Eating Ragwort

[Gypley]

I'm luckily in that I have very minimal rag in my fields. Probably about a wheelbarrow if that across 5 acres.

I was just musing, of course you would NEVER want you horse to eat rag full stop. But what sort of a dose would be lethal?

I they just ate a small amount would it have any effect? Or do they need to eat a large plants worth to have a reaction?

 

[Gypley]

Nb, I know they will avoid rag if they have something else to eat. So I'm taking about when it's pallet able eg. Dry in hay

 

[poiuytrewq]

It would take a little while its not instant after one eating I know that much. I believe it damages the liver.

 

[Polos Mum]

I think it's a relatively small amount about 5% of the horses body weight to be lethal -
So for my 640kg 17hh big horse he'd need to eat only say 40kgs.

the issue is that the damage to the liver is cumulative so if your horse has eaten a bit in his younger years when owned by someone else then just a small amount could tip them over the edge.

 

[Echo Bravo]

A very small amount can cause trouble and once they have the taste for ragwort they will still eat it.

 

[babymare]

Everytime they eat the smallest amount it affects the liver to point it ceases to remove toxins from blood. the symptoms are hard to read at begi ning . lack appetite. loss weight depression but then as toxins build up it can cause blindness the horse may stand withheadagai st wall and then the liver fails. this can buikd of a lobg length of time maybe even before you owned horse. please please even smallest amount causes long term harm. pull it burn it get rid of it totally . its a killer x

 

[babymare]

Sorry at bad typing but im very passionate abiut the harm of ragwort and having seen a horse die from it trust me you would be to

 

[kerrieberry2]

the only time they will eat it is if they were that hungry and they'd eaten all of their own poo!

or if its dry in hay! id be more worried about having it in hay!

I have some in my field that I've not managed to pull yet but they also have a tonne of grass, so will get it as im mucking out!

 

[babymare]

Just remember as they are grazing they trample the plant broken bits wither and become more palatable when grazing and picked up when grazing regardless of amount of grass. see it pull it please dont ignore it or put it off to another day

 

[Gypley]

Don't worry guys. I pull my ragwort religiously. It's not a threat to my horses health. I was just pondering the subject, that's all.

 

[FionaM12]

There is a huge amount of ragwort where I keep Mollie.

I've dug it up and pulled it from Moll's field till I can hardly move the next day, but the trouble is it's out of control all over the rest of the land so it just comes back. The YO doesn't believe it's a problem, she says they don't eat it anyway and they'd have to eat a huge amount to kill them so it's not a problem.

There's none now in Moll's current field, but we keep being moved from one field to another, so we clear it from the one we're in only to suddenly be moved to another.

 

[PeterNatt]

Pulling Ragwort is a waste of time as the roots will regenerate to form a new plant. You need to spray the Ragwort with a specialist chemical such as Barrier H and then allow it to completely die off so that the roots are killed of. Then remove it and burn it.

 

[Penny Less]

Don't you have to have a special licence or something to get Barrier H or similar, seem to remember my old hay person telling me

 

[heebiejeebies]

Pulling Ragwort is a waste of time as the roots will regenerate to form a new plant. You need to spray the Ragwort with a specialist chemical such as Barrier H and then allow it to completely die off so that the roots are killed of. Then remove it and burn it.

If you pull it properly, roots and all, then it's not a waste of time. It may take a couple of years to notice the difference ie, for talking sake you might take 10 barrows out one year, 6 barrows the next, 3 barrows the next... and so on.

Like someone previously mentioned the horses trampling over it knocks the seeds around, meaning it spreads so easily, Same as the wind blows the seeds around, and if you are clumsy uprooting it then you are knocking seeds around.

By pulling it before it flowers you will find it much easier to manage, as there are no seeds to spread further

 

[Gloi]

I agree. If you just use a ragfork or similar and dig the roots out with the plant most of them won't regrow. We have dug ours and are almost free of ragwort now without doing any spraying.

If you haven't the time and energy to dig it all at least take the tops off as soon as they flower so no seeds get spread.

 

[Gypley]

I've never used a chemical as I don't like the thought of grazing my herd on chemaly treated grazing. Have always pulled by hand being carful to pull as much of the root as possible and never really had a problem.

