Grains?
Consumption of these, without sufficient accompanying fibre according to
lifestyle will sooner or later result in a vast array of ill-health problems. Symptoms
including many of those in the above list, “bad behaviours” (eg herd-bound,
nappy), ravenous appetites, insulin resistance, obesity or ill-thrift, weak, sore feet
and laminitis will become apparent.
Green grass does not supply enough fibre in the diet of NZ
pasture fed horses.
How Much Fibre?
A 500kg horse requires approximately 2% of his bodyweight per day. ie
10 kgs /day, 365 days/yr. Hay bales vary but this is approximately ½ bale.
This can be achieved with a combination of hay, hay cubes, beet pulp.
NB. A 500kg horse is a large TB type hack. A Park Hack is more like 450kgs.
Heavier hacks weigh more. Take empty float to a weigh station, then take horse in
float to weigh station, this will give you an accurate weight.
If the horse is light in condition feed according to the weight he should be, not the
weight he currently is.
If you want your horse to lose weight, soak the sugar out of the hay rather than
cutting down his hay. Horses have a need to be eating and chewing 16-18 hours a day.
Long periods without food cause mental stress and stomach ulcers.
B-Vitamin Deficiency is Caused by a Lack of Fibre
Within the large intestine of the horse, there should be a healthy population of
‘good’ bacteria, whose purpose it is to breakdown the food further, producing
energy-rich, short-chain fatty acids. These bacteria also produce essential Bvitamins,
vitamin C and biotin, necessary for just about every function in the body,
including healthy red blood cells and optimal function of the nervous system.
Signs that a horse is not making sufficient of his own B vitamins are poor appetite,
sour attitude, anemia, poor hooves and skin conditions.
Biotin is one of this large group of vitamins. Everyone is busy supplementing
with biotin to improve hooves when all the horse needs is more fibre in his
diet so he can make his own. Hooves will not be strong and healthy on a sugar
diet!!
Anything that upsets digestion, such as a low roughage diet, (eg, spring-time
sloppy manures caused by acidosis) or increased stress of any kind, will interfere
with the horses ability to produce his own B vitamins.
It is a good idea to make sure your multi vitamin/mineral supplement has the full
range of B-Vitamins. Mycosorb, the active ingredient of toxin-binders such as
Tox-Defy and Equigard contains brewers yeast, which is great for B-Vitamins.
Since they are water soluble and not stored in the body, you cannot overdose on
them.
Selenium
Selenium is essential to good health in the horse. It is a trace mineral which helps
to make important antioxidant enzymes that have several functions in the horse's
metabolism. These selenium containing enzymes provide antioxidant protection in
every cell of the horse's body. They also have roles that affect growth, immune
function, muscle recovery and reproduction.
Many areas of New Zealand have soils deficient in selenium, which means unless
you are supplementing with it, your horse is likely to be deficient. Too little
selenium in the diet is a problem, it’s a bit like trying to run a car without oil,
causing degeneration of muscle tissue, stiffness of gait and a predisposition to
‘tying up’. However, too much selenium is a problem as it is toxic to your horse.
This has become more of a possibility since selenium is now added to a lot of
feeds.
Annual blood tests are essential, so you know exactly how much to supplement
with. It is best fed in small doses often, as in the organic forms available that you
add to a daily feed.
For economic reasons, people with multiple horses often resort to the less
absorbable, but cheaper, inorganic forms of selenium as in Selmit 1.
Photo-sensitivity….. (Sunburn & Mud Fever)
Many horses with white faces and/ or white socks, suffer from ‘sunburnt’ noses, and/or chronic
mud fever. Some get ulcers in their mouths.
The first line of thought with mud fever is that it is caused by “mud”. The first line of thought
with scabs on the nose is “sunburn”. However, the truth is that it can be a very complex issue. So
if your horse’s mud fever doesn’t clear up easily, it could be due to Photosensitization.
This is caused by eating plants which contain certain photodynamic pigments. These pigments
enter the bloodstream and eventually reach the skin. When they reach the unpigmented skin of
white faces and white socks, they are exposed to UV rays, they fluoresce, and thereby cause
damage to the surrounding skin.
Affected skin rapidly becomes reddened, painful, and raised above areas of adjacent pigmented
skin. Serum often oozes through the affected skin to form crusts in the hair. Soon, the dead skin
becomes dry and parchment-like, and the hair and white skin slough leaving ulcerated areas that
may develop secondary bacterial infections, especially in muddy conditions. Hence the name
‘mud fever’. Yet the bacterial infection could be secondary to the real cause which is
photosensitization.
When this occurs on the muzzle, it resembles, but is not, sunburn. It is a reaction caused by eating
these plant pigments, which are exposed to UV rays in the vulnerable unpigmented skin areas.
Most commonly affected areas are the muzzles of horses with white faces and white socks as in
mud-fever.
This explains why some horses that have ‘heaps of white’ never sunburn or get mud-fever, while
others do so, chronically and exasperatingly!!
Plants known to cause this kind of photosensitization include Perennial rye-grass, (you
might have guessed!) clovers, especially white clover, alfalfa, lucerne, St John’s wort and
buttercup. Many horses are grazing pastures that comprise these species. Buttercups also
contain a chemical that causes dermatitis from direct contact with it.
Protection from UV rays is a huge help in prevention, however, this is tricky on the legs. There
are vast numbers of topical applications for treating mud fever, which ‘work’, but often on some
horses but not others. Quite often, just when you think you’ve got it beat, hey presto, it’s back!!
Understanding that there are a variety of causes, explains this frustrating scenario.
Preventing the horse eating the offending plants is obviously the best option but not always easy.
It is yet another really good reason to work out ways to change your pastures to encourage other
species than those listed above. See Pasture… the Solution
Head-Flicking/Shaking
Now this is a difficult one. Something, the most likely candidate being a neuro-toxin, causes
damage to the trigeminal nerve. This is a major facial nerve which goes from behind the eye down
the face and branches out to the nostrils and mouth areas. Once it is damaged, increased blood
supply, such as on exercise, triggers ‘electrical’ sensations down the nerve, causing the horse to
incessantly flick his head. At first you are sure that a bug has flown up his nose. Flick, flick, flick,
then suddenly, simultaneously, they put the brakes on and rub their nose on their lower leg. This
is quite likely to happen while you are cantering along. It is so exasperating and believe me,
nothing you do will prevent the behaviour.
