Ataxic episode

[Marigold4]

Early on Sunday morning, I found my yearling in a confused state in the field. She was breathing VERY fast and ataxic. She seemed very confused and perhaps not seeing properly. Her movements were "drunken". Called the emergency vet straightaway who confirmed ataxic, very fast breathing and heart rate. Bloods and swabs taken. All perfectly normal and no infection, except bloods showed moderately raised liver enzymes (GGT 200; AST 700). Vet gave Finodyne and she started to recover. Scanned lungs for pneumonia and intestines for colic, all fine. By the evening she was much better but holding her head a little low. Two days later, back to normal although perhaps a little quiet, no ataxia although perhaps lacking a little strength on the tail pull test - vet said this could be because of her age though. Yesterday much brighter and perky.

I have had another of my horses who has exactly the same food sources as the yearling tested and they have normal liver enzymes. Checked my fields over with a plant app and pretty sure there aren't any toxic plants except ragwort which I spot spray and remove as it appears.

Any ideas what this might be? Anyone experience something like this before in a young horse? Vet thought EHV but then swabs and bloods were negative. We are all a bit mystified!

 

[vhf]

First thought - maybe the liver enzymes are a red herring/lucky catch and your youngster faceplanted/headbutted something they shouldn't have and gave themselves a headache/concussion/whiplash/cracked tooth? Did vet check skull/inside mouth for damage? (Not always easy on a yearling I know). I've had fractured skull and fractured teeth at different times, neither easy to spot.
Edt. Wondering what someone could have chucked in the field that was poisonous enough to cause the raised liver enzymes on one exposure and give the acute symptoms also seen. e.g snake bites might produce the behavioural symptoms, but not sure about the liver enzymes!

 

[Marigold4]

Thanks VHF. I did wonder if she had knocked herself out or something. I seem to remember the vet did check her head. I think we would have to sedate to check teeth. She seems to be eating ok though. All the fencing is fine. I'll check the shelter for signs of impact.

There was a party going on nearby that night - lots of teenagers, v loud music. I found two teenagers in the field earlier in the evening but only in a bit that was fenced off due to sycamore. Looking at the ground, there weren't any signs of the horses running around. I went out to check at midnight as there were some fireworks in the distance and they all seemed fine.

We do have adders here. I used to have one living behind my muckheap! But I think if she was bitten the bite would cause swelling? I'll check her legs again.

 

[vhf]

I'd be suspicious of the party/fireworks/teens thing even if there's no remaining evidence. Loud thumping music gives me a massive headache. They couldn't have given her alcohol poisoning could they if she's a friendly sort?! I'm pretty sure an adder bite would create a very physical sign even on a bony area (Had one once on the fetlock, leg blew up from coronet to stifle).

 

[PurBee]

It may not have been the sudden ingestion of plants that caused the episode, rather that day was the tipping-point for dose of symptoms. It could have been an accumulative plant poison, where they have a little per day.

Foals/yearlings tend to sample most plants in fields compared to older field buddies who usually learn to ignore the dodgy plants. Hence difference in symptoms.

One of the most common field plants in the british isles that produces neuro-type symptoms is mares tail/horse tail plant. Google image it, when young it has tiny spikes that can be hidden well in grass. Horses dont find it repulsive, unlike ragwort which tastes very bitter.
Horse tail plant/weed contains thiaminase, which breaks down vitamin B1 - needed for nerve-signalling.

A few mouthfuls here and there wont hurt, but a youngster likely has a lower dose tolerance than an adult.
B1 injection is the fast remedy/antidote to horse tail toxicity. As the foal is recovering, brewers yeast contains b vitamins, all of them, except b12 - you could have that to hand and feed bits from hand maybe, as they tend to like the taste. B vits are normally produced in the gut in the equine, but a foal may not be efficient with production until gut biome fully matures.


