Ragwort all over field - disgusted by HHO member!

Whilst the big plants may be avoided by horses it is the smaller growing plants which are barely visable amongst grass which actually pose a bigger threat. The horse eats the grass and as the leaves are smaller the bitter taste is not so bad so they dont spit them out. By eating these they are getting the toxins in them albeit in smaller amounts but regularly which causes a build up.
 
Get in touch with DEFRA.

Must add, I can't understand your way of expressing your concern for these animals....would it not have been possible just to say you are aware of a ragwort-ridden field and what could you do about it?? Why did you have to create a new name and stipulate it was a HHO member, surely you are aware of the reaction it would get?

Very odd, I must say.
K x
 
See I dont see anything really wrong here, i suspect shes tried talking to the member and received no joy and in desperation is posting here to try and shame her into doing something.

It isnt how I would handle it but then we are all different ,feel free to disagree.

Happy to report we have had no ragwort on our land for years and years but found one on my lawn last week.:eek:
 
Hmm.

There's something familiar about the turn of phrase and the responses...

I may be wide of the mark, but it sounds like Skewby to me.

PS - Dobiegirl - yes - I found one HUGE plant on the farm, nowhere near any others and it seemed like one day it wasn't there, next it was. Not there now, though... Difficult to know what bin to put them in though - so they don't go to landfill...
 
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OP have you seen photos of their fields or do you them? Just wondered.

Have to say though whoever it is, its part of horse ownership to keep the fields free of this. I heard someone bought some hay and it had massive stalks of it in.
 
Mrs B said:
Hmm.

There's something familiar about the turn of phrase and the responses...

I may be wide of the mark, but it sounds like Skewby to me.

PS - Dobiegirl - yes - I found one HUGE plant on the farm, nowhere near any others and it seemed like one day it wasn't there, next it was. Not there now, though... Difficult to know what bin to put them in though - so they don't go to landfill...
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HA! HA! if you'r right, you'll get a CSI badge. ;)
 
Quote de cobmum

If this situation is worrying you so much then you would happily give up you time to help the HORSES not the forum member that you have an issue with.

Not everyone has the time to spend pulling up ragwort for other people
 
Devonshire dumpling said:
OK I will give a constructive reply after my initial response of annoyance, here are some ragwort facts for everyone to read:-

Although Ragworts can be a significant nuisance to horse keepers, these species are a very important source of nectar and pollen. About 150 species of insects, such as bees, flies and butterflies, visit the plant. Therefore, even it were possible, eradicating the plant is not a desirable option. We will have to find other ways to protect our livestock. There are no easy solutions to the Ragwort problem, but that doesn’t mean that there is nothing we can do.
The aim of this website is to distinguish facts from myths by using a scientific approach based on research and advice from biologists, toxicologists, and other experts. In this way, we want to determine the nature and scale of the problem that Ragwort presents to our horses and other livestock. In this way, I would like to contribute to a solution of the Ragwort problem; as a horse lover AND as a Ragwort enthusiast.

Q: Is it true that horses usually do not eat fresh Ragwort?
A: Yes, that is right. Only in exceptional circumstances or when there is a food shortage, horses will eat fresh Ragwort. Horses, however, don't recognize dried Ragwort plants as poisonous and contaminated hay may cause Ragwort poisoning. More info

Q: Will my horse get ill when it occasionally eats a mouthful of ragwort?
A; No, incidentally ingesting small amounts of Ragwort will not result in illness. If, however, horses eat several kilograms of Ragwort a day or small amounts for extended periods, this may lead to irreparable liver damage. More info

Q: Do the toxins in Ragworts accumulate in a horse’s body?
A: No. The toxins (pyrrolizidine alkaloids) are excreted within 24-48 hours. If an animal consumes pyrrolidizine alkaloids regularly though, liver damage will accumulate and the animal will show signs of illness. More info

Q: Is it true there are several hundreds of victims each year?
A: The exact number of victims of Ragwort poisoning is unknown. The symptoms of Ragwort poisoning cannot be distinguished from other liver disorders and poisoning can only be confirmed by means of a post-mortem liver exam. These exams are, however, not common practice, and reliable data on the number of victims are therefore not available. There could be more than hundreds of victims, but there could also be much fewer. More info

Q: Will touching a Ragwort plant result in alkaloid poisoning?
A: No. Ragwort poisoning takes place in the digestive system. In the plant, pyrrolidizine alkaloids are stored in their non-toxic form. Only if these substances end up in the digestive system, they will be converted into their toxic form. There is no scientific evidence that skin contact leads to the conversion of non-toxic alkaloids into their toxic form. Some people experience an allergic reaction after skin contact (compositae dermatitis), but this response is cause by sesquiterpene lactones rather than pyrrolizidine alkaloids. These sesquiterpene lactones are common chemical compounds of members of the Sunflower family. More info

Q: Are all Ragwort species poisonous?
A: Yes, all Dutch Ragworts contain pyrrolizidine alkaloids. These are also found in Comfrey and Butterbur.