Head-flicking can be triggered by any kind of ‘pressure’, (mental or emotional type pressure).
Large vet bills, many hours on the internet, trying nose-nets and UV masks follow. The latter
provide temporary relief for some horses.
Over a period of a year or two, the bouts of head-flicking get worse and more frequent. They even
become “photic”, in other words triggered by sunlight and/or breezes. Not a sign of a flick on
overcast days and unrideable on sunny days. One such horse that I know, could be ridden at night.
Eventually the horse is exhibiting these behaviours while at rest in the pasture. It must drive them
NUTS. It gets to the point where the horse is so distressed he is shoving his head in the hedge to
get away from the light, and the owner reluctantly decides to euthanase him.
Personally, I am 100% convinced that the neuro-toxin comes from the rye-grass. And there has to
be some connection between the UV sensitivity, as in the photosensitization, and the damage to
the nerve. It will become clear eventually. Globally nobody knows exactly what causes it, but if
you follow the gist of all this rye-grass stuff, you’ll understand why the rye-grass has to be a
strong candidate. I think the plants with the photodynamic pigments like rye, clover and lucerne
act as ‘triggers’.
From The Survey, 90% of the head-flicking horses were grazing rye/clover mixes, most on dairy
or ex-dairy. (The other 10% did not know, but from the other symptoms their horses were
exhibiting, they most likely were grazing pasture that contains rye-grass). Most were on rye-grass
that has been fertilized with super, but some were on pasture that hasn’t seen fertilizer for 10
years.
One quarter of the horses for whom their owners filled out an “Equine Health & Behaviour
Survey” are head-flickers. (42 out of 170). I have heard of two horses whose head-flicking started
after an accident that must have damaged the trigeminal nerve.
All the head-flicking horses from the Survey also exhibit other symptoms of myco-toxicity.
I know of several horses that flick when on rye-grass but cease to do so when taken off it.
The only two horses that I know of that have been completely removed from rye-grass/clover and
are now grazing cocksfoot type pasture, are both virtually flick-free. One of these horses belongs
to me.
Head-flicking does not seem to respond to a toxin-binder, even large doses. It can be seasonal, but
the only hope seems to be complete removal from rye grass. Drastic measures such as blocking
or cutting the nerve, give about 4-5 years of flick-free riding, but apart from the risk of a droopy
lip, when the nerve repairs somewhat, it comes back worse than ever, and that is the end of it.
There are some expensive drugs (cyproheptadine) that can help in some cases, but again not long
term. It does seem ridiculous to go to such measures when maybe just removing the horse from
the offending pasture could be the answer.
With my horse, even tho he is now basically flick-free, I am sure damage to the nerve still exists,
as some flicking can still be triggered by increased exercise, as when I gallop him and get him
warmer than normal, or if he gets his knickers in a twist about something (pressure).
Maybe the damage to the nerve will gradually repair completely, providing he is not exposed to
the irritant again.
Certainly, whatever it is that causes it to become photic is gone. This could be to do with the fact
he is no longer grazing the grasses that contain the pigments which cause photosensitization.
Please e-mail me with your story and anything you have found that helps.
*****************************************
Here are a couple of links, and then I am going to reproduce an article in full.
The first is about mycotoxicosis.
www.scribd.com/doc/3497711/Mycotoxicosis-in-Horses
The second, which I think most people know about, is the horse and hound article about atypical myoglobinuria.
www.horseandhound.co.uk/horse-care-index/1370/109865.html?cid=1370&aid=109865
Finally, here is a very interesting overview of the various weird symptoms found in horses at pasture in New Zealand. And, if anything, our climate in the UK is becoming more like the climate there.
This article is almost certainly copyright, and if you reproduce at all, please mention the copyright issue. I have emailed the author with a link to this thread. Not all the illustrations will copy here, if anyone who wants it in full sends me their email address, I'll send the pdf to you.
ASPECTS of PASTURE that can ADVERSELY AFFECT
YOUR HORSE
Until recently I had no idea of the impact that various aspects of the pasture can have on the
health and temperament of our horses. Go thru the list of symptoms carefully. As you read,
light bulbs will go on for you regarding horses you currently own or know of, or have owned
or known in the past. You too, will realize how countless, perfectly good horses have
suffered, been punished, become ‘problem horses’, caused accidents, labeled ‘bad’, ‘nuts’,
‘unmanageable’, deemed unrideable, diagnosed with brain tumours, wobbler syndrome,
and sent to the knackers, all because of the grass!!!!!
This information provides an explanation for many things going on with our horses where
extensive investigations have previously failed.
It comes from years of my own personal observations and experiences and those of the
hundreds of horses and riders I have met and assisted over the last 10 years of teaching
Horsemanship throughout NZ. Additionally, in the spring of 2004 I conducted the “Equine
Health & Behaviour Survey”, the results of which have been very revealing.
Horse owners frequently experience unexplained changes in their horse’s temperament and
personality. If you are like me and believe that horses do not ‘plot against us’ and are
definitely NOT ‘dirty’ ‘nutty’, ‘mongrels’, ‘bitches’, ‘pigs’, ‘f……g cows’, ‘have got
attitude’ (the list goes on!), then there must be other reasons for this kind of behaviour.
There is a strong correlation between the soils and pasture and the raft of health and
behavioural problems our NZ horses are plagued with, some mildly, some chronically and
sometimes acutely. Aggressiveness, herd-bound behaviour, pasture heaves, obesity and
laminitis are just a few that spring to mind.
For example things have been going great with your horse, and then he starts spooking at
things in the arena, or rushing out of the float, or you are paying for a lesson and he’s not
‘himself’, so it’s a complete waste of money, all of these sorts of things.
