Grass Sickness - did you stay at present yard or leave?

[Birker2020]

Someone I know visited my friends yard the other day in a professional capacity and was so upset she could not carry out what she had come to do with the horses who were booked into see her as three horses on the yard where she kept her horses had been diagnosed and put down due to grass sickness. She has horses on this yard and doesn't know whether to stay or leave as she has heard that moving a 'stressy' type of horse which hers is, could make the horse go on to develop grass sickness. She doesn't know whether to take the gamble and move her horses or to stay. Does anyone have experience of GS being diagnosed on the paddocks at the yard their horse(s) were at, and if so did you decide to move premises or did you stay put and what was the outcome? She is totally devastated by what has happened to her friends horses and obviously is terrified of her own horses contracting this terrible disease. In an attempt to protect this lady's identity and prevent understandable mass panic I am not prepared to divulge what area this yard is in so with the greatest respect please don't ask me to, but any help that you could give this lovely lady towards her making a decision regarding this would be most appreciated.

 

[Spook]

The temptation to move must be inviting.
Insurance companies, in my experience, are refusing to cover horses/ponies(for grass sickness) for clients who have made a claim previously on a horse/pony with the disease and who intend to stay at the same yard with their new horse.
I suppose it depends on how happy they are with all other aspects of the yard and possibly loyalty to the yard owner.
In some areas of the UK it would be difficult to find a yard which has not lost a harse to grass sickness, particularly in the NE of Scotland

 

[the watcher]

If the yard she is on and the paddocks she is using have an unusual amount of white clover, if the paddocks are harrowed or swept for droppings instead of poo picking and if there are large amounts of birds in the area ( I'm thinking pheasants and other game birds) she should consider moving. If none of these conditions are present then she can protect her horses to an extent by being careful about turning out 24/7 on spring grass, continuing with vits/mins and some hard feed and managing stress.

There is no rhyme or reason to why some horses on a yard succumb to this disease and others do not but there are preventive measures to minimise risk.

 

[Birker2020]

Thanks Twisock and Mother_hen for your comments. I think I would leave a yard implicated in GS like a shot, no matter how much I liked the yard, but its difficult to know when your not in that situation I guess. It was interesting what you said Mother Hen, about the birds, I know about the mechanical dropping machines and the sweeping action, but I didn't know about the birds, I wonder what connection they have got to GS, or whether the experts have found they are more of a common link than other things, or maybe they are just grasping at straws, it must be frustrating and soul destroying being a researcher and knowing somewhere in the country another horse dies and the clock is ticking all the time. My heart goes out to all the people who have lost horses to this awful disease. I advised the lady to ask the owners of the horses that were PTS to contact the GS association so they can collate as much info as possible. THey are so near to finding a link and hopefully a solution, but alas its just to late for a lot of beloved horses, so very sad. I do hope its not too late for hers. Thank you for your input and taking the time to reply to my post x

 

[piebaldsparkle]

I think I would seriously consider moving. If my horse grazed the same fields as those affected I would want it move to different pasture immediately, if that couldn't be done, I would stable it till I could move.

 

[Spook]

An elderly local vet (NE Scotland) told me that he has known GS in 24/7 stabled horses. Dubai Millenium, who died of the disease, no doubt was one of the most cossetted, well cared for horses in the world. These horses likely had a mouth full of grass sometimes.
The vet I mentioned earlier also suggested a small jab of vit E and selenium annually in March. After the news of the polo pony deaths this may not look like such a good idea but the NE is generally v deficient in selenium.