Ragwort.

[jes_nibley]

So, having read ssotyandmog's post, I got thinking.
I know ragwort is poisonous to horses, i've been told that they won't eat living ragwort, although i've never taken the chance, and that dead ragwort is worse.

Have i got this right?
Also, if a horse eats live ragwort, it can take years then to do damage? (if i understood the posts earlier)
Is it the same with dead ragwort or does that work quicker?
Are there any signs or symptoms that a horse has eaten ragwort, other than keeling over?

I was hoping to make hay from the spare bit of my field this year but unfortunately ragwort is rife so i've been pulling it and (carefully) grazing it instead.

*Would just like to say, we only bought the field a couple months ago and the ragwort had started to grow already, we've been trying to eradicate it ever since*

 

[ihatework]

Firstly this year has been bloody awful for Ragwort, we have been pulling it non stop throughout the summer despite having sprayed the fields in spring.

Common misconception about live ragwort, it is still poisonous and although horses are less inclined to eat it, some still will do. Once dead it becomes more palatable and hence even more dangerous to horses

 

[TGM]

Dead ragwort is more palatable than the growing stuff, so it is particularly dangerous in hay. However, the stuff growing in fields is still dangerous as if it gets damaged by livestock it may wilt and become palatable. Also where the grazing is very poor they may eat it in desperation.

I don't think there is any difference between the toxicity of dead and growing ragwort. It is a cumulative poison that builds up in the liver, so problems can occur sometime after ingestion of ragwort.

 

[TGM]

This leaflet will answer a lot of your questions:

http://www.homeofrestforhorses.co.uk/pdfs/no7ragwort.pdf

 

[jes_nibley]

Thank you!

 

[Toby_Zaphod]

http://www.equinescienceupdate.co.uk/ragwort1.htm

 

[OWLIE185]

Each time a horse eats Ragwort it kills off a number of it's liver cells. Once this reaches 50% of the liver the horse will die.

Horses will eat Ragwort but are unable to smell it when it is dead so will unknowingly eat it.

Ragowort flowers every second year so the fact you don't see the flowers does not mean that there is no ragwort.

If there is a ott of ragwort in a field the best way to kill it is to remove horses from it and spray the whole field. Then repeat again the following year.