He doesn’t like being touched or brushed……
I’ve had the saddle fit checked but it’s still like he’s got a sore back……
Why do some horses bleed from the nose when they’re out at pasture??
What is the cause of head-shaking/flicking?
Why can’t I get rid of that mud-fever?
How come my horse has got sore feet? Goes to bite me when I’m doing up the girth?
I’m feeding my horse heaps but he won’t put on any condition…
My horse is on ‘nothing’ but I can’t keep the weight off……
What is the cause of many respiratory troubles? Skin troubles?
I believe the answers to these questions and many, many more, lie within the following
information.
I am very interested in any feedback and experiences you may have had.
Please e-mail: horsemanshipnz@xtra.co.nz
(The following information is not intended to replace veterinary advice, merely to give you an overview. If
symptoms are acute, or persist, call your veterinarian)
- Overview
- Signs of Myco-toxicity/Mineral Imbalances
- Respiratory Problems
- Nose-Bleeding
- Skin Conditions
- Mineral Imbalances Especially Magnesium Deficiency
- High Sugar / Lack of Fibre
- Fibre Requirements According to Lifestyle
- Why Add Fibre
- How Much Fibre
- B-Vit Deficiency is Caused by a Lack of Fibre
- Selenium
- Photo-sensitivity – the Real Cause of Sunburn and Mud-Fever
- Head-flicking/Shaking
AN OVERVIEW
In New Zealand horses are either kept on pasture primarily meant for other stock like sheep or
cattle, or on paddocks grazed by horses alone. Both situations lead to problems.
The former consists of high production grasses (eg the rye/clover mixes) which, because of our
climate and the fertilizer regimes applied to them, reach even higher production. This is counterproductive
to the health of the horse, whose digestive system is highly specialized and different to
other species. Their natural diet of grass, herbs, shrubs and leaves is RICH in fibre and POOR in
carbohydrates. (See pics below)
High production grasses are LOW in fibre and HIGH in sugars and carbohydrates.
Whenever the grass grows quickly, which is mainly in spring and autumn, but also at many other
times of the year in our climate, it leaves the essential minerals behind and becomes deficient,
most obviously in magnesium.
Fertilising with super-phosphate, urea, or nitrates accelerates growth and causes plants to be
shallow rooted and therefore less able to uptake minerals from deeper in the soil. It also lowers
the pH (acidifies) the soil and pasture. In healthy soil there needs to be the right balance of fungi
to bacteria. The lower the pH, the more fungi and the less bacteria. Fungi really thrive in
these acid conditions. Rye-grass also loves a lower pH. This IS the root cause of why
MYCO-TOXINS and MINERAL IMBALANCES are such a big problem. See below.
Add to this the fact that that paddock of green, growing grass your horse is grazing is the
equivalent of a bowl of sugar! Then we go to the feedstore and buy more sugar in the form of
molassed grains. No animal stays healthy for long when their diet is predominantly sugar. This
high sugar/carbohydrate, low fibre intake leads to amongst other things (See Obesity) an impaired
insulin response, contributing to insulin resistant and ‘diabetic’ horses and ponies which are prone
to laminitis and eventually the Cushings-like syndrome. It also leads to restricted peripheral
circulation (eg in the hooves) and hind-gut acidosis, which has much more serious consequences
than the horse just having runny manure for a few days!!!
Many horses graze pasture that is termed ‘horse-sick’ because it is never fertilized or attended to.
It will likely have a low pH (docks, gorse, blackberries and other undesirables love this
environment) which, as already mentioned, also suits the endophyte rye-grass and fungal
populations in general and also tells you loud and clear that the soils lack, amongst other things,
calcium and magnesium.
Add all this to the fact that perennial rye-grass, containing endophyte fungi that produce
mycotoxins that are known to affect the health of stock, is the dominant grass species throughout
New Zealand.
In actual fact myco-toxins are present, to varying degrees, on and around ALL plants
everywhere, including legumes.
(I am told by a researcher at Kimihea that the rye-grass of North Canterbury is a particularly
virulent strain)
Stress on the grass caused by drought, or being eaten by an insect or an animal, causes myco-toxin
production to go even higher.
What are the Signs of Toxicity and/or Mineral Imbalances?
Because both these tend to happen unpredictably and simultaneously, especially
coinciding with flushes of pasture growth, it can be difficult and fruitless to try
and differentiate so it is best to address both issues regardless.
• Toxins are ones that have been ingested with pasture or feed
(They respond to a toxin-binder or removal from pasture)
• Mineral imbalances are complex and it is important to consider the interrelationship
of them all, however malnourishment of the macro-minerals
such as Calcium and Magnesium have very serious consequences. They
definitely require urgent attention in the short term in the form of
appropriate supplementation.
Meanwhile if your horse exhibits any of the following then it is highly likely he
is ‘affected’ by his diet, in particular the grass he is eating.
Often starts with: general ‘tetchiness’, an unwillingness to be touched, or tensing up and
reacting when touched, especially around chest and thorax
This can cause: cinchiness/girthiness, not standing for saddling/mounting
general crabbiness when ridden, pinning ears, swishing tail etc
tightness, tenseness, impulsiveness, wanting to run off, can’t use your legs
reaching around to bite the girth when ridden
Progresses to: touchy around ears
Flings off suddenly when haltering
Difficulty with bridling
sore across the loins
uncharacteristic bucking when first moves off with girth tightened
discomfort when walking downhill
- excessive aggressiveness towards you or other horses (viciously biting
you, attacking, hounding other horses, you think they’re a ‘rig’)
-excessive herd bound behaviour (eg screaming maniac, irrationally
attached to another horse)
Can exhibit both these previous two ‘opposite’ behaviours concurrently!!