Q: Why is Ragwort fairly common in horse pastures?
A: Ragwort needs a bare spot to germinate. Horses easily churn up the ground when running, and graze the grass very short, thereby easily creating open spots suitable for seed germination. More info

Q: Why is Ragwort nowadays more common in the Netherlands than before?
A: Ragworts are presumably more common in the Netherlands and neighboring countries than 30 years ago, because the number of suitable habitats has increased due to large-scale renewal of infrastructure, building activities, and efforts to give agricultural land back to nature. In addition, Ragwort seeds have been used to enrich roadsides. There is no evidence that Ragworts have a different habitat preference or better dispersal capabilities than in the days when this species was much less common in the Netherlands. More info

Q: How can I recognize Ragwort?
A: Ragwort is a biennial. In the first it only has leaves organized in a rosettes. These can be found throughout most parts of the year. Ragwort usually flowers in the second year (June till October). After the plant has produced seeds, it dies. The leaves of Ragwort are pinnately lobed. Flowerheads often occur in clusters called corymbs. They are yellow with ray and disk flowers. Click here for pictures of Ragwort and other Ragwort species.

Q: I have Ragwort plants growing in my horse's field, what can I do?
A: Ragwort is difficult to eradicate and most methods to remove the plants, such as pulling by hand, mowing, and using herbicides, may have increase rather than decrease the number of Ragwort plants at a given site. The best way is probably to prevent ragwort from establishing in a pasture. Good pasture management is therefore of utmost importance. More info

Q: Is it true that the toxin in Ragworts can poison a whole bale of hay?
A: No. The toxins remain in the plant and don't 'contaminate' the rest of the hay. It is advisable though not to use the rest of the bale for consumption, because undetected parts of the plant may have remained in the hay and can potentially lead to Ragwort poisoning.
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Great and constructive post, but please tell me what an obviously sane person like you is doing in this asylum:D Thanks again for your post .
 
regarding the 'useful' information-where exxactly is that sourced from? To me it reads like total rubbish designed to excuse having ragwort in the fields.
 
Mrs B said:
PS - Dobiegirl - yes - I found one HUGE plant on the farm, nowhere near any others and it seemed like one day it wasn't there, next it was. Not there now, though... Difficult to know what bin to put them in though - so they don't go to landfill...
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I'm relieved to say that I only get quite literally a few per year sprouting in my field, but I tend to pull them up, put them in a feed bag, wait until they've dried out, and then burn them.
 
Mike007 said:
Great and constructive post, but please tell me what an obviously sane person like you is doing in this asylum:D Thanks again for your post .
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I'm sane, I tell you. Really, completely 100%. Honest injun.

I must be: every time my endowment company writes to me, telling me there might be a teensy-weensey bit of a shortfall in the payout predicted 23 years ago, and could I send them some more money, just in case; I do.


See? Sane, me.:D
 
Puppy said:
I'm relieved to say that I only get quite literally a few per year sprouting in my field, but I tend to pull them up, put them in a feed bag, wait until they've dried out, and then burn them.
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Good idea, Puppy.:)
 
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As the OP has already contacted the person with a field full of ragwort, the next step is to contact Defra, who have a complaints form http://www.defra.gov.uk/wildlife-pets/wildlife-management/weeds-act-1959/

For what its worth, although it would be neighbourly to pull up the ragwort for the horseowner, it wouldn't solve the problem, unless she had the time to repeatedly clear the fields for the lazy owner.
The Surrey CC website offers some very good information that perhaps this person might be interested in; http://www.surreycc.gov.uk/sccwebsite/sccwspages.nsf/LookupWebPagesByTITLE_RTF/Ragwort?opendocument
 
SusieT said:
regarding the 'useful' information-where exxactly is that sourced from? To me it reads like total rubbish designed to excuse having ragwort in the fields.
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Well why don't you post the information that contradicts it and cite your source and then perhaps we can all make up our minds. FWIW it sounds totally reasonable to me.
 