Or braken fern - thats similar to horse tail - neuro-type symptoms. Usually growing on the fence borders in the shade. Sheep often go for that with eagerness, and often is fatal as they can gorge it.
My gelding as a foal loved ferns - i spent his first year pulling/cutting/trimming everything in the fields even slightly dodgy as he would sample everything!

Nutritionally, an incremental magnesium deficiency can cause some staggering, muscle twitching, fatigue, to full-blown seizure-type symptoms - but that usually is a risk after lots of rainfall causing potassium to spike in the grass, which temporarily causes potassium/magnesium imbalance in grazers, which can then show such weird neuro-like symptoms.
The bones contain magnesium, so the body can sequester it from them, but its not immediately made available like glycogen from the liver for blood sugar, so a horse could be twitchy and stumbling for a day or 2 before the magnesium is fully topped-up via bones into blood.
Short-grazed paddocks, not very green would be lower in magnesium than lusher paddocks.
Mag deficiency (acute or accumulative) is less likely than exposure to the above plants, for a foal, but just mentioning as a side possibility.

I have horse tail pics on my machine already…look for tiny 3-5 inch spikes hidden in the grass. Usually grows in damper shadier parts of fields.

Glad to hear foal is recovering - that’s relieving - perhaps do another eagle-eye of the paddock, especially borders of fence for anything other than grass growing, and post pics here if unsure, and we’ll try to ID any weeds growing. There can be some plants less common that are toxic, and dont make it on the ‘top 10’ toxic plants list.

Do you have any bushes/trees overhanging into paddock? Oak/yew and sycamore are the more common toxic types. If unsure of plant/trees ID feel free to post pics.


Young spikes of horse tail / mares tail plant:






More mature horse tail plant:

 

[PurBee]

I'd be suspicious of the party/fireworks/teens thing even if there's no remaining evidence. Loud thumping music gives me a massive headache. They couldn't have given her alcohol poisoning could they if she's a friendly sort?! I'm pretty sure an adder bite would create a very physical sign even on a bony area (Had one once on the fetlock, leg blew up from coronet to stifle).

Finding partying teens on the land gives the episode a different spin, i agree. What kids consume at parties these days i can only imagine, and some may be ignorant enough to give something daft to an animal.

Another liver test in a week will discount alcohol, and if still high, points to some other cause.

 

[vhf]

What kids consume at parties these days i can only imagine, and some may be ignorant enough to give something daft to an animal.

I'd completely forgotten what other things they may have given to a friendly horse/had fallen out of their pockets...

 

[Birker2020]

Early on Sunday morning, I found my yearling in a confused state in the field. She was breathing VERY fast and ataxic. Vet gave Finodyne and she started to recover. Scanned lungs for pneumonia and intestines for colic, all fine. By the evening she was much better but holding her head a little low. Two days later, back to normal although perhaps a little quiet, no ataxia although perhaps lacking a little strength on the tail pull test - vet said this could be because of her age though. Yesterday much brighter and perky.

IVet thought EHV but then swabs and bloods were negative. We are all a bit mystified!

I had to pts a lovely 10yr old gelding with wobblers, he had reared over whilst being brought in from the field and hurt his neck, I suspect he was yanked in the mouth whilst being led in his chifney.

He was pts as he was too badly compromised and dangerous to handle from the point of view of being ataxic.

It completely destroyed me at the time especially as he was misdiagnosed as having EHV for weeks before he was correctly diagnosed .. Sadly it was wobblers and he was pts but the whole yard was scanned and he and two others from about 25 were carrying EHV. The vet said 33% of the equine population are carriers but not all are shredders. Sadly the original vets portable xray machine gave a false picture, it wasn't until he went for much stronger imaging technology at Philip Leverhulme hospital in Liverpool that it was discovered C4, C6 and C7 from memory. There was only a 17mm gap in the spinal column, and there should have been 52mm. The diagnosis provided a lot of answers, I'd suspected he was a wobbler for sometime as he had a lot of the symptoms like brushing his hind fetlocks together, his outside hind leg swinging wide on a tight circle, weird bunny hopping in canter, not picking up his hind feet correctly.