Bucking (quite violent and “out of the blue”)
Bolting off in short bursts
‘ballistic’ behaviour
Hypersensitivity: excessive spookiness/alertness
Shies away when approached, hard to catch
‘spaced out’, ‘wired’, ‘not there’, hallucinating
eyesight seems to be affected, can’t judge jumps
overly claustrophobic (reluctant to ride close to the arena wall, rushes
off the float etc)
Staggers: heavy on the forehand, stumbling over nothing
Standing ‘base-wide’
difficulty backing up, out of floats etc
discomfort walking downhill
slightly drunk or ‘zonked’ looking
head twitch
uncoordinated movement, staggering, giving out in the hind-quarters
Heat stress: instantly overheats when you put the cover on
Running madly around paddock for no reason (while other horses aren’t)
Slamming into fences/gates
Excessive sweating, white sweats, smelly sweats, sweating in unusual
places, eg on top of rump, patches on upper neck
General agitation
Fence walking
Head-Flicks Like a bug has flown up their nose, can be worse on sunny days
Colic: when autopsy shows hindgut necrosis due to vaso-constriction of blood
supply to the intestine (too late to try a toxin-binder)
Reproductive: raging seasons, not cycling properly
Difficulty getting in foal
Abortion
Prolonged gestation
Reduced milk production
Weak suckling by foal
Ill-thrift: chronic dull/rough coat
Won’t put on weight, looks wormy but not, no topline
Consistently small, frequent manure
Scours/diarrhea
Lifeless eyes, dull, nobody home
No energy, lethargic
Falling asleep on their feet (like narcilepsy)
1. Myco-toxins
These are produced by various types of fungi.
Some of these fungi live inside the plant and are called endophytes. Perrennial ryegrass
which is the predominant grass in New Zealand contains endophytes which
produce two very harmful myco-toxins, namely lolitrem B and ergovaline.
Perrennial Rye-Grass Paspalum
Make it your business to be able to recognize these grasses. When not in seed, the
rye-grass is characterized by narrow, dark green, shiny leaves.
The rye-clover pastures seen on most NZ
farms is nothing short of disastrous for horses
and will cause you nothing but Trouble!
Clover is 1/3 higher in sugar and starch than
grass. All rye-grasses are high sugar grasses
therefore even when they have had the
endophytes removed as in low or zero-endophyte strains they are still not suitable for
horses.
Compare the lower picture with the one above.
Horses thrive on the high fibre diet. Have
you ever noticed when the grass browns
off in the late summer that horses ‘bloom’
and are ‘easier going’? Same in winter
when they are eating more hay and the grass is
not growing at all or very slowly.
The following is a picture of a horse in
blooming health with excellent feet. He was just rounded up off the country pictured
above.(the brown one!)
Equally dangerous are the myco-toxins produced by fungi that live on the outside of
plants and in the surrounding soil, especially on the seed heads and in any decaying
matter. You will perhaps have heard of the ergot, rust molds and facial ecsma spores.
Maybe even of Aspergillus, a known asthma allergen in humans.
Until recently, we horse owners didn’t take too much notice of fungi in our horses’
environment, apart from knowing not to feed moldy hay or feed. Because they are
usually invisible, and myco-toxins do not show up in blood tests, it has taken awhile
to make the connection between many health and behaviour problems in our horses
and these insidious equine trouble-makers!!
Our climate in NZ, and the generally low pH of the soils, means the conditions are
frequently very favorable to the explosive proliferation of fungal spores and mycotoxins.
If you happen to live anywhere near any orchards you will know how often
they spray for fungi. You will have seen molds suddenly appear on horse manure
from time to time. Fungi love acidic conditions, so pasture fertilized with traditional
super-phosphate makes an ideal environment for them.
The lifestyle of the typical kiwi horse means they spend most of the time out grazing
the pasture. Consequently they are inevitably ingesting and inhaling vast numbers of
fungal spores and myco-toxins 24/7. Not just at certain times of the year, but any time
the conditions favor fungi!
It is no surprise that the results of the “Equine Health & Behaviour Survey” fit with
this information. The horses with the most, and severest symptoms are invariably
grazing the ‘improved’ pastures, especially the rye/clover mixes. Of these, most are
also being fertilized with super. However, there are some horses with severe
symptoms that live on rye-grass pasture that hasn’t been fertilized in 10 years, and
some that graze ‘low-endophyte’ pasture and still show symptoms.
Thousands of horses throughout New Zealand suffer, for many months of the year,
from an array of the symptoms listed below.
All of the ‘severe’ cases have exasperated owners who have spent many hundreds,
sometimes thousands of dollars investigating other possible causes. They have had
numerous blood-tests (which time after time come up clean), equine practitioners of
all descriptions, multiple saddle fittings and sometimes up to three new saddles, horse
dentists and hoof trimmers. Finally they hear about feeding a toxin-binder (a
completely natural food that locks on to toxins in the horses’ intestine, prevents them
from going thru the intestine wall and into the bloodstream, and carries them out with
the manure). Within days they are astounded at the difference in their horses. Even
their husbands notice improvements!!
Due to the fact that there are hundreds of different myco-toxins lurking in and around
all pasture types throughout New Zealand it is no surprise that the above scenario is
very common. Because feeding a toxin-binder is simple, comparatively inexpensive,
and totally safe, it would seem logical to go down this avenue along with addressing
mineral imbalances, first if any of the above list of symptoms arise in your horse.
Toxin-Binders Explained
A toxin-binder helps to protect the horse from the toxins which can cause ill-health..
It is NOT a cure. It merely locks on to the toxin, making it too large to go thru the intestinal
wall, thereby preventing the toxin from getting into the bloodstream of the horse. Sometimes,
when the climate favours proliferation of fungi, or grazing hard means horses are eating the
base of the plant****, or when seed heads are present, the toxin-binder has its work cut out
and you will need to up the dose, or completely remove the horse from pasture until the
symptoms subside.
****(this causes the plant to ‘dial up’ mycotoxin production as a survival response to
discourage the animal or insect from eating it).
Horses do not become ‘immune’ to the toxin-binder. How could they? It does not even enter
their bloodstream.