 

[windand rain]

Barrier H is not licensed only to smallholder and farmers so anyone can buy it. It is largely speaking citronella so not vey chemical either works really well but very expensive if you have a lot I have spent 150 and am still pulling like mad every day as the tiny seedlings are coming up so I have got rid of the big ones and am grovelling around int he soil for the babies Digging I find means you get 10 for every one you dig but I can only dig where the horses are not spray. I do it daily when I poo pick
I have the same problem the land around us is riddled with it

 

[indie999]

I always thought it was a cumulative effect. ie once in the sytem it just increases the more they eat it. If they are starving they will eat it and then it becomes pallatible etc and dry
The dose for liver damage I dont know??

 

[Polos Mum]

Even the smallest amount (1 plant) will cause some liver damage. The toxin doesn't stay in the system but the damage to the liver doesn't recover - so the liver fubctions less ans less well the more they eat until it can't function enough to keep them alive.

I've seen a horse die of liver disease and it was really really nasty and nothing vets could do.

 

[doriangrey]

Luckily we don't have any on our pasture (too many thistles though). Anyway, I came across this a while ago, don't know what to think really - seems reasonable enough when you read it. It wouldn't stop me removing ragwort if I found any but I'm not to sure what to make of this website -it's like a fan club for ragwort

http://www.ragwortfacts.com/

 

[[100323]]

Remember to wear good gloves when working with Ragwort.

 

[OWLIE185]

That web site is completely irresponsible.

 

[ILuvCowparsely]

I'm luckily in that I have very minimal rag in my fields. Probably about a wheelbarrow if that across 5 acres.

I was just musing, of course you would NEVER want you horse to eat rag full stop. But what sort of a dose would be lethal?

I they just ate a small amount would it have any effect? Or do they need to eat a large plants worth to have a reaction?

They need to eat a lot. Every bit they eat will do more and more damage. We have the Ragi fork on the back of the trailer here >>>http://horse-care-and-advice.weebly.com/useful-ideas.html. So as we are going round the fields poo picking we spot any rag wort and put it in trailer as fork is already there.

 

[Bigrob34]

That web site is completely irresponsible.

Why?

 

[Aarrghimpossiblepony]

Why?

Because it doesn't feed the hysteria?

Anyway, pleased to have seen lots of Cinnabar Moths this year so lets hope the little caterpillars are doing their bit.

We had some ragwort in our old garden and got a "plague" of caterpillars.
Wow were they efficient.

 

[FionaM12]

Luckily we don't have any on our pasture (too many thistles though). Anyway, I came across this a while ago, don't know what to think really - seems reasonable enough when you read it. It wouldn't stop me removing ragwort if I found any but I'm not to sure what to make of this website -it's like a fan club for ragwort

http://www.ragwortfacts.com/

That web site is completely irresponsible.

Why?

I think it's the website of a member here EstherHegt who only ever posts in praise of ragwort and claiming us horse owners are hysterical about it

http://www.horseandhound.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=542443&highlight=ragwort+esther

 

[pixie]

Erm, so why do people keep their horses on yards that have loads of ragwort?!

 

[FionaM12]

Erm, so why do people keep their horses on yards that have loads of ragwort?!

In my case, I didn't know they did till after I moved there (in the middle of the winter) by which time my previously unhappy nervous fretful mare was happy at last. There isn't a huge choice of yards round here and moving her could be disastrous if she was as unsettled as she was on her last yard.

So, do I move her from a place she's happy at and risk unsettling her, or leave her where she is and risk the ragwort? It would be helpful if I knew just how risky staying is, but the info on ragwort seems to be contradictory. As I say, our usually very sensible YO, who keeps two of her own on the land, clearly believes as we've lots of grass they'll not eat the ragwort anyway. Yet I'd always believed having ragwort on your land to be high risk and bad management.

 

[moana]

Unfortunately many people believe that sheep/goats/cattle etc are not affected, but they are. It is cumulative, but I understood a fair amount was needed to reach that point, but every bit starts affecting the liver.

I know that we should never touch it, and am curious as to how often it takes to do real damage to our livers, presumably just once starts to affect it.

Barrier H smells nice, if you like the smell of Citronella, but I used it this year, first time, and it did not seem terribly effective. I shall continue ragforking

 

[FionaM12]

I know that we should never touch it, and am curious as to how often it takes to do real damage to our livers, presumably just once starts to affect it.

Is that true though? I read on one of the sites when I was trying to find out just how dangerous it really is, that there's no danger at all in touching it. That particular site said it has to go through the gut to be harmful, and that the only danger of touching it was allergy/irritation, common to all the sunflower family.

The trouble is, I don't know which if any of the info on the internet can be trusted.