If your yearling couldn't lift his her head easily she might have hurt her neck, Finadyne stabilised by horse when he had ataxia so he was able to go to hospital for xrays. Do you think it might be worth while having xrays to pinpoint any damage. The xray machines are much better now.

 

[Marigold4]

It may not have been the sudden ingestion of plants that caused the episode, rather that day was the tipping-point for dose of symptoms. It could have been an accumulative plant poison, where they have a little per day.

Foals/yearlings tend to sample most plants in fields compared to older field buddies who usually learn to ignore the dodgy plants. Hence difference in symptoms.

One of the most common field plants in the british isles that produces neuro-type symptoms is mares tail/horse tail plant. Google image it, when young it has tiny spikes that can be hidden well in grass. Horses dont find it repulsive, unlike ragwort which tastes very bitter.
Horse tail plant/weed contains thiaminase, which breaks down vitamin B1 - needed for nerve-signalling.

A few mouthfuls here and there wont hurt, but a youngster likely has a lower dose tolerance than an adult.
B1 injection is the fast remedy/antidote to horse tail toxicity. As the foal is recovering, brewers yeast contains b vitamins, all of them, except b12 - you could have that to hand and feed bits from hand maybe, as they tend to like the taste. B vits are normally produced in the gut in the equine, but a foal may not be efficient with production until gut biome fully matures.


Or braken fern - thats similar to horse tail - neuro-type symptoms. Usually growing on the fence borders in the shade. Sheep often go for that with eagerness, and often is fatal as they can gorge it.
My gelding as a foal loved ferns - i spent his first year pulling/cutting/trimming everything in the fields even slightly dodgy as he would sample everything!

Nutritionally, an incremental magnesium deficiency can cause some staggering, muscle twitching, fatigue, to full-blown seizure-type symptoms - but that usually is a risk after lots of rainfall causing potassium to spike in the grass, which temporarily causes potassium/magnesium imbalance in grazers, which can then show such weird neuro-like symptoms.
The bones contain magnesium, so the body can sequester it from them, but its not immediately made available like glycogen from the liver for blood sugar, so a horse could be twitchy and stumbling for a day or 2 before the magnesium is fully topped-up via bones into blood.
Short-grazed paddocks, not very green would be lower in magnesium than lusher paddocks.
Mag deficiency (acute or accumulative) is less likely than exposure to the above plants, for a foal, but just mentioning as a side possibility.

I have horse tail pics on my machine already…look for tiny 3-5 inch spikes hidden in the grass. Usually grows in damper shadier parts of fields.

Glad to hear foal is recovering - that’s relieving - perhaps do another eagle-eye of the paddock, especially borders of fence for anything other than grass growing, and post pics here if unsure, and we’ll try to ID any weeds growing. There can be some plants less common that are toxic, and dont make it on the ‘top 10’ toxic plants list.

Do you have any bushes/trees overhanging into paddock? Oak/yew and sycamore are the more common toxic types. If unsure of plant/trees ID feel free to post pics.


Young spikes of horse tail / mares tail plant:

View attachment 141958




More mature horse tail plant:

View attachment 141959

Thanks, Purbee for your very helpful reply. I have checked my fields and the edges where they might just reach through the electric and I'm sure we don't have horse tail. I've been out and collected samples of anything round the edges of the field that might be in reach (field has already been checked), took photos and identified the plants. Two that are potentially in reach and poisonous: fleabane and turkish oregano/marjoram. There was third plant that the app couldn't identify. I've attached a photo. Would fleabane or oregano affect a horse's liver or cause ataxia?

 

[Marigold4]

I had to pts a lovely 10yr old gelding with wobblers, he had reared over whilst being brought in from the field and hurt his neck, I suspect he was yanked in the mouth whilst being led in his chifney.