Respiratory Problems
May be caused by Inhaling Toxins and Pollens which are Allergens
These symptoms therefore don’t respond to a toxin-binder
inflamed nasal membranes
‘runny’ noses, gunk in the corners of their eyes
blisters/ulcers up the nose (swabbing proves negative for Herpes)
coughing in paddock and/or on exercise
excessive snorting
breathlessness, out of ‘puff’ after very little exertion, can’t get fit
wheezing
‘gunk’ out of one or both nostrils periodically
nose-bleeding when at rest out in the pasture
Many horses suffer from one or more of the above symptoms, some to the point where they are
retired or their careers cut short. Once again extensive investigations which involve scoping,
blood tests, etc are often fruitless and expensive.
On a sunny day, hold your horses’ nostril open towards the sun and look up the nasal passages.
Hopefully it is pink and clean looking. If it looks inflamed, or looks yellowy and bumpy, or there
are little ‘blisters’ or even larger ulcerations, then your horse could have one of the allergies we
are talking about.
When you think about it horses have their noses down in the grass eating most of the time. Whilst
they are eating they are also breathing. There are quizzillions of fungal spores in the grass which
get sucked up their noses. For instance spores from the rust molds and aspergillus fungi, both very
common on our pastures, are known to cause hay-fever and asthma in humans. It stands to reason
that some horses will also have allergic reactions to them. In fact some of the symptoms in our
horses are very similar to asthma in humans.
If your horse has the laboured or noisy breathing, (symptoms similar to asthma), then he is
suffering from constriction of the airways. Remember that magnesium is a natural dilator so
keeping magnesium levels right up there is hugely beneficial. (Major clue)
Pasture with any length to it creates the ideal environment for fungi to proliferate within hours of
the right conditions, so in this case very short, or zero pasture is best. It goes without saying to
feed good quality, non-dusty (dunk in water if necessary), non-mouldy hay.
Leaving matter to decay on the ground, such as toppings, creates a wonderful environment for
fungi.
An interesting fact is that when your soil is biologically active and minerally balanced, (ph up
towards 7) fungi will not thrive, whereas they love in an acidic environment. (See Probitas). By
attending to the ‘cation capacity’ (Calcium, magnesium, sodium and potassium balances) the pH
of the soil will improve. This reduces the fungal populations to the optimal level.
One suggestion in the meantime, is to smear some Vaseline around the inside of the nostril to
catch the spores and pollens on the way up. (Apparently you can do the same thing on aeroplanes
and buses to prevent other peoples’ germs going up your own nose!)
Keep magnesium intake right up there as when magnesium levels decline, the incidence of
allergies and asthma rises. (see “Magnesium Deficiency” below)
Nose-Bleeding
This can occur when the Aspergillus fungus ‘sets up camp’ in the walls of the guttural pouch of
the poor horse. Their preferred location is on one of the major blood vessels that are right there.
The blood vessel gets damaged and bleeds. It’s as simple as that. Sometimes this colony of fungi
damage nerves in there, which can cause difficulty swallowing.
Unfortunately it’s not that simple to eradicate it. It is a serious and debilitating condition and
horses have been known to bleed to death. Surgery may be required.
This form of nose-bleeding is not related to exercise. If it is induced by exercise there is a
different cause.
There is an excellent article “The Whys and Wherefores of Gutteral Pouch Disease” by Dr
Dwayne Bennett. Google will find it. Go to ‘Gutteral Pouch Mycosis’ for more details.
Skin Conditions
I am talking about the persistent ones that don’t respond to the normal treatment regimes. Where
the poor horses rub and scratch their bellies on the ground so much that they bleed, or reach
around and bite their elbows until they bleed. These conditions require a drastic reduction in sugar
(lush grass) consumption and corresponding increase in hay consumption to restore hind-gut
health and function, which will kickstart B-Vit production (essential for healthy skin), ensure
omega 3’s are in the diet with a good quality multi-vitamin and mineral supplement.
The answer lies in getting the horse into a state of optimal health.
Mineral Imbalances especially Magnesium Deficiency
Unless you have been organically farming for years, or applying the Probitas (or similar
system) to your soil, your pasture WILL BE minerally imbalanced, in particular deficient in
calcium and magnesium. These macro-minerals are so vital to life that if the animal isn’t
getting them from the grass he is eating then we must supply them in the form of a supplement
for the following very good reason…
****The body pH of the horse (or any mammal including us) is supposed to be up around 7.
When the pH is less than 7, from eating too much sugar/carbohydrate from grass and molassed
grains, the body is acid and numerous health problems arise from being in a state of ‘acidosis’.
If the diet does not contain enough calcium and magnesium then the body has to continually
swipe these vital minerals from the bones, muscles, (including the heart), nerves, and brain, to
maintain this pH.****
In layman’s terms, here are some facts. Think about them and draw your own
conclusions!!!
Calcium excites the nerves and magnesium relaxes them. The brain is part of the nervous
system! (Attention Deficit Disorder type symptoms). They ‘lose the ability to process
information’ (can’t think straight), you have difficulty getting their attention, they become
over-sensitive, spooky and cause accidents and so on.
Calcium is necessary for muscle contraction and magnesium is necessary to release them.
Horses are 80% muscle.
Lack of calcium/magnesium causes ‘spasticity’ of back muscles, tight hamstrings, tenseness,
muscle cramps.
Boron is a ‘synergist’ for calcium and magnesium, which means it helps calcium and magnesium
to do their jobs. In the absence of boron, up to 40% of calcium and magnesium is lost in the urine.
Boron is also commonly lacking in our soils.
Calcium, magnesium, boron along with copper, are high on the list of minerals necessary for
proper bone formation and maintenance as well as joint health.
Spring time (worst time of the year for mineral imbalances) is when mares are in the third
trimester of pregnancy, and are nurturing their growing newborn foals. (Increased
requirements)
Lime is calcium, so liming is a good start and will take care of part of the daily calcium
requirement. Magnesium is not so easily applied via the soil short term.
Our climate in New Zealand is changeable, warm and wet. The spring ‘flush’ is well’ known
with its associated problems, but there are many slightly lesser ‘flushes’ throughout the year
depending on conditions. Anytime the grass shoots away it grows too quickly to uptake
minerals, especially magnesium.