SusieT said:
regarding the 'useful' information-where exxactly is that sourced from? To me it reads like total rubbish designed to excuse having ragwort in the fields.
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You cant call the "useful" advice rubbish. If you know why these points are wrong, explain. Assuming you do have enough knowledge to disscredit it!
 
sprite1978 said:
You cant call the "useful" advice rubbish. If you know why these points are wrong, explain. Assuming you do have enough knowledge to disscredit it!
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From what i can see this has been taken from a dutch website, although i know nothing about the species that grow there, i know that there are about seven species of ragwort (not including groundsel) that grow in Britain, and onley one of those that apears to be poisenous to stock.
 
OP if your not willing to name usernames (Or use your own) then im afraid I dont really see the point of this thread.

DD - great post

Person who called it an excuse to have ragwort - i take it you dont have it or have to pull it??? When the council managed grass verges have it and farmers next to you dont eradicate it it is hard to, its too bitter for horses to want to eat but they will if there is nothing else or its hidden in hay.
 
'You cant call the "useful" advice rubbish. If you know why these points are wrong, explain. Assuming you do have enough knowledge to disscredit it! '
Look at the source. Think abnout where that has come from. A)A dutch website
B)A random googled website.
Obviously not by anyone who has seen the damage done by ragwort. Some of us have busy job and not time to sit down at the moment and explain the issues. It would be sensible to think if you have a brain you would think about what you read.
 
'
Person who called it an excuse to have ragwort - i take it you dont have it or have to pull it'
I sit looking over a field of it belonging to the farmer. I pull mine every year.
 
Something that the ostrich (head in the sand) kind of people say is that the horses don't touch it and they eat around the plants.
Something that is always missed is that (as a previous poster said) they cannot help but pick up the seedlings with the mouthfuls of grass.
The plants don't suddenly go from a seed to a 2' high plant AND they are there for two years. The seedlings grow amongst the grass and then turn into the rosette form and overwinter in the field, waiting until next May when they produce the flower stalk.
So they cannot help but eat ragwort all the time whilst it is present in the field.
And yes they can distinguish it when it has dried. Before I became more educated about the dangers of it, I used to pull out any dried plants from his hay net but occasionally, there was a big stalk left in the net in the morning which thankfully my boy had left. But he will have ingested the powdered dried leaves that would have been present in amongst the hay.
 
Well, I disagree. You shouldn't be flip about it, it's a bloody disgrace and any horse owner should be ashamed to have it growing in a field their horses graze.

The blasted weed needs confining to areas it isn't likely to kill livestock and whoever it was said it needs to be ingested to be harmful, well that's a load of billhooks too. It is poisonous on contact with the skin and although less toxic than if ingested, it's effects on the liver are still evident when tested.

Honestly, I despair sometimes :mad:
 
I think ragwort is an issue a lot of horse owners are misinformed on, and there will always be articles online that suggest it isn't such a big deal.
My coloured came to me photosensitive, diagnosed due to previously eating ragwort, whether it is appealing to them or not, I couldn't rest easy knowing my horses, who I care about a great deal, are grazing with ragwort available to them, and I really do not like seeing it in fields.
Ragwort isn't a notifiable weed by DEFRA, there is no such thing in English law, it is just classified poisonous to livestock. You will struggle greatly to get a response from the authorities, I have recently relocated 3 miles from a large RSPCA base and I have never seen so many horses grazing ragwort, the place is riddled.
I don't think creating this thread, and announcing 90% of people on forums liars, considering you created a second user name is a particularly helpful or sane thing to do. I also think if you are concerned for the horses' welfare, but cannot be bothered to spend a day pulling ragwort, you infact are a big troublestirrer, and not that bothered about the horses at all...
 
When people say it does not harm other livestock how do you know, the thing with Ragwort it is culmative(sp) and the animals are sent for slaughter before its affect can be noticeable.

I remember quite a few years ago I think it was Your Horse did an article about Ragwort and a professor from Liverpool took a sample of his blood, pulled ragwort without gloves and took another blood test. The second blood test showed the toxins in his system this is why you have to wear gloves.

I think anyone who turns horses out in a field with ragwort is either very ignorant,lazy or both.
 
Although Ragworts can be a significant nuisance to horse keepers, these species are a very important source of nectar and pollen. About 150 species of insects, such as bees, flies and butterflies, visit the plant.

I disagree with this - if you go into any area that has wild flowers and ragworts growing then you will see very few insects on the ragwort they prefer other plants.

Gone are the days when anyone who saw ragwort growing would pull it - there was very little of it to be seen.
 
RunToEarth said:
Ragwort isn't a notifiable weed by DEFRA, there is no such thing in English law, it is just classified poisonous to livestock. You will struggle greatly to get a response from the authorities, I have recently relocated 3 miles from a large RSPCA base and I have never seen so many horses grazing ragwort, the place is riddled.
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Under the Weeds Act 1959, Natural England can, and will enforce the act.
 
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