He was pts as he was too badly compromised and dangerous to handle from the point of view of being ataxic.

It completely destroyed me at the time especially as he was misdiagnosed as having EHV for weeks before he was correctly diagnosed .. Sadly it was wobblers and he was pts but the whole yard was scanned and he and two others from about 25 were carrying EHV. The vet said 33% of the equine population are carriers but not all are shredders. Sadly the original vets portable xray machine gave a false picture, it wasn't until he went for much stronger imaging technology at Philip Leverhulme hospital in Liverpool that it was discovered C4, C6 and C7 from memory. There was only a 17mm gap in the spinal column, and there should have been 52mm. The diagnosis provided a lot of answers, I'd suspected he was a wobbler for sometime as he had a lot of the symptoms like brushing his hind fetlocks together, his outside hind leg swinging wide on a tight circle, weird bunny hopping in canter, not picking up his hind feet correctly.

If your yearling couldn't lift his her head easily she might have hurt her neck, Finadyne stabilised by horse when he had ataxia so he was able to go to hospital for xrays. Do you think it might be worth while having xrays to pinpoint any damage. The xray machines are much better now.

I'm sorry to hear about your horse, Birker. That sounds awful and heart-breaking. I did ask for neck x-rays to be done, but the vet thought we should wait and see as it's such a difficult part to reliably x-ray and we would probably have to refer her to a hospital to get it done properly. Vet did carrot stretches and she could stretch round towards her flank quite well 48 hrs later. I have my trusted physio coming next week to check her over. If she has hurt herself somewhere it is important that we find it and treat it.

 

[Marigold4]

The only other thing I can think of as a cause is the yearling chewing creosoted wood. We had some builders working on the stable and I decided to put in a meshed gate between two stables rather than a partition so that the two yearlings could be easily separated or put in together. The gate wasn't quite wide enough and when I got back from work, the builder had put a railway sleeper in (upright) as a post to fix the gate on to, and fill the gap. For about a week, the yearlings were chewing it, mostly the one who fell ill. I kept meaning to cover it in cribstop and have done so now. Sleepers have tar in them. Would chewing the edges of a sleeper have caused this? The bit she chewed is about 18 ins long and she has removed about 1/4 ins of it.

 

[PurBee]

Onl

Thanks, Purbee for your very helpful reply. I have checked my fields and the edges where they might just reach through the electric and I'm sure we don't have horse tail. I've been out and collected samples of anything round the edges of the field that might be in reach (field has already been checked), took photos and identified the plants. Two that are potentially in reach and poisonous: fleabane and turkish oregano/marjoram. There was third plant that the app couldn't identify. I've attached a photo. Would fleabane or oregano affect a horse's liver or cause ataxia?

ine sources regarding fleabane says gastro upset more common - i guess if enough is consumed, the gut distress could cause liver to show enzymes, but gut was checked by vet as ok…so possibly not likely that.

The picture you posted is showing on my plant id app as ‘russian sage’.



Many sources say its ok for pets/horses, but a USDA experts response says of sage family can cause ‘ataxia and excitability’:

toxic plants to horses - Ask Extension

Is Perovskia atriplicfolia (Russian Sage) toxic to horses? Thank you

ask2.extension.org

With toxic plants the dose matters - if youve seen the ‘sage’ plant having been grazed down then i’d be suspect of that.
Sometimes with nervous system disruption by a toxin it can cause fast breathing. Paradoxically a depressant of nervous system can elicit a fast breathing response too, but that symptom isnt commonly listed with many plant toxin symptoms, but breath rate change can usually be noted.

 

[PurBee]

The only other thing I can think of as a cause is the yearling chewing creosoted wood. We had some builders working on the stable and I decided to put in a meshed gate between two stables rather than a partition so that the two yearlings could be easily separated or put in together. The gate wasn't quite wide enough and when I got back from work, the builder had put a railway sleeper in (upright) as a post to fix the gate on to, and fill the gap. For about a week, the yearlings were chewing it, mostly the one who fell ill. I kept meaning to cover it in cribstop and have done so now. Sleepers have tar in them. Would chewing the edges of a sleeper have caused this? The bit she chewed is about 18 ins long and she has removed about 1/4 ins of it.