There is a huge emphasis in New Zealand on grass production, and comparatively little on the
health of the stock that are eating it. Many of the pastures our horses are grazing are primarily
for sheep and cattle, and are more suitable for improving weight gain and milk production.
Furthermore, they are fertilized with substances that promote rapid growth and therefore lack
of mineral uptake.
Magnesium deficiency can cause many of the symptoms listed above in horses, including
staggers. This is well recognized in cattle in the spring and remedied with magnesium
supplementation. It is referred to as ‘grass staggers’ to differentiate it from ‘rye-grass staggers’
caused by the Lolitrem B endophyte in the rye-grass.
Magnesium is one of the most important minerals in the cell. Some is stored in the body,
mainly in the heart and the skeleton, from where it is released when deficiencies occur
in the diet.
Magnesium plays a vital role in the activation of around 350 enzymatic processes in the body
including breakdown of blood glucose. Blood magnesium levels rise after the horse eats
glucose or carbohydrates. Simplified : low magnesium = a reduced insulin response.
It therefore contributes significantly to the development of obesity, the ‘diabetic’ horse,
associated laminitis and eventually to the “Cushings-like” syndrome.
Spring grass is especially high in glucose and low in minerals including magnesium.
Deficiencies affect the cell membranes of nerve and muscle tissue, leading to many of the
above symptoms, especially the ‘hypersensitivity’ ones.
Magnesium is one of the essential electrolytes, along with calcium and potassium. Too much
calcium and/or not enough magnesium can predispose a horse to ‘tying up’ (severe muscle
cramps)
Symptoms include:
Excessive spookiness/alertness/excitability
Loss of appetite/poor condition
Nervousness
Exhaustion
Cramps
Cardiovascular irregularities
Epsom salts (magnesium sulfate) can be fed short term, however, regular feeding can lead to
gastro-intestinal upsets, even diarrhea. Magnesium oxide is a form of magnesium that is
usually applied to the soil. From there it would be processed thru the plant into a form that the
body can utilize. It is imperative to feed a highly absorbable, organic form that is non-toxic
and whatever the horse doesn’t need will go out with the urine or manure.
Magnesium needs to be part of the right feeding regime for your horse, according to his
lifestyle.
Kikuyu grass contains oxalates which bind up calcium. Horses grazing pastures with
significant proportions of kikuya definitely need to be supplemented with calcium. Feeding
some lucerne along with a good calcium supplement is a good option.
Kikuyu grass is not high in nutrition, it is important to have a good feeding regime when
kikuyu is prevalent in your pasture.
High Sugar = Lack of Fibre
Insulin Resistance/Acidosis/Laminitis
Grasses planted primarily to fatten livestock and promote milk production are
‘high sugar’ grasses. Hay made from wheat, barley, rye-grass or oats is high in
sugar especially if it has been made prior to seed formation.
Sugar levels can be elevated in grasses when they are drought stressed or overgrazed.
Sugar levels can sky-rocket in the spring when grass shoots away.
Grains, whilst they contain some protein, are mainly carbohydrate, and therefore
oats, corn, wheat and barley contribute to total sugar the horse is consuming. So
does any feed containing molasses.
When the input of feed far exceeds the output required for the amount of exercise
the horse is doing, problems will ensue!!
What is happening in New Zealand is that we make the mistake of thinking that
grass provides enough roughage and fibre. NOT TRUE! Young, green, growing
grass is mainly non-structural carbo-hydrate (sugar and starch). Clover is 1/3rd
higher in starch than grass. As the grass matures it develops more stalk and
becomes more fibrous (as in roadside grass or standing hay). Then it is great as it is
more fibre than sugar.
Horses have a small stomach and a short ‘small intestine’ (where carbs are
digested). Then they have a HUGE hind-gut, (the caecum and large intestine),
which takes up most of the room in the horses ‘barrel’. The hind-gut is meant to be
chokka full of micro-organisms which are designed to digest the large quantities of
fibre the horse would normally eat. What happens instead is that the excess
carbohydrate from the grass / molassed grains diet we force upon them, gets
pushed into the hind-gut, where it cannot be digested. There it ferments, resulting
in acidosis (low Ph) which kills all those good micro-organisms. The ensuing
metabolic chaos, compounded by mineral imbalances especially the lack of
magnesium, results in inflammation of the laminae of the hoof and there you have
it, sore feet and laminitis.
In fact the horse/pony can eventually become insulin resistant, which is a similar
condition to Type 2 Diabetes in humans.
Signs of insulin resistance include:
- being obsessed with eating, especially grass, you can’t keep their head up!!
- ‘lives on the smell of an oily rag’, get fat easily
- has a ‘cresty’ neck
- gets ‘pads’ of fat behind the shoulders and above the tail
- puffiness, around the eyes and sheath
- urinates a lot
- lethargic
- mares don’t cycle properly
- drinks a lot
- sore feet (pre-laminitic)
- prone to laminitis
It is important to understand that these horses are not just fat, they have a serious
metabolic disorder that needs urgent action! They are like diabetic people and suffer
from the dysfunction of every major organ system in their body, the circulatory
system (especially to the hooves), the digestive system (especially the hind-gut), the
reproductive system, the nervous system (including the brain), the endocrine system.
They are an inch away from foundering.
Horse owners have reversed these symptoms by restricting grass intake, and feeding
plenty of hay that has had the sugar content leached out by soaking in a tub of water
for an hour before feeding. The water goes brown and fizzy. Tip it on your garden.
Supplementation with chromium, magnesium and omega 3, attention to healthy hoof
form and as much exercise as possible are equally important.
PREVENTION IS WAY BETTER THAN CURE.
Please understand that it is primarily a hind-gut problem caused by sugar
overload, lack of fibre and lack of exercise. These horses are the equivalent of
the couch potato person who lives on junk food.
The key to a healthy horse with healthy hooves is to look after the flora in the
hind-gut by ensuring good fibre intake daily.
