creeping buttercups

[My equine life]

should I be worried? we moved to this field in September and have had the leaves of the buttercups all over our grass since then but the flowers will probably come through soon. the leaves are the same height as the grass give or take which makes me think the horses have been eating the leaves. unless they haven't grown yet. but there was more grass when we came so looks like they must have been munched down a bit. I haven't had symptoms with my two *touches wood* but it doesn't mean I shouldn't worry right? I'm just not sure what to do as the majoring of my field is taken over by them!! its a rented Feld and I don't think we will be here forever as the plan is to take the horses to uni with me September after this so I'm not sure my family would want to pay for the entire field to be reseeded and to sort the pH out. please help me to stop stressing and to know what to do!! ahh!!

 

[be positive]

Horses will not eat them, they have not really started to grow yet unlike the grass, horses can get a reaction to being in contact with buttercups some will show signs of allergy more like a hay fever than anything else or a mild skin reaction to direct contact with the lips, my land gets a fair amount but they never cause an issue, getting the ph right will help but killing everything then reseeding is not something to do lightly as you will have no grass until next year, I would not be too concerned but would keep checking for ragwort which is far more dangerous and easily missed when it is growing.

 

[PurBee]

Keep a lookout for another field to rent, as bp said, the flowers irritate muzzles, and if the field is loaded with them its hard for them to avoid grazing near the flowers.

you could wait for it to flower fully , then get it topped, while leaving a section they can graze for 2 weeks while the topped grass dies off fully, as you wouldnt want them grazing the dead cut buttercups straight after topping.

 

[Micky]

If you can lime the field that will help

 

[TheMule]

Now is the perfect time to spray them off if you can find a friendly farmer and can keep them off the majority of it for 2 weeks

 

[My equine life]

What about sheep? Would that help at all?

 

[My equine life]

We won’t be here for much longer than a year to a year and a half

 

[AmyMay]

We won’t be here for much longer than a year to a year and a half

They’ll completely take over to the point of no grass unless you treat them aggressively.