If the railway sleeper was old stock pre year 2000 creosoted, that creosote may have arsenic in it - which i found out via an h&h article on a sportsmans horse showing it in blood, and all he could summise was the chewing of creosoted wood his horse was stabled at:

Positive dope test highlights risks of wood treated with creosote *H&H Plus* - Horse & Hound

EQUESTRIANS competing under anti-doping rules have been warned of the low “but possible” risk of arsenic contamination from historically treated wood. Racehorse Hell’s Kitchen, trained by Harry Fry, was found to have arsenic above the permitted level in his system after he finished fourth in the...

www.horseandhound.co.uk

Merck manual lists symptoms of arsenic similar to your yearling, although it says stools change:

Inorganic Arsenical Toxicosis in Animals - Inorganic Arsenical Toxicosis in Animals - Merck Veterinary Manual

Learn about the veterinary topic of Inorganic Arsenical Toxicosis in Animals. Find specific details on this topic and related topics from the Merck Vet Manual.

www.merckvetmanual.com

It states that arsenic is primarily metabolised via the liver, so that potentially could be a cause of your yearlings liver results.

 

[Birker2020]

Lead poisoning can also cause muscle weakness and ataxic symptoms.
Do you have any old buildings/gates, etc that may have been painted?

However, I have to say (and I really don't mean this unkindly) but I went through all this with my horse prior to his ataxia.

I was questionning everything about his environment -

• Had the fields nearby been crop sprayed (organo phosphates?)
• Had he eaten red aslike clover in abundance (this can cause ataxia?)
• Was it caused by disease or illness (EHV?)
• Was it ryegrass staggers (ryegrass toxicosis?)
• What about fern?
• Monensin, which is found in some cattle feed

The end of the day it was caused by trauma to the neck, I am wondering why your vet doesn't strongly suspect this is the case especially holding her head a little lower than normal, my horse when he went over backwards in the field couldn't lift his head above chest height due to the issue with his neck.

Finadyne is what my horse was given to stabilise him enough so he travel to Philip Leverhulme in Liverpool for comprehensive xrays/scans. If I were you given all that you have said, I would be pushing for a referral to a hospital that has some decent xray equipment and is able to see sections of the vertebrae.

I really hope it isn't the same outcome for you, your horse has age on her side so hopefully it will be more positive. Wishing you all the best, do keep us updated. What a worry for you. x

 

[Britestar]

Could she simply have been dehydrated?

I have an old mare who sometimes is very wobbly on hot days. She forgets to drink, and soon recovers once in and hydrated.

It took us a good few episodes to work this out. All is good if her 'carers' go for a drink and she goes too. If she is grazing and doesn't go with them, then she has problems.

 

[HollyWoozle]

I'm sorry to hear about your youngster. I am following with interest as my 22yr old mare was in some pain and very slow with a strange, reluctant gait on 7th June. Had the vet out and we never came to a conclusion - in her case her bloods came back normal, her temp was marginally high (but not significant), OK on tail pull test and turning on circle. In the end we came to the assumption that it related to a neighbour's bonfire the night before (including something blowing up!) and figured she might have fallen hooning about. By the next day she was pretty much back to normal BUT Tuesday night this week she was the same again. By Wednesday morning... perfectly normal. In her case her breathing and heart rate stayed normal so it's not the same as your case but there are some interesting comparisons.

We too are now assessing and removing various plants from the horse field on the chance she is eating something. We have always removed ragwort and sycamores as they come up but have generally left other bits and bobs if deemed safe. I think a few things have crept in here and there in the hedgeline though and I did find a mallow plant for example.