Fibre Requirements Relative to Lifestyle
(Adult Horses & Ponies)
Oils 5% Oils 5% Oils 5% Oils 5% Oils 5%
95% 15%
25%
Soaked Hay 80%
35%
FibaRich FibaRich 70%
Pellets Pellets 45%
FibaRich 60%
Hay Cubes Pellets
10% of this can FibaRich 50%
be made up of Hay Hay Cubes Pellets
Hay Cubes or FibaRich
Protein Hay Hay Cubes Pellets
Hay Hay Cubes
Hay
Idle
Light
Work
Moderate
Work
Intense
Work
n
Obese & or
Laminitic
Less than 3 rides
per week
Pleasure riding,
dressage, Hacking,
showing etc
Trekking,
stockwork,
showjumping
Racing,polo,
endurance,
hunting, eventing,
See below
*
Protein
(eg soya bean meal)
and
Fibre Protein & Fat
Carbohydrate
Important:
Carbohydrate
(eg grasses,grains )
• Soak hay in water for one hour (to reduce sugar content) discard water and feed
immediately.
• Feed Hay without any perennial rye grass or clover in it.
• Feed Lucerne Hay, Lucerne Cubes or Lucerne/Timothy Cubes to Horses on Kikuyu grass
for extra calcium.
• After approx 6-9 months the obese/laminitic horses’ metabolism will be returning to normal
and they can be fed as ‘Idle’ Be extremely diligent about not allowing a relapse.
• When on any kind of pasture feed a toxin binder containing mycosorb and a highly
absorbable magnesium such as Alleviate.
• For horses in moderate to intense work add carbohydrate (eg grass & grain) and protein (eg
soya bean meal, sunflower seeds, tick beans ) according to energy requirements (refer to
table above).
• Avoid sugar overload in broodmares, young & growing horses, by ensuring a high fibre
intake to offset high sugar content of lush pastures.
Why Add Fibre?
Adding fibre to the diet of NZ pasture-fed horses is vital:
It keeps the hind-gut and its resident micro-organisms healthy, preventing
sugar overload, which causes hind-gut acidosis (sloppy manure), ADD
(attention deficit disorder), insulin resistance, metabolic chaos, laminitis.
The digestion of fibre has immune-boosting, anti-allergic and hormone
regulating effects.
The fermentation of structural fibre is a major source of energy.
Fibre helps synthesise B-Vits & Vit K for calmness and good health.
Provides fuel for their internal body heater.
Creates a water reservoir for proper hydration, especially after sweating,
urinating and salivating.
Requires more chewing = more saliva, preventing stomach ulcers.
Does your horse eat Grass? Clovers? Molassed feeds? Grains?
Consumption of these, without sufficient accompanying fibre according to
lifestyle will sooner or later result in a vast array of ill-health problems. Symptoms
including many of those in the above list, “bad behaviours” (eg herd-bound,
nappy), ravenous appetites, insulin resistance, obesity or ill-thrift, weak, sore feet
and laminitis will become apparent.
Green grass does not supply enough fibre in the diet of NZ
pasture fed horses.
How Much Fibre?
A 500kg horse requires approximately 2% of his bodyweight per day. ie
10 kgs /day, 365 days/yr. Hay bales vary but this is approximately ½ bale.
This can be achieved with a combination of hay, hay cubes, beet pulp.
NB. A 500kg horse is a large TB type hack. A Park Hack is more like 450kgs.
Heavier hacks weigh more. Take empty float to a weigh station, then take horse in
float to weigh station, this will give you an accurate weight.
If the horse is light in condition feed according to the weight he should be, not the
weight he currently is.
If you want your horse to lose weight, soak the sugar out of the hay rather than
cutting down his hay. Horses have a need to be eating and chewing 16-18 hours a day.
Long periods without food cause mental stress and stomach ulcers.
B-Vitamin Deficiency is Caused by a Lack of Fibre
Within the large intestine of the horse, there should be a healthy population of
‘good’ bacteria, whose purpose it is to breakdown the food further, producing
energy-rich, short-chain fatty acids. These bacteria also produce essential Bvitamins,
vitamin C and biotin, necessary for just about every function in the body,
including healthy red blood cells and optimal function of the nervous system.
Signs that a horse is not making sufficient of his own B vitamins are poor appetite,
sour attitude, anemia, poor hooves and skin conditions.
Biotin is one of this large group of vitamins. Everyone is busy supplementing
with biotin to improve hooves when all the horse needs is more fibre in his
diet so he can make his own. Hooves will not be strong and healthy on a sugar
diet!!
Anything that upsets digestion, such as a low roughage diet, (eg, spring-time
sloppy manures caused by acidosis) or increased stress of any kind, will interfere
with the horses ability to produce his own B vitamins.
It is a good idea to make sure your multi vitamin/mineral supplement has the full
range of B-Vitamins. Mycosorb, the active ingredient of toxin-binders such as
Tox-Defy and Equigard contains brewers yeast, which is great for B-Vitamins.
Since they are water soluble and not stored in the body, you cannot overdose on
them.
Selenium
Selenium is essential to good health in the horse. It is a trace mineral which helps
to make important antioxidant enzymes that have several functions in the horse's
metabolism. These selenium containing enzymes provide antioxidant protection in
every cell of the horse's body. They also have roles that affect growth, immune
function, muscle recovery and reproduction.
Many areas of New Zealand have soils deficient in selenium, which means unless
you are supplementing with it, your horse is likely to be deficient. Too little
selenium in the diet is a problem, it’s a bit like trying to run a car without oil,
causing degeneration of muscle tissue, stiffness of gait and a predisposition to
‘tying up’. However, too much selenium is a problem as it is toxic to your horse.
This has become more of a possibility since selenium is now added to a lot of
feeds.
Annual blood tests are essential, so you know exactly how much to supplement
with. It is best fed in small doses often, as in the organic forms available that you
add to a daily feed.
For economic reasons, people with multiple horses often resort to the less
absorbable, but cheaper, inorganic forms of selenium as in Selmit 1.
