Grass sickness/fever

there have been cases linked to the same pasture,but that doesn't neccessarily mean all horses who graze it will get it.The most prone are youngsters so I would personally take any youngstock off of the land and graze them elsewhere.
 
it is thought to related to pasture, although it normally effects young male horses... and if your horse has been on that pasture for a while and is uneffected I wouldn't have thought there was much for you to worry about.

If you are you can change pastures, but there is also a theory that just changing pastures can increase the risk of it (but again, main group effected are young male horses..... and I mean yearlings/2yo etc)
 
ye ok so wrong sex but right age for the "at risk" group....... how old is your horse? if not that age..... Id not worry that much but just monitor.
 
horsegirl said:
It was a 2 year old filly with a foal due this month :(
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Poor girlie - on more than one level.

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What horrible news. I know a former forumer if is she is on here these days knows lots about this disease (I'll try and contact her) - as do many Scottish forumers I suspect. All I think you can do is ensure you supplement your horses diet with hay at the moment.
Now it's rained there should be less risk, but it's a bad year for this, there were two recent deaths in Gloucs in an area where it's pretty much unheard of.
 
There is a very very small risk, but almost nil. I had a mare die from this, but none of the other dozen or so animals there now or in the past has developed it. My husband also worked on a massive shire stud for very many years, where one developed it, but non before or since.
I agree with supplementing with hay for now.
 
Lucy_Nottingham said:
it is thought to related to pasture, although it normally effects young male horses... and if your horse has been on that pasture for a while and is uneffected I wouldn't have thought there was much for you to worry about.

If you are you can change pastures, but there is also a theory that just changing pastures can increase the risk of it (but again, main group effected are young male horses..... and I mean yearlings/2yo etc)
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get your facts right please, it can affect any horse at any age but those most at risk are those 7 or under of either sex and any breed, those that are stressed, those that have recently been moved to a new pasture and older horses.

to the OP,at his age its better to keep him on pasture you know than risk him by moving him. Supplement with plenty of hay, don't worm yet if he is due.
 
It can affect any horse of any age on any pasture. Exact cause is not known but there is a great deal of research going into this.
http://www.grasssickness.org.uk/main.htm
I live in an area where it has a high risk. This is a silent killer, and you cant stop it. Have a look at the above link and if you are worried give them a phone they are more than happy to give you the advice you need if you are now worried.
 
to the OP,at his age its better to keep him on pasture you know than risk him by moving him. Supplement with plenty of hay, don't worm yet if he is due.[/QUOTE]
RE the worming. It has been linked to ivermectin based wormers, not all wormer's.
 
As Lucy says, at 15 your horse is out of the major at-risk group (2-7 year olds of heavy breeds are most at risk) so I probably wouldn't change pasture, although you could supplement hay so that your horse is eating less grass in case. However having one case at a particular place has been shown to increase the incidence, and it can occur repeatedly on the same yards/same fields.

Has the field been harrowed recently, or had the mare recently been turned out/allowed longer for grazing? Ideally, the YO should try and avoid turning young horses out on that pasture in spring time in the future.
 
Oscar162 said:
to the OP,at his age its better to keep him on pasture you know than risk him by moving him. Supplement with plenty of hay, don't worm yet if he is due.
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RE the worming. It has been linked to ivermectin based wormers, not all wormer's.[/QUOTE]

yes, thanks I know-but personally would be trying to keep the horse's guts as stable as possible and I'd not be stressing his system at all.

and there isnt a huge amount of research being done at the moment-there isnt any money for it. second contacting the EGSF though, they are fab and do a great job.
 
A friend's mare died of this at a local stud a few years ago. She wasn't the first mare to have died there. Fortunately the yard isn't near mine.

If it happened on my yard I'd be loaded up and gone in a cloud of dust! Sensible or not!
 
The Dick Vet in Edinburgh is doing research into it. Headed by Professor Bruce McGorum. Attended a talk by him only last month on this subject, his advice was to keep worming.
 
i think its hard to tell the op what horses it affects of what age etc when there is still very little known about the disease which is why there is so much research into it at the moment because as someone else said its a silent killer and comes in chronic and acute forms. i would say just monitor your horse, you know him best so if anything changes then keep an eye on him! my friends 2yo colt died from this after a week of loosing weight and not eating and blood tests its a very unpleasant disease.
 
Oscar162 said:
The Dick Vet in Edinburgh is doing research into it. Headed by Professor Bruce McGorum. Attended a talk by him only last month on this subject, his advice was to keep worming.
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they arent doing alot of research into it, not by the standards of say, other research such as lameness/colic. its massively underfunded. and yes, people shouldnt stop worming, horses are at far more risk from worms than from GS but if my horses were at a premises with a GS case then I would hold fire on the worming for a little while, maybe do a FEC instead to check-especially as most horses at livery are over wormed anyway. I have been involved with GS research since 2001.

To the OP, there's alot of misinformation about, most vets down south arent very experienced either. I recommend talking to the EGSF if you are still worried.
 
miss_buffay said:
i think its hard to tell the op what horses it affects of what age etc when there is still very little known about the disease
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as I said,it can affect any horse of any age, breed, sex etc however, some have been identified by epidemiological studies as being at higher risk, including those in the age group mentioned.
Alot is known about the epidemiology of the disease as its been studied since the late 1800s-unfortunately the exact cause isnt known except that its almost definitely multifactorial which makes it very difficult to prevent and predict. full reports on the epidemiology can be found on the EGSF website.
 
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