 

[Birker2020]

I'm sorry to hear about your youngster. I am following with interest as my 22yr old mare was in some pain and very slow with a strange, reluctant gait on 7th June. Had the vet out and we never came to a conclusion - in her case her bloods came back normal, her temp was marginally high (but not significant), OK on tail pull test and turning on circle. In the end we came to the assumption that it related to a neighbour's bonfire the night before (including something blowing up!) and figured she might have fallen hooning about. By the next day she was pretty much back to normal BUT Tuesday night this week she was the same again. By Wednesday morning... perfectly normal. In her case her breathing and heart rate stayed normal so it's not the same as your case but there are some interesting comparisons.

We too are now assessing and removing various plants from the horse field on the chance she is eating something. We have always removed ragwort and sycamores as they come up but have generally left other bits and bobs if deemed safe. I think a few things have crept in here and there in the hedgeline though and I did find a mallow plant for example.

I remember you writing this originally, you had just got married?

How strange that no conclusion could be drawn, it's weird yih have both had this. Makes you wonder if something has blown in from somewhere with the hot weather we've been having.

 

[Marigold4]

Could she simply have been dehydrated?

I have an old mare who sometimes is very wobbly on hot days. She forgets to drink, and soon recovers once in and hydrated.

It took us a good few episodes to work this out. All is good if her 'carers' go for a drink and she goes too. If she is grazing and doesn't go with them, then she has problems.

It's certainly a thought. She has lots of water in the field but they are out in a small herd so difficult to know how much she drinks. I have a dog like this though, suddenly remembers she's thirsty when she sees another dog drink!

 

[Marigold4]

I'm sorry to hear about your youngster. I am following with interest as my 22yr old mare was in some pain and very slow with a strange, reluctant gait on 7th June. Had the vet out and we never came to a conclusion - in her case her bloods came back normal, her temp was marginally high (but not significant), OK on tail pull test and turning on circle. In the end we came to the assumption that it related to a neighbour's bonfire the night before (including something blowing up!) and figured she might have fallen hooning about. By the next day she was pretty much back to normal BUT Tuesday night this week she was the same again. By Wednesday morning... perfectly normal. In her case her breathing and heart rate stayed normal so it's not the same as your case but there are some interesting comparisons.

We too are now assessing and removing various plants from the horse field on the chance she is eating something. We have always removed ragwort and sycamores as they come up but have generally left other bits and bobs if deemed safe. I think a few things have crept in here and there in the hedgeline though and I did find a mallow plant for example.

If only they could talk! I wish I had a CCTV for the field but we don't have enough signal here to run one. I'll let you know if I find an answer. I think the fact that the finadyne made my youngster so much better must mean she was in pain, so a possibility that she's fallen. I have neck x-rays provisionally booked for next week. Expensive and probably won't tell me anything conclusive but if this recurs at least that is booked. More bloods next week to see if liver is on the mend.

Hope your horse recovers and no more strange behaviour.

 

[Cobwithattitudebackagain]

Thank goodness your youngster is doing well. A previous horse of mine was ataxic and as you describe, was rushed to Philip Leverhulme, Liverpool and was found to have meningitis. I hope you find the cause as not knowing can be concerning.

 

[Marigold4]

Thank goodness your youngster is doing well. A previous horse of mine was ataxic and as you describe, was rushed to Philip Leverhulme, Liverpool and was found to have meningitis. I hope you find the cause as not knowing can be concerning.

Yes, it's worrying not to know the cause and we don't know if it's going to happen again. She was cantering around the field doing flying changes this morning! Sorry to hear about your horse. I didn't know horses could get meningitis. I hope it didn't end badly. The first vet to see mine thought EHV encephalopathy. So glad tests came back negative.

 

[Birker2020]

Yes, it's worrying not to know the cause and we don't know if it's going to happen again. She was cantering around the field doing flying changes this morning! Sorry to hear about your horse. I didn't know horses could get meningitis. I hope it didn't end badly. The first vet to see mine thought EHV encephalopathy. So glad tests came back negative.