Photo-sensitivity….. (Sunburn & Mud Fever)
Many horses with white faces and/ or white socks, suffer from ‘sunburnt’ noses, and/or chronic
mud fever. Some get ulcers in their mouths.
The first line of thought with mud fever is that it is caused by “mud”. The first line of thought
with scabs on the nose is “sunburn”. However, the truth is that it can be a very complex issue. So
if your horse’s mud fever doesn’t clear up easily, it could be due to Photosensitization.
This is caused by eating plants which contain certain photodynamic pigments. These pigments
enter the bloodstream and eventually reach the skin. When they reach the unpigmented skin of
white faces and white socks, they are exposed to UV rays, they fluoresce, and thereby cause
damage to the surrounding skin.
Affected skin rapidly becomes reddened, painful, and raised above areas of adjacent pigmented
skin. Serum often oozes through the affected skin to form crusts in the hair. Soon, the dead skin
becomes dry and parchment-like, and the hair and white skin slough leaving ulcerated areas that
may develop secondary bacterial infections, especially in muddy conditions. Hence the name
‘mud fever’. Yet the bacterial infection could be secondary to the real cause which is
photosensitization.
When this occurs on the muzzle, it resembles, but is not, sunburn. It is a reaction caused by eating
these plant pigments, which are exposed to UV rays in the vulnerable unpigmented skin areas.
Most commonly affected areas are the muzzles of horses with white faces and white socks as in
mud-fever.
This explains why some horses that have ‘heaps of white’ never sunburn or get mud-fever, while
others do so, chronically and exasperatingly!!
Plants known to cause this kind of photosensitization include Perennial rye-grass, (you
might have guessed!) clovers, especially white clover, alfalfa, lucerne, St John’s wort and
buttercup. Many horses are grazing pastures that comprise these species. Buttercups also
contain a chemical that causes dermatitis from direct contact with it.
Protection from UV rays is a huge help in prevention, however, this is tricky on the legs. There
are vast numbers of topical applications for treating mud fever, which ‘work’, but often on some
horses but not others. Quite often, just when you think you’ve got it beat, hey presto, it’s back!!
Understanding that there are a variety of causes, explains this frustrating scenario.
Preventing the horse eating the offending plants is obviously the best option but not always easy.
It is yet another really good reason to work out ways to change your pastures to encourage other
species than those listed above. See Pasture… the Solution
Head-Flicking/Shaking
Now this is a difficult one. Something, the most likely candidate being a neuro-toxin, causes
damage to the trigeminal nerve. This is a major facial nerve which goes from behind the eye down
the face and branches out to the nostrils and mouth areas. Once it is damaged, increased blood
supply, such as on exercise, triggers ‘electrical’ sensations down the nerve, causing the horse to
incessantly flick his head. At first you are sure that a bug has flown up his nose. Flick, flick, flick,
then suddenly, simultaneously, they put the brakes on and rub their nose on their lower leg. This
is quite likely to happen while you are cantering along. It is so exasperating and believe me,
nothing you do will prevent the behaviour.
Head-flicking can be triggered by any kind of ‘pressure’, (mental or emotional type pressure).
Large vet bills, many hours on the internet, trying nose-nets and UV masks follow. The latter
provide temporary relief for some horses.
Over a period of a year or two, the bouts of head-flicking get worse and more frequent. They even
become “photic”, in other words triggered by sunlight and/or breezes. Not a sign of a flick on
overcast days and unrideable on sunny days. One such horse that I know, could be ridden at night.
Eventually the horse is exhibiting these behaviours while at rest in the pasture. It must drive them
NUTS. It gets to the point where the horse is so distressed he is shoving his head in the hedge to
get away from the light, and the owner reluctantly decides to euthanase him.
Personally, I am 100% convinced that the neuro-toxin comes from the rye-grass. And there has to
be some connection between the UV sensitivity, as in the photosensitization, and the damage to
the nerve. It will become clear eventually. Globally nobody knows exactly what causes it, but if
you follow the gist of all this rye-grass stuff, you’ll understand why the rye-grass has to be a
strong candidate. I think the plants with the photodynamic pigments like rye, clover and lucerne
act as ‘triggers’.
From The Survey, 90% of the head-flicking horses were grazing rye/clover mixes, most on dairy
or ex-dairy. (The other 10% did not know, but from the other symptoms their horses were
exhibiting, they most likely were grazing pasture that contains rye-grass). Most were on rye-grass
that has been fertilized with super, but some were on pasture that hasn’t seen fertilizer for 10
years.
One quarter of the horses for whom their owners filled out an “Equine Health & Behaviour
Survey” are head-flickers. (42 out of 170). I have heard of two horses whose head-flicking started
after an accident that must have damaged the trigeminal nerve.
All the head-flicking horses from the Survey also exhibit other symptoms of myco-toxicity.
I know of several horses that flick when on rye-grass but cease to do so when taken off it.
The only two horses that I know of that have been completely removed from rye-grass/clover and
are now grazing cocksfoot type pasture, are both virtually flick-free. One of these horses belongs
to me.
Head-flicking does not seem to respond to a toxin-binder, even large doses. It can be seasonal, but
the only hope seems to be complete removal from rye grass. Drastic measures such as blocking
or cutting the nerve, give about 4-5 years of flick-free riding, but apart from the risk of a droopy
lip, when the nerve repairs somewhat, it comes back worse than ever, and that is the end of it.
There are some expensive drugs (cyproheptadine) that can help in some cases, but again not long
term. It does seem ridiculous to go to such measures when maybe just removing the horse from
the offending pasture could be the answer.
With my horse, even tho he is now basically flick-free, I am sure damage to the nerve still exists,
as some flicking can still be triggered by increased exercise, as when I gallop him and get him
warmer than normal, or if he gets his knickers in a twist about something (pressure).
Maybe the damage to the nerve will gradually repair completely, providing he is not exposed to
the irritant again.
Certainly, whatever it is that causes it to become photic is gone. This could be to do with the fact
he is no longer grazing the grasses that contain the pigments which cause photosensitization.
Please e-mail me with your story and anything you have found that helps.
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