Grass sickness

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toffeeyummy

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It has been confirmed today that my little filly had grass sickness. I had to make the dreadful decision last week to have her put to sleep after she suffered terrible colic and didn't respond to treatment, to what we now know as grass sickness. My worry is we have another pony on the same field and nowhere to stable him, does anyone have any experience or advice please?
thanks
 
I'm so sorry, that's very sad. Do search on here as a lots been posted in the past with really helpful advice/knowledge/links to useful websites etc and I think always helps to chat with people who've been through it themselves with their horses.
 
thank you, yes it was pretty shocking how quickly and out of the blue it all happened. she had been grazing on this field for two years with no problem. so scared for our remaining pony :(
 
I really feel for you. I lost my beautiful boy to grass sickness last September very suddenly and I just can't get over it. He was my sole mate, I had him from 6months old. My vet was brilliant at explaining everything and very supportive.
 
PM Pootleperkin on here - she has a fully recovered horse from Grass Sickness! I am sure she will be able to give you some advice and support.:)
 
My understanding of grass sickness is to immediately remove all other horses from the affected pasture. Sad to say, young horses are much more prone than older ones. So sorry x
 
I'm so sorry. This is my ultimate worst nightmare and I really feel for you. I have no words of comfort or experience but I just wanted you to know you are in my thoughts. x
 
So sorry for your loss.

Unfortunately this is a difficult one as no one really knows the best action in terms of surviving horses on pastures that have had GS cases. There is actually the theory that moving horses off affected pasture can precipitate the disease, as they will already have been grazing the toxins and the change in environment could trigger it. It has been suggested that leaving them on the pasture until the end of peak GS season (sept/oct) and supplementing ad lib hay to try to limit the amount of grass they are eating is the best course of action. However I don't think any one can blame an owner for wanting to move surviving ponies off affected fields, and unfortunately the research isn't there yet as to what the best way is.

How old is your other pony? If he is teens or older he is at less risk and I would be inclined to leave him there and feed a bit of hay. If he is young it is more difficult, if you will struggle to find somewhere else for him now then I would feed as much hay as possible and try to move him this winter.
 
Firstly Im so sorry you lost your lovely horse.

The last post is good advice. The stress of moving the horse could (or might not ) be as dangerous as the risk from the existing field.

And yes, our neighbours lost a horse to grass sickness and have horses on the same patch of ground with no issues in the 10+years since.

However, they have changed their management of the horses
(i) the horses are stabled overnight now (used to be out 24x7) and they also have access to hay in the field all year round (as eating feed other than grass for a period each day lowers the risk)
This is critical, if you cant do that where you are it would strengthen the case for moving the horse to where it can have this, whether straight away or in some weeks time.
(ii) they have made sure they disturb the soil as little as possible (as exposing it can expose the botulism type bug which is thought to cause GS)
(iii) they havent introduced very young horses to the ground, they have stuck with slightly older ones (over 8-ish) as younger than that is statistically higher risk

Other things that are worth considering is liming the fields if they are acidic, controlling moles if there are lots of molehills as that exposes soil/bug

If you can move the horse that's ideal but if they are older and settled in the field and would be upset by it you may be better leaving them tho GS forum people are best to advise.

You will always have the GS concern at the back of your head but just do what you can to minimise the risk and try and remember that GS is a horrible disease but completely not your fault and enjoy your horse.
 
Sorry to hear about your horse. My youngster came down with Grass sickness about a year ago. Fortunately, she had the chronic form and she pulled through it, but it was probably the most horrible month of my life with horses. She was on grazing with 5 other horses before she became ill, and it was just her that was affected, the others ( a mixture of youngsters and older horses/broodmares) were and have all since been absolutely fine. It was recommended to me that all the horses were removed from that grazing in the short term, some have since gone back in that field and been fine. My vet said to me that it would be safest to always feed some sort of supplementary forage/feed, not just feed the grass. Difficult if your other horse is a particularly good do-er, but worth trying.
It is difficult because not much is known about why some horses are affected and some aren't, but it does seem to only affect some horses, in certain specific conditions. It is thought to be caused by a reaction to a toxin in the grass which is only present under certain conditions, and only certain horses will be affected by it. At my other yard, we have had a couple of horses who have had GS over the years, but we have also had probably a couple of hundred other horses also on the same grazing with no problems. (800 odd acres, and i'm thinking of cumulative number of horses over 10 years...not hundreds all at the same time!)
Fingers crossed for your other horse, and i can recommend the website of the Grass sickness society for more info.
 
My friends horse was PTS last year after contracting GS- fields are all grazed still and (touch wood) no reoccurrence.. There doesn't seem to be much rhyme or reason behind it. Sorry for your loss xx
 
So sorry for your loss. I lost my horse to EGS in 2002. None of the other four horses in the same field were affected. I have kept my current horse in the same field at the same yard for the last ten years. We do follow points (i) and (ii) in lachlanandmarcus' message though. We feed something in addition to grass every day and try to avoid causing soil disturbances, for example we pick up the poo by hand rather than harrowing the field. I have read game birds on the land may play a part and certainly the year my horse died there were a large number of pheasants in the field. I had also used a certain wormer for the first time just before he was taken ill. It may well be a combination of causes.
 
Thank you for all your words of advice and support. I have since been researching this quite vigourously now and found out quite alot! The people on the facebook page were also hugely helpful and knowledgable. We have one remaining pony on the pasture, my eight year old daughters beloved friend so you can understand the anxiety here! The field is our own so we can manage it how we like and I am putting the following into action:
1. feeding a probiotic (have been recc feedmarks biopro)
2. feeding hay every day
3. using a good quality mineral lick high in magnesium (spent the best part of this afternoon reading every single mineral lick magnesium content at my local feed merchants)
4. keep him on the pasture as we have nowhere else to go unless we put him in livery somewhere and also he had enough upset losing his field companion so I don't want to move him.
5. no harrowing, and we poo pick by hand. The field is cut for hay at the beginning of july which also lowers gs risk.
i will also look into getitng some sheep to graze the land - this lowers risk too.
6. unfotunately on our farm there is a game cover but i hardly ever see the pheasants near our field and it wouldn't be an option to remove said game cover (those with gamekeeper/farmer partners will understand this!)
7. crossing fingers, toes, eyes.
I will always carry this terror that is grass sickness and at this moment in time I will never buy a youngster again. I couldn't experience that again :(

Thanks again and its very encouraging hearing that others have continued grazing the pasture with no further problem.
 
hi i only just saw your post. i lost my horse to grass sickness a year ago, its a devastating disease. i am attaching a link to a very good article by a lady who lost several horses to grass sickness and what she has done to try and minimise the risks. she stayed at the same place and touch wood has not had another case for 12 years. i have also started a group on facebook with lots of advice if you would like to join you are very welcome. http://www.lincsequestrian.co.uk/Ado...doc[1].pdf
The other website that is very good is www.grasssickness.org.uk hope this helps.
Regards ulla balletta ps my group is called equine grass sickness awareness.
 
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