EHV seems to be the 'catch all diagnosis but it's pretty rare.

 

[Goldenstar]

You get swelling with a snake bite
I think she’s either fallen
Or I am afraid this seems to me the most likely it’s eating the sleeper ,old sleepers and telegraph poles can be extremely toxic you need to get it fenced off permanently or moved .

 

[Marigold4]

You get swelling with a snake bite
I think she’s either fallen
Or I am afraid this seems to me the most likely it’s eating the sleeper ,old sleepers and telegraph poles can be extremely toxic you need to get it fenced off permanently or moved .

Thanks for replying. I have covered the sleeper in cribstop and she is no longer eating it. Carpenter coming on Tuesday to take it out. Bloods being taken again mid-week so hopefully if it was the sleeper and the results should show an improvement. Galloping, leaping and bucking this morning so defo no longer lethargic. I hadn't thought about telegraph poles. We have one in one of the paddocks holding up electricity cables - not the paddock she has been in though. I put my moveable shelter next to it so they can't run into it, but I hadn't thought about them chewing it. I'll fence it off before they go back in that paddock.

 

[ycbm]

I'm sorry to hear about your horse, Birker. That sounds awful and heart-breaking. I did ask for neck x-rays to be done, but the vet thought we should wait and see as it's such a difficult part to reliably x-ray and we would probably have to refer her to a hospital to get it done properly. Vet did carrot stretches and she could stretch round towards her flank quite well 48 hrs later. I have my trusted physio coming next week to check her over. If she has hurt herself somewhere it is important that we find it and treat it.

I thought I had been told that telegraph poles were treated with arsenic and I found this about railway sleepers.

Disposal & Recycling Of Railway Sleepers | HBS Waste— HBS Waste

HBS Waste offer a service that caters for all your railway sleepes recycling needs. This is because we can control the entire process from start to finish.

hbswaste.co.uk

 

[SEL]

No conifers the horses can access?

A friend lost her mare and nearly lost her young gelding after they gorged on conifer. Both were ataxic but the mare went neuro and the vet had to PTS on welfare grounds.

 

[Marigold4]

No conifers the horses can access?

A friend lost her mare and nearly lost her young gelding after they gorged on conifer. Both were ataxic but the mare went neuro and the vet had to PTS on welfare grounds.

No, no conifers anywhere, thankfully. She's looking very well, playing games in the field with her friend. A little too lively, if anything.

 

[Marigold4]

Onl

ine sources regarding fleabane says gastro upset more common - i guess if enough is consumed, the gut distress could cause liver to show enzymes, but gut was checked by vet as ok…so possibly not likely that.

The picture you posted is showing on my plant id app as ‘russian sage’.

View attachment 141967

Many sources say its ok for pets/horses, but a USDA experts response says of sage family can cause ‘ataxia and excitability’:

toxic plants to horses - Ask Extension

Is Perovskia atriplicfolia (Russian Sage) toxic to horses? Thank you

ask2.extension.org

With toxic plants the dose matters - if youve seen the ‘sage’ plant having been grazed down then i’d be suspect of that.
Sometimes with nervous system disruption by a toxin it can cause fast breathing. Paradoxically a depressant of nervous system can elicit a fast breathing response too, but that symptom isnt commonly listed with many plant toxin symptoms, but breath rate change can usually be noted.

My grass analysis shows all major elements normal except low in sodium; all trace elements are low except selenium which is normal. Antagonists aluminium and lead very low but molybdenum very high; copper low. Does that profile ring any alarm bells? They get fed a lo-cal balancer but only about a third of what the retailer recommends the horses are about the right weight and I want them to stay that way!

 

[Birker2020]

Molybdenum - Teagasc | Agriculture and Food Development Authority

www.teagasc.ie

 

[